Relegation 'hangover' Aug 70 - Jan' 73......

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...just browsing through the magnificent Statcat with EL on in back ground and didn't realise how bad crowds were after our 2nd ever relegation 69-70 up til the Notts County cup replay in January 73.

Talk about a hangover !! Horrendous.

Anyone have much memory of 70/71, 71/72 and early part of 72/73 ?

The strange thing was that we actually made a right fist of trying to gain promotion in 71/72 yet despite a 5th place finish, we only averaged 15,500:oops:. Was this anything to do with the anti Alan Brown sentiment that prevailed at the time ?

After relegation, Sunderland never got going at all in 70/71 despite signing the much vaunted Joe Baker.

Thank goodness for Sir Bob Stokoe and the cup run and win to lift us out of the doldrums !
 


...just browsing through the magnificent Statcat with EL on in back ground and didn't realise how bad crowds were after our 2nd ever relegation 69-70 up til the Notts County cup replay in January 73.

Talk about a hangover !! Horrendous.

Anyone have much memory of 70/71, 71/72 and early part of 72/73 ?

The strange thing was that we actually made a right fist of trying to gain promotion in 71/72 yet despite a 5th place finish, we only averaged 15,500:oops:. Was this anything to do with the anti Alan Brown sentiment that prevailed at the time ?

After relegation, Sunderland never got going at all in 70/71 despite signing the much vaunted Joe Baker.

Thank goodness for Sir Bob Stokoe and the cup run and win to lift us out of the doldrums !


Think we signed Baker the season before in Div 1. If I remember rightly he scored two goals all season !
 
Think we signed Baker the season before in Div 1. If I remember rightly he scored two goals all season !

Aaah ok, another signing that didnt hit the heights ho hum. Tbf, we signed him in the latter stages of his career ?

12 goals in 40 games.

He was a centre forward but was only 5' 7" according to wiki !!!
 
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I remember that time very well. We signed Joe Baker 20 years too late. He played in the season we got relegated and scored twice. He played 12 games in the 2nd Division and scored 10 goals and was then transferred to Hibs. Joe was one the first players to go to Italy with Denis Law and Jimmy Greaves. He was pleased to get back having had a car accident. He did not go to Italy with us in the Anglo-Italian Cup because he was still wanted by the police for interview regarding the accident. Nice fella mind. Alan (The Bomber) Brown was not popular at all and yet he had a decent team in that first year in the 2nd Division. Most of the 73 team were in or near the team by now. He still had people like Gordon Harris, Len Ashurst and Cec Irwin in the team but they would be gone by the end of season 71/72. he bought Dick Malone from Ayr in late 1970 and Dave Watson in December 1971. It has always been argued about Brown playing Watson up front when he was a better Centre-Half. They said Brown knew that but he was still the best centre-forward he had as well - so he played up front.
 
One of them against Man U, could have been two not sure.
Just one in the game at at RP.
Mick McGiven scored at OT.
Cost £30k from Forest. Dont know how much Hibs paid for him.

I remember that time very well. We signed Joe Baker 20 years too late. He played in the season we got relegated and scored twice. He played 12 games in the 2nd Division and scored 10 goals and was then transferred to Hibs. Joe was one the first players to go to Italy with Denis Law and Jimmy Greaves. He was pleased to get back having had a car accident. He did not go to Italy with us in the Anglo-Italian Cup because he was still wanted by the police for interview regarding the accident. Nice fella mind. Alan (The Bomber) Brown was not popular at all and yet he had a decent team in that first year in the 2nd Division. Most of the 73 team were in or near the team by now. He still had people like Gordon Harris, Len Ashurst and Cec Irwin in the team but they would be gone by the end of season 71/72. he bought Dick Malone from Ayr in late 1970 and Dave Watson in December 1971. It has always been argued about Brown playing Watson up front when he was a better Centre-Half. They said Brown knew that but he was still the best centre-forward he had as well - so he played up front.

Dont know how youve done it, but you duplicated your post.
Anyway, interesting stuff. As a kid, I do recall a lot of animosity towards AB as iirc, he was in charge when relegated in both 57/58 and 69/70 ?
 
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The crowds gradually fell away and we ended up with a 8000 (?) crowd against Swindon and we beat them 5-2. The ball went into the wing of the upper Clock Stand and it took an age to get it. Charlie Summerbell, legendary football reporter with the Daily Mirror, wrote that he had been in Roker Park when there was not enough crowd to throw the ball back!
 
