The Japanese car giant Nissan had, as recently as March that year, selected Wearside as the location for its massive investment in its UK manufacturing operation. A friendly match was suggested to mark the occasion, with Japanese side Nissan FC visiting Roker Park for a historic, relationship-building fixture.
The manufacturing plant was to be built on the site of the old Sunderland Airport in Washington. A formal government agreement was signed that March, and work began in July of the same year.
Production eventually started in September 1986. It has proved to be a massive boost for the North East economy, and the excitement and interest surrounding the deal 40 years ago were well founded.
Nissan currently employs around 6,000 workers at its Washington plant, but when taking the wider supply chain into account, it has been estimated that its operations support up to 30,000 jobs across the UK.
The choice of the North East site was no accident. It was a proud nod to the region’s reputation for hard work and engineering expertise. Nissan identified an area with a highly skilled and readily available workforce. The shipyards and mines were rapidly declining or closing, meaning the engineering skills – and the people who possessed them – were already here following the region’s industrial decline.
The friendly match was arranged by Nissan itself as part of a relationship-building exercise, but also to promote the company to the local community and its potential future workforce.
I’m not sure how much promotion there was, as a sparse crowd of just 2,779 turned up. Those who did attend were well entertained in a competitive and enjoyable contest.
Colin West, who had been the Lads’ top scorer the previous season with nine goals, continued his fine form with a hat-trick. I always enjoyed watching big Westy play. He was a no-nonsense striker with pace and no little skill.
Apprentice John Moore and Barry Venison completed the scoring as Sunderland beat a skilful Nissan FC side 5 – 2.
Sunderland’s players had only returned to full training three days earlier, so this represented a very satisfactory way to begin their pre-season campaign.
Nissan’s neat football actually gave them the lead in the 20th minute. Berry, a trialist from Portsmouth, lost possession to Kimura, who beat Elliott and Turner before lifting his shot into the net from a tight angle.
Their Brazilian player Morinho almost doubled the visitors’ lead a few minutes later, but shot wide. Sunderland were struggling at this stage and needed a slice of luck to draw level just before half-time when Tanaka was harshly adjudged to have brought down Proctor in the penalty area. West duly smashed home the spot-kick.
Kimura almost restored Nissan FC’s lead early in the second half, striking the crossbar from a free-kick, before Pickering headed down a Proctor cross for West to force home his second goal in the 54th minute.
But a lapse in concentration – often the case after scoring – meant it was all square again just two minutes later. Hashiratani slotted home the equaliser after a goalmouth scramble.
It was nip and tuck at this stage until West completed his hat-trick with a powerful header in the 73rd minute. From that point onwards, Sunderland were the dominant force during the final 20 minutes.
Five minutes later, another apprentice, Moore, who had replaced Paul Lemon, stooped to head home from another Proctor cross. Sunderland could have scored with almost every attack at this stage, and number five arrived in the 83rd minute when Atkinson did all the hard work before Venison converted.
Sunderland 5 – 2 Nissan FC
Scorers: West (3), Moore, Venison
Team: Turner; Venison, Pickering (Armstrong), Elliott; Chisholm, Corner, Lemon (Moore), Proctor; West, Berry, Atkinson
Attendance: 2,779
It has certainly been a fruitful and healthy partnership ever since between Nissan and the Wearside area. However, in 1992 Sunderland unveiled plans to build a new 48,000-seater stadium beside the Nissan complex. Those plans were ultimately shelved after Nissan objected, believing the proposal would hinder its own future expansion and infrastructure.
Nissan FC themselves have also gone from strength to strength. Established in 1972, Nissan Motor FC, based at the company’s headquarters in Yokohama, turned professional when the J.League was formed in 1993. The corporate team evolved into the professional club now known as Yokohama F. Marinos.
They are one of the most successful clubs in the J1 League and now play at the 72,000-seat Nissan Stadium. It would be nice to compete against them again one day.
But for this look back, to borrow the newspaper headline of the day – West Knocked Nissan Out Of Gear!
