On the blue side of Manchester, a sterling effort from Sandy McNab and his colleagues put Sunderland back in control!
1936 was to be a magnificent year in the history of Sunderland AFC — despite an inauspicious start on 1 January when the team suffered a surprising home loss to struggling Aston Villa.
It was a humbling 1-3 defeat at the hands of a side that would end the campaign by being relegated, and yet barely three months, on the Lads were crowned Football League champions for a sixth time.
Looking back on it now, the Villa match was only a minor setback but having been met with widespread disapproval from fans and local press in the immediate aftermath, the players knew at the time that they would need to produce a strong response. That was bad news for their next opponents Manchester City therefore, who three days later welcomed them to their Maine Road base and soon found themselves up against it.
A prickly Sunderland unit had a clear togetherness about them, even though there had been a late problem in the build up when Patsy Gallacher failed a fitness test and had to pull out at short notice.
Taking Gallacher’s place was Sandy McNab, and whilst he wasn’t a natural replacement in the forward line, the situation turned out well in a roundabout way, for midway through the first half, a further injury worry forced Jimmy Clark to come off. Find themselves at a numerical disadvantage wasn’t ideal, but McNab’s presence meant there was an ideal solution available for the defensive shuffle that needed to take place.
Clark had picked up what appeared to be a thigh complaint and having received treatment for a period before attempting to play on, it soon became clear that he couldn’t continue.
This development could’ve easily stymied an away side that was already growing into the game despite losing the toss to former Black Cat and now City captain Bobby Marshall, but whilst the hosts did forge some presentable openings both before and after the withdrawal, they never got themselves into a position where they could claim to be dominating.
With Alex Hastings now at centre half and McNab at left half, the latter was required at times to move further upfield and help out in attack.
His energy and discipline meant the Lads were never caught short at the back, with one incident seeing him clear the danger magnificently as the City forwards lined up to tuck away an inviting cross. His teammate Alex Hall was also in fine form and the defence remained pretty firm thereafter, and although Clark (spelt “Clarke” in The Football Echo’s report that evening) did come back out for a short spell on the wing Sunderland, were quickly back down to ten men when he collapsed to the ground in agony when attempting a centre.
It’s entirely possible that news of Sunderland’s travails had filtered through to the outside world, as by the time the second half had begun, several thousand extra supporters were reportedly inside the stadium.
Having heard that Jackie Bray had hit the crossbar with a header moments before the break and no doubt anticipating a home win from that point, their hopes would’ve increased further when Marshall then looked set to score seconds after the resumption. However, Jimmy Thorpe pulled off a superb save and bolstered by that stop the visitors instead went on the offensive.
The dribbling ability and close control of Raich Carter and Jimmy Connor allowed Sunderland to gradually retain possession up top, and after one particularly good solo run, it was their turn to strike the woodwork when Connor rifled in a shot.
Rather than try to take the sting out of things, if anything the Lads were now increasing the tempo and this bold strategy then paid off with twenty minutes left when McNab and Bobby Gurney combined well. The move led to Carter being in front of goal, and from there he sold two exquisite dummies to wrong-foot the defence and goalkeeper and give himself the space to roll the ball into the unguarded opposite side of the net.
It was a superb goal and with something to protect, Sunderland looked even more determined.
Thorpe dived bravely at the feet of Billy Owen but despite receiving a heavy knock as he did so, he continued to throw himself at everything, whilst Connor also ended the match hobbling as a result of a clattering challenge.
The final moments were understandably scrappy therefore, but the character on show was undeniable and having held out, the Sunderland title push was clearly still on — no mean feat given City had won the FA Cup earlier in the decade and would later be crowned champions during the 1930s.
Of course, there’s no knowing what would’ve happened had things turned out differently in Manchester.
On top of the Aston Villa disappointment, defeat — whilst maybe predictable given the circumstances — could’ve led to a bigger dip and so the steadfast reaction was welcomed hugely.
In late February and early March, a bigger wobble was felt — although by that stage a lot of the hard work had been done and come the final reckoning, the victory at Maine Road was being recognised as a major step along the way.
*Johnny Cochrane wasn’t thought to have been present for this impressive showing and was instead due on a scouting mission, having spent the previous night in London.
A large part of his week had already been taken up by negotiations with Dartford over the possible signing of their star man Will Dell, although the player had ultimately decided he didn’t wish to move so far north.
**Sunderland Reserves were in North Eastern League action at Roker Park on the same afternoon their clubmates were playing Manchester City.
In that evening’s Football Echo, ‘Scrutator’ reported on a comfortable 6-1 victory for the hosts over Carlisle United, with Bill Robinson (2), George Ainsley, Arthur Wright, Dick Bell and Eddie Burbanks scoring for the red and whites.
Saturday 4 January 1936
Football League Division One
Maine Road
Attendance: 48,723
Manchester City 0
Sunderland 1 (Carter 70’)
Sunderland: Thorpe, Morrison, Hall; Thomson, Clark, Hastings; Davis, Carter, Gurney; McNab, Connor
Category: General Sports
