As we gear up for what could be an historic moment in our clubs history — a first qualification for European competition via a league position —- on this day in 1970, we bowed out of a (thankfully) almost forgotten European trophy, the Anglo-Italian Cup (‘Coppa Anglo-Italiana’) after a 0-3 defeat away at Fiorentina.
The initial version of the Anglo-Italian Cup was played between English and Italian clubs and staged as an annual tournament between 1970 and 1973. Sunderland were involved in the first
ever incarnation, an invitational tournament that was sadly often marred by violence, a real scourge on the game in those years. Indeed, the first ever final in 1970 was stopped due to crowd trouble, and Swindon Town were announced as the winners.
During its time, the competition had a reputation for violence — not only between fans, but also the players on the pitch! It ran intermittently in various guises until 1986, when it was eventually abolished.
During the first ever competition, twelve teams took part — six from England and six from Italy.
These teams were split into three groups featuring two Italian teams and two English teams. Two points were awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and a point for every goal that was scored.
For Sunderland, the tournament started on May 1 with a fine 3-1 win over Lazio at Roker Park in front of only 3,764, with the goals coming from Dennis Tueart and a brace for Bobby Kerr. We’d been relegated from the top flight that season with average gates of around 18,000, so maybe the indifference to the competition was understandable.
The Lads followed that up with a decent 2-2 draw with Fiorentina, again at home, with goals from Mick McGiven and Bobby Park in front of a slightly increased attendance of just under 6,000.
However, we didn’t seem to travel very well, as we lost the two away fixtures — 2-1 against Lazio, with a goal from Tones, and then 3-0 away at Fiorentina, marking a tough end to an initially promising campaign for the Black Cats.
The game brought to an end our involvement in the competition at the group stage; a tournament we took part in a total of four times altogether and would be again invited to compete in during the 1971/1972 season.
The competition was reborn in a totally different format for second-tier teams, and we took part in this cup in 1992/1993 and 1993/1994, being knocked out in the preliminary stages on both occasions.
Of course, our best venture into Europe to date was in the 1973/1974 Cup Winners’ Cup, the Lads getting through round one 3-0 on aggregate against Vasas before narrowly losing to Sporting by a 2-3 scoreline in the second round.
Tomorrow could hopefully see The Lads re-enter European competition — not through invitation or as a second-tier club, but as a reignited, powerful Premier League team. Let’s rewrite history. Haway the Lads!
23 May 1970
Anglo-Italian Cup
Attendance: 6,000
Fiorentina 3
Sunderland 0
Sunderland: Montgomery, Irwin, Todd; Harvey, Heslop (Pitt 46’), Tones; Park, Kerr, Symm; Harris, Tueart (Stuckey 46’)
