The opening months of 1977-78 promised plenty but delivered little for Lads fans, with a performance against Cardiff City on this day typifying the frustration enveloping Roker.
Sunderland’s relegation at the end of 1976-77 had been somewhat unlucky – the team, at one point thought to be dead and buried, produced a remarkable fightback in the final months to give themselves a chance of survival, only to have that stolen by events elsewhere. Supporters from the time still struggle to forgive Coventry
City and Bristol City for the way they conspired to seal the Lads’ fate, although there is an acceptance too that a dreadful start to the season had been just as much of a factor.
Manager Jimmy Adamson, appointed in November 1976, took charge of a demoralised squad and compounded matters in his first few weeks as he struggled to get to grips with the task of pulling things round. It was only when he took a chance on some of the club’s youth prospects that results improved, and whilst survival couldn’t be achieved, the level of potential shown by those coming through was enough to suggest to the optimists that an immediate return to the top flight could be on the cards.
The problem, however, was that Adamson still needed to deal with some of the issues he had inherited. Big-money signings were not hitting the mark, while goals only came in fits and bursts, and it wasn’t long into the new season that any momentum from the previous run-in had been lost. Attendances tailed off as a consequence, and not even the prospect of a new line-up was enough to entice folk back – Adamson confirming four changes to the starting XI ahead of the Bluebirds fixture, only to find that by the time his players had got onto the pitch, less than 19,000 had decided to come through the gates to watch them – the lowest league figure at Roker in over three years.
Responding to a miserable defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, the manager had decided to bring Bobby Kerr, Mick Henderson, Kevin Arnott and Roy Greenwood back into the fold. For Greenwood, this was a fillip after he had endured a miserable period at Roker; although it had been seen as an amusing story by some, the decision by former manager Bob Stokoe to ban him from a team photoshoot simply for having a beard was not ideal, and since then there had been strong rumours that the club was going to seek an insurance payout as they felt they had been sold a pup due to Hull City not disclosing fitness information when he moved from Boothferry Park.
Adamson then subsequently opted to place Greenwood on the transfer list, and when a proposed switch to Arsenal fell through because personal terms could not be agreed, he was forced to endure a prolonged spell out of the first-team picture – prior to a short stint off the bench against Brighton, he had gone nine months without an appearance. It was understandable that Greenwood would want to do himself justice then, and in truth he was one of the few players who was able to look anywhere near his best in another otherwise uninspiring effort from the hosts.
Things had been getting so depressing that, for some, the highlight of the night was learning that fan favourite Dick Malone, who had moved to Hartlepool United in June and was taking the game in as a punter, won £100 on the Golden Goal competition. Typically, though, even that moment was tainted because the club’s PA system was not working fully and not everybody could hear the announcement, and even more frustrating was the fact the winning time had been recorded by Cardiff, who took the lead after 20 minutes and 12 seconds with a Doug Livermore strike that could have been avoided.
Both Shaun Elliott and skipper Jack Ashurst worked hard and, although not firing on all cylinders, could be happy with their output. Kerr and Arnott got stuck in too, yet it was Greenwood who received the most plaudits – and not just because he equalised with an hour played. He showed good composure to latch onto a Wilf Rostron flick and convert his chance, and the goal capped a pleasing display in which he used his frustration at being in the wilderness for so long to push him on. There was joy too for Keith Armstrong, who came on as a substitute and looked bright on his senior debut.
On the face of it, responding to a poor loss and coming from behind in this game was a positive. Greenwood and Armstrong suggesting they could be viable options was encouraging too, yet with the team sixth bottom, the prevailing mood was still one of negativity. Most of the following day’s match reports made for grim reading (although the Sunderland Echo was a lot more enthusiastic than other sources, it must be said), and the Lads were already being forced to play catch-up with regards to the promotion race. Things picked up a little in the new year, but come April they still finished well off the pace, and for the second season running were forced to count the cost of a sluggish start.
——————————————————————————————————————————–
Tuesday 4 October 1977
Football League Division Two
Sunderland 1 (Greenwood 61’)
Cardiff City 1 (Livermore 21’)
Sunderland: Siddall; Henderson, Ashurst, Elliott, Bolton; Rostron, Kerr, Arnott, Rowell; Greenwood, Lee (Armstrong 76’).
Roker Park, attendance 18,484