First home game in 70/71 v Watford only had 16500 !
Dropped to below 12000 for second home game.
Boxing Day v Boro got 42000, but next home game, 3rd rd fa cup v Orient, dropped to 18000 iirc !
When we stuffed Swindon 5-2 later on in season, less than 9000 attended !
Just seemed to be no hope from the get go. Can you recall why ?

Can other veterans shed any light on these seasons @Grumpy Old Man @Reiver @vinegar hill @The Fulwell
@Geronimo
 
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Aaah ok, another signing that didnt hit the heights ho hum. Tbf, we signed him in the latter stages of his career ?

12 goals in 40 games.

He was a centre forward but was only 5' 7" according to wiki !!!
The only Englishman not to have played in England when he got his first cap. Playing for Hibs at the time.
 
First home game in 70/71 v Watford only had 16500 !
Dropped to below 12000 for second home game.
Boxing Day v Boro got 42000, but next home game, 3rd rd fa cup v Orient, dropped to 18000 iirc !
When we stuffed Swindon 5-2 later on in season, less than 9000 attended !
Just seemed to be no hope from the get go. Can you recall why ?

Can other veterans shed any light on these seasons @Grumpy Old Man @Reiver @vinegar hill @The Fulwell
@Geronimo

I think there was a malaise around the club not dissimilar from the last two seasons. Brown as I recall was not a popular manager & we didn't make a serious promotion challenge till the season after the cup win when I think we missed out by 2 points. Obviously crowds picked up in 74/75 as we were competing with Man Utd for most of that season although we know how it ended. The promotion season (75/76) we averaged over 30,000 at home.
 
I used to enjoy those small crowds, sometimes only 100/200 at away games, especially the overnight travel ones. Tennick lad myself.
 
I think there was a malaise around the club not dissimilar from the last two seasons. Brown as I recall was not a popular manager & we didn't make a serious promotion challenge till the season after the cup win when I think we missed out by 2 points. Obviously crowds picked up in 74/75 as we were competing with Man Utd for most of that season although we know how it ended. The promotion season (75/76) we averaged over 30,000 at home.

Tbf, 71/72 saw a decent challenge, and we somehow got to 6th in 72/73 despite a poor start and, the cup run.
73/74 saw a serious challenge esp with 3 up having been introduced. We missed out by 2 points as Catlisle finished 3rd. We lost there 1 nil with a round 4 games left and it proved very damaging.
74/75 was particularly heart breaking as we played some great stuff with Norwich pipping us before finally cracking it in 75/76.
 
Think the game v Man Utd when Baker scored was my 1st ever game - 6 year old in the RE with my Dad. Start of a long romance. Dad always told me when we scored the crowd surged and I was knocked off the barrier I was sitting on and it took him a while to get me back out of all the legs.
 
Tbf, 71/72 saw a decent challenge, and we somehow got to 6th in 72/73 despite a poor start and, the cup run.
73/74 saw a serious challenge esp with 3 up having been introduced. We missed out by 2 points as Catlisle finished 3rd. We lost there 1 nil with a round 4 games left and it proved very damaging.
74/75 was particularly heart breaking as we played some great stuff with Norwich pipping us before finally cracking it in 75/76.

Forgot about 71/72 actually. 72/73 we had a bit of a bounce on the back of the cup run but maybe too late for a serious promotion challenge.
 
...just browsing through the magnificent Statcat with EL on in back ground and didn't realise how bad crowds were after our 2nd ever relegation 69-70 up til the Notts County cup replay in January 73.

Talk about a hangover !! Horrendous.

Anyone have much memory of 70/71, 71/72 and early part of 72/73 ?

The strange thing was that we actually made a right fist of trying to gain promotion in 71/72 yet despite a 5th place finish, we only averaged 15,500:oops:. Was this anything to do with the anti Alan Brown sentiment that prevailed at the time ?

After relegation, Sunderland never got going at all in 70/71 despite signing the much vaunted Joe Baker.

Thank goodness for Sir Bob Stokoe and the cup run and win to lift us out of the doldrums !
Started following Sunderland 1971. Remember a 5:1 win at home to Watford in front of about 8500. Alan Brown had just about killed any optimism. The structure of the 1973 team were there though. Remember nicking off school to see an fa cup replay at home to Cardiff on a Tuesday afternoon during blackouts during the miners strike. Around 40.000 there to see Bobby Kerr equalise in a 1:1 draw. Strange days
 

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