As much as the owners of Wrexham thought they might throw up a Hollywood-style script or two when they took charge of the then National League side, they probably didn’t realise that football has a habit of throwing up these scripts year after year.
It’s why we love it so much. Look at the story arc Sunderland are on at the moment for instance, Leicester being relegated to League One ten years after winning the Premier League – which in itself will likely be made into a movie at some point, and I’m
getting grey enough to throw my hat in the ring to play Ranieri by the way – and well, let’s see what happens at Spurs in the coming weeks.
But going back to the mid-1990’s, there was a crazy rebirth of Sunderland AFC that got going – and we didn’t have a clue where the ride would end up.
Like any good Disney movie, however, you have to hit the big low early on in the story – and ours occurs at Oakwell on a cold Friday evening at the end of March 1995. Mick Buxton’s Sunderland go into the game against Barnsley having lost five out of the last six, and sit just two points and two places above the drop to the third tier.
Add to that the fact that the two sides below us, Stoke City and Swindon Town, have played fewer games than we have. In Stoke’s case, they have three games in hand, and Steve McMahon’s Swindon have two. At this point, relegation looks a formality.
Our game at Oakwell is a last throw of the dice, coming just after the transfer deadline. New investment from John Fickling (~£600,000) all went on the signature of Brett Angell from Everton, and a young Dominic Matteo joined on loan from Liverpool.
Both played, we lost 2-0, and it turns out Matteo shouldn’t have played because we screwed up the paperwork – and there was potential for points being docked. So here is our movie script, low point, ladies and gentlemen.
Enter stage left, Peter Reid. Our last three managerial appointments – stretching back almost eight years at this point – had been from the existing backroom or playing staff, and this was a surprise to everyone.
At a time when the club had seemingly run out of ideas, they brought in someone with a good track record who was unlucky to be sacked by Peter Swailes at Manchester City. He had seven games to keep us up, and by the end, we were six points clear of Swindon.
In the summer, Paul Bracewell arrived at Sunderland for a third time – this time in the role of player/assistant manager – a young John Mullin arrived from Burnley, and most importantly perhaps, Bobby Saxton joined Reid’s coaching staff. But that was it.
With pretty much the same squad, the season slowly built up momentum. After winning just two of the first seven, we hit the top of the table in mid-December after beating Millwall 6-0 at Roker.
Going back to our movie script, it isn’t all plain sailing after the montage – there needs to be another twist. It would have been too easy if we’d simply hit the top of the league and gone on to win the title by ten points. We’re also forgetting this is Sunderland, and that isn’t how we do things.
I’m saying this because we won once in the next nine games, and we’re clinging on to a play-off place by our fingernails by mid-February. At this point, new loan signing Shay Given has found his feet, and Lee Howey scores a bullet header at Portsmouth, and we win nine on the bounce, conceding only once in eight games.
In the weeks to come, Reid’s side claims promotion without playing due to results elsewhere, and when the last home game of the season arrives, we need just a point to claim the title.
The visitors were Alan Buckley’s West Bromwich Albion, and in front of a party atmosphere on a typically windy Roker day, the game was pretty dismal. Lee Howey placed a shot from the edge of the box over the bar, and hit the post with a header, and Brett Angell got on the pitch… for West Brom (as he went out on loan).
By far the biggest cheer of the day was the final whistle, and the cheers continued as the party started at Roker. Kevin Ball and Peter Reid were last out of the tunnel, and the trophy was presented. The players paraded the pitch, there were tears in the stands, tears from Bobby Saxton on the pitch – it was a day that nobody who was in attendance will forget.
Saturday 27th April, 1996
Division One
Sunderland 0-0 West Bromwich Albion
Roker Park
Sunderland: Chamberlain, Kubicki, Melville, Ord, Scott, Agnew, Bracewell, Hall, Gray, Russell, Howey (Bridges) Substitutes not used: Aiston, Smith
West Brom: Spink, Burgess, Darby, Sneekes, Rees (Angell), Comyn, Butler, Holmes, Hunt, Hamilton, Gilbert Substitutes not used: Coldicott, Donovan
Attendance: 22,027
