It was that time of year again when the early rounds of the English League Cup were being played in the midst of a hectic Premier League schedule. Sunderland had played their first four games of the season following promotion and, despite an exciting victory over Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day, had failed to win since, picking up just one point from their next three games.
Included in that run was a dismal 3-0 defeat away to Wigan Athletic, a result that shocked supporters given the inept nature
of the performance. A home defeat to Liverpool compounded the misery before Roy Keane’s side travelled to London to face Luton Town in the League Cup.
Keane made just four changes to the team that had faced Liverpool and, in hindsight, the decision did little to ease the growing frustrations surrounding the side. Sunderland were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by the Championship outfit, who took great delight in their victory as chants of “Premiership, you’re having a laugh” rang around Kenilworth Road.
Greg Halford’s dismissal certainly didn’t help Sunderland’s cause, but this was now four consecutive defeats and, more concerningly, the manner of those defeats was beginning to cause genuine concern among the fanbase.
On the very same evening, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest were also meeting in the League Cup, with Sunderland loanee Clive Clarke lining out for Leicester.
What happened at half-time, however, would completely overshadow anything that had taken place at Kenilworth Road.
Clarke collapsed in the Leicester dressing room after suffering a cardiac arrest, causing huge concern among those present. After initial attempts to revive him failed, paramedics twice used a defibrillator to restart his heart at the City Ground before Clarke regained consciousness and was taken to hospital, where he was later reported to be in a stable condition.
The seriousness of the incident naturally overshadowed Sunderland’s heavy defeat, with chairman Niall Quinn leading the tributes to the medical teams who rushed to Clarke’s aid.
“Our thoughts and prayers are still very much with Clive and his family and we wish him a speedy recovery.”
Keane also offered his best wishes to Clarke after the game, but years later, the Sunderland manager reflected on the evening in his autobiography and admitted to having an extraordinary thought in the immediate aftermath of the defeat.
Despite the seriousness of Clarke’s condition, Keane revealed that part of him had almost felt relieved that the incident had happened that night because it meant Sunderland’s disastrous performance was no longer the main talking point.
“The madness of football: we’d been beaten 3-0 by Luton, a shocking result, but at the press conference after the game I said that football results really didn’t matter and I mentioned that Clive Clarke had had a heart attack.
“And I had the evil thought ‘I’m glad he had it tonight’. Because it would deflect from our woeful performance. That was the world I was in.”
It was an extraordinary admission, but in many ways it was also a typically Keane statement. Nothing appeared to be out of bounds when it came to the former Manchester United captain, and the quote offered a glimpse into just how all-consuming football could be for him.
There was also no great love lost between Keane and Clarke at the time. The pair had traded insults previously, with Clarke particularly scathing of Keane’s perceived ‘aloof’ nature. Keane, naturally, was not about to let the criticism go unanswered, responding in typically brutal fashion that he was surprised Clarke had a heart at all.
