Sunderland’s promotion in 1996 was down in large part to the team spirit Peter Reid had managed to conjure up. It wasn’t solely morale, of course – there were some exceptional performances from the returning Paul Bracewell in the centre of the park, while Shay Given’s heroics in the latter part of the season were pivotal.
However, in reality, the squad was – by and large – the same as the one which had struggled after early promise under Mick Buxton. Reid had done a sterling job to get the club back
into the Premiership, and needed new arrivals to give the squad a fighting chance of staying up.
Of course, as was the often the case in the early-mid 90s at Sunderland, there was little money to spend – and Bob Murray was repeating the mistakes he made six years earlier when he didn’t back Denis Smith with a decent transfer budget.
So, it was little surprise that Reid was being linked to free transfers and bargain basement buys as the transfer market got into full swing – with some intriguing names linked on this day in 1996.
First up was former England international Paul Parker, who’d been released by Manchester United at the age of 32. Parker, who’d played for England at Italia 90 had been a good, speedy centre back for Fulham and QPR, before joining the Old Trafford club and being primarily deployed as a right back. While Parker did have a trial at Sunderland later, he ended up signing for fellow promoted club Derby Country, for whom he played just four times, before also turning out for Sheffield United, Fulham once again, and Chelsea.
Another player who’s potential arrival at Roker ahead of a Premiership season was Blackpool’s Micky Mellon – and with all respect to Micky, that demonstrates the budget Reid had. The 24-year-old Mellon had had an excellent season for Blackpool in the third tier, and was being managed by Sam Allardyce – who recommended Reidy should take a look. The move of course didn’t go through, but he did get a move to the second tier a year later having been bought by Tranmere. Mellon was a nice, creative player, but never made it to the Premiership, suggesting a move to Sunderland at that time may not have been the right move.
An intriguing name reported on this day 30 years ago was that of Romanian keeper Bogdan Stelea. The 26-year-old keeper had 30 caps, and was available on a free from Steaua Bucharest (Murray’s eyes light up).
Stelea was due to play in Euro 96, and seemed a strong possibility for Reid if he couldn’t complete the permanent transfer of Shay Given. However, after the Brad Freidel debacle the previous season, Reid was hesitant to rely on a work permit hearing. Although Stelea – who was also wanted by Bobby Robson at Barcelona – had a trial at Whitburn, the deal never went through as Reid landed Tony Coton. Interestingly enough, the report in the press detailed that Alec Chamberlain had been offered a new one year deal – Chamberlain turned it down and left the club, but had he stayed he’d have likely played the majority of the season, given Coton’s career-ending injury.
Last but not least was Huddersfield’s striker Andy Booth – the 90s Jon Stead as I like to think of him. Booth was 22 at the time and had a good scoring record for the Terriers, albeit in the third tier. I reckon he’d have done well for Reid at Sunderland – but we were priced out. Sheffield Wednesday forked out £2.7m for him that summer. I’m not sure we spent that much in total trying to stay up.
