Wednesday saw Sunderland return to European competition after a wait of fifty-three years.
What a glorious evening that was for everyone involved, and I wonder what players and supporters would have thought back in 1973 if they’d been told we wouldn’t be repeating their feat for over half a century!? But it was on this day all those years ago that Bob Stokoe’s warriors took on Hungarian team Vasas Budapest in the European Cup Winners’ Cup first leg.
Travel wasn’t as easy then as it is now, and only
an estimated five hundred Sunderland die-hards made the journey to the other side of the Iron Curtain – during the Cold War and with all the logistical and visa problems that journey would’ve thrown up back then – to add to a crowd of 27,000.
The match at the Nepstadion in Budapest was part of a unique double-header, as fans who arrived early could also watch a completely different UEFA tie between Ferencvaros and Gwardia Warsaw right before their own kick-off – and despite what we might now view as a small travelling contingent, they actually received many plaudits for their efforts and endeavours to watch the Lads play.
Unlike domestic football, where only one substitute could be named, for our first European adventure, Stokoe was able to name five substitutes yet chose to name only four, including John Lathan, Mick McGiven, Trevor Swinburne and David Young.
After an understandably nervy start, our brave FA Cup winners settled into their stride and painstakingly drained the heart and energy out of Vasas, delivering two timely knockout blows from Billy Hughes and then a sumptuous solo effort by Dennis Tueart towards the end.
Jimmy Montgomery was in fine form and the Sunderland defence was rarely stretched to the limit, being marshalled superbly by our England-capped central defender Dave Watson.
In the sixty-eighth minute, Tueart was fouled on the right and Dick Malone’s well-placed cross was deftly flicked into the corner of the net by a leaping Hughes. Stokoe then played safely by sending on Young to replace Vic Halom, but he needn’t have bothered, as a minute from the end, Tueart scored one of the goals of the whole tournament with a solo run.
Starting from inside his own half, he left four or five Hungarian defenders in his slipstream before drawing the goalkeeper and slipping the ball into the net.
It was a memorable and brilliant display from the Lads to set off their first European venture and, all these years later, we hope to last a lot longer in the tournament this time around. (As is the way, Vasas have been in Europe six times since then.)
We beat them again at Roker Park in the return fixture, with a Tueart penalty, in front of a poor 22,762 crowd – although the freezing weather and high ticket prices were blamed for the low turnout. The Lads then lost 3-2 on aggregate to Sporting Lisbon in the second round.
If any readers went to that first European away day, we’d love to hear from you about your experiences, and whether you intend to return to the continent this time.
19 September 1973
UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup
Nepstadion, Budapest
Attendance: 27,130
Vasas Budapest 0
Sunderland 2 (Hughes, Tueart)
Sunderland: Montgomery; Malone, Guthrie, Watson; Kerr, Hughes, Halom (sub Young); Porterfield, Tueart, Pitt; Horswill.
