Reuben Agboola could have been forgiven for thinking he’d upset someone in a past life. Or perhaps broken a mirror or two when he’d been a kid. As a promising youngster he’d been given his Southampton debut by one Lawrie McMenemy, and had been touted for England recognition.
The relationship between manager and player wasn’t always harmonious, and eventually McMenemy forced Agboola out of the Dell, agreeing to sell him to Len Ashurst’s Sunderland. Agboola was delighted to leave, and get almost as far
away from McMenemy as he could, in English football terms, at least. Sunderland were delighted to land the highly-rated defender, and it was envisaged he’d strengthen the relegation-threatened team’s defence.
A debut at home to Liverpool was halted at half time in controversial weather-related circumstances, so the new arrival had made his debut away to Southampton the following week. Injuries blighted his first few months at the club, and he was only able to make eight appearances as the club were relegated to the second division.
With Ashurst given his marching orders, the 23 year old – who’d played 112 games in all competitions for the Saints, including 90 top flight games – waited eagerly to see who’d come in to replace the former Sunderland defender. And of course, we all know who that was.
When I spoke with Reuben a few years ago for a podcast, he told me:
I was devastated when McMenemy arrived. He had two choices, apparently, because Arsenal wanted him and so did Sunderland. And I thought, he won’t come here, he’ll go to Arsenal.
And sure enough, he came here.
I wasn’t a fan of the news, but I was quite interested to see how he’d do. At Southampton he left most of it to his coaches, and while he was clever in some ways in the way he put the team together, most of it was down to the players on the pitch. I remember one game at Highbury, we were getting beaten 2-0. Alan Ball made a load of tactical changes on the field, went to a back four, put Mark Wright up front. We turn it around, and Lawrie takes all the applause. Tactical genius!
But we all know what happened at Sunderland. I only played a handful of games that next season as he didn’t want me in the team.
Because he wasn’t picking me, he wouldn’t let me train with the team either, so I was just jogging around the pitch. The press who used to turn up to training couldn’t believe it. I think he was embarrassed – if I’d joined in and played well, people would have said ‘why aren’t you playing him’.
I remember one day jogging round the pitch, and I hear some big footsteps behind me, and Lawrie’s trying to catch up with me. He didn’t break sweat very often, so I made him sweat a little bit. I eventually let him catch up with me and he said, ‘Where do you think I’m going wrong with the team?‘ I couldn’t believe it. You’re asking me?! I told him, I don’t get paid three grand a week to figure that out – you do, and carried on running.
After making just 11 appearances in the relegation season of 86-87, Agboola had gone from top flight regular to division three player in just 23 games – and under new manager Denis Smith. He was now in the last year of his contract, and the club – desperate to get some money in to boost Smith’s transfer hand – would have been happy to move him on. However, Agboola became a fixture at left back in that promotion winning season, playing 42 games all up as the lads secured the championship.
However, in the summer of 1988, his contract was up. In pre-Bosman days, the club kept the player’s registration, so Agboola remained on a week-to-week contract, retaining a regular place in the team.
On this day in 1989 – almost nine months after his contract expired – Agboola finally agreed new terms that would see him stay with the club until at least the summer of 1991.
Smith said:
There was never any animosity between us, just a difference of opinion over how much he was worth. Reuben feels now is the right time to commit himself, and we’ve come to an agreement which suits us both.
On the field, Smith’s team were going through a bit of a tough patch, having picked up just one point from their last five league games – four consecutive defeats marking the worst run since the McMenemy days.
One player who Smith had hoped could have arrested that slump in form was former England winger Peter Barnes, who’d arrived at the club a month earlier, and had managed just over an hour of action in a Sunderland shirt.
Barnes, 31, had been offered the chance of more regular football at Stockport County, and had decided that was a better bet than extending his stay on Wearside.
It’s a pity, because Peter was getting fitter and starting to look the part, but unfortunately he didn’t make it.
We could have kept him but the opportunity came up for him to do something elsewhere, and we wish him all the best.
For Agboola, however, it was the start of probably his most successful spell at the club. The following season he played 47 times as the lads went up via the play offs – starting both games against Newcastle – and was capped by Nigeria in the process.
With the club back in the top flight, Agboola played five games before falling out of the team and joining Port Vale on loan, and then the following season made just one appearance – at home to Blackburn in a 1-1 draw – before leaving permanently for Swansea in November 1991, six and a half years after arriving at the club.
Who knows, if he’d stayed he’d have likely ended up part of the FA Cup run – but those sliding doors moments always exist in football!
