When we got promoted in 1990

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Same as 1996, go up with a squad which was never really equipped for promotion let alone staying in the Premier and our big signings were Tony Cotton and Niall Quinn who were both out injured all season.

We were reliant on the prolific Paul Stewart to bag us the goals to keep us up. :oops:

Christ I remember that season like it was yesterday too. paul Stewart would walk into our forward line atm (what a goalscorer :lol:)
Jesus....... why do we have to put up with so much shit and mediocrity being a Sunderland fan ! :cry:
 


Christ I remember that season like it was yesterday too. paul Stewart would walk into our forward line atm (what a goalscorer :lol:)
Jesus....... why do we have to put up with so much shit and mediocrity being a Sunderland fan ! :cry:

Top scorer that season Craig Russell - 4 (!) goals

We still bagged 40 points somehow.

In my time, '91 and '96 were the relegations where we at least went down fighting (too young to have been there in '77)
 
Top scorer that season Craig Russell - 4 (!) goals

We still bagged 40 points somehow.

In my time, '91 and '96 were the relegations where we at least went down fighting (too young to have been there in '77)

aye, we had passion ! even if their was no quality !!!
maybe it's just the modern highly paid, under motivated footballer these days :cry:
 
aye, we had passion ! even if their was no quality !!!
maybe it's just the modern highly paid, under motivated footballer these days :cry:

There's that and the fact it's a completely different game these days, a lot more technical. People like Bally and Vinny Jones would struggle to get into a League 1 side these days. The performance Bally put in Vs Chelsea at home when we won 3-0 was colossal
 
I have to declare an interest here...I was personally involved in the Sunday People investigation so you don't have to be Holmes to work out my identity.... it took 10 months of solo slog on a fairly routine tip-off before we ran the first story. And then it snowballed....
I was helped by two very brave (and concerned) Swindon employees who were horrified by what was going on inside their own club. They wanted the truth to come out but it took a lot of ferreting and cajoling to turn their tip and assistance into hard evidence.
Never in a million years did I believe the work I was doing would eventually result in Sunderland (yes, my team, I'm a County Durham boy) winning promotion by default!
The first story, as already correctly indicated, involved Lou Macari betting against his own side in the FA Cup (against Newcastle) - he and the chairman picked up five grand when they lost 5-0...an interesting scoreline as Swindon were riding high and Newcastle were struggling in the same (second) division.
That was dramatic and emotive but what really did for them was the second part of my investigation which involved irregular (and illegal) inducements for players to sign for Swindon OUTSIDE the official contracts lodged with the Football League.
What made this especially dodgy was the fact that Swindon would often use the then tribunal system which used the players' wages as a key part of the "multiplyer" equation to settle on fees when the buying and selling clubs could not agree terms.
So Swindon would agree a contract back then with Player "X" for £500 a week but agree a secret side agreement (not seen by the League or taxman) for an additional £250 a week. Result: the player is valued at, say, £200,000 instead of £350,000 so Swindon can build a team in this way on the cheap, gaining an unfair advantage on all others in the league. Oh, and the taxman is defrauded as well! They signed and paid many players this way.
Ultimate result? Swindon are relegated two divisions after their Wembley promotion - commuted to just one division on appeal - and Sunderland are promoted instead; their chairman, Brian Hillier, is jailed and Lou Macari, who had left Swindon by this point, is sacked by his new club West Ham.
I was delighted, professionally, by the campaign we ran and, personally, I was down the White Hart pub in Fleet Street's New Fetter Lane raising a glass and a secret smile to the Lads.
Happy Days? I'll say.

The coolest post i've ever read on here,don't suppose you've any dirt on 3 premier league teams this season?:lol:
I got cracking on to a Swindon lass in a pub near Wembley(the greyhound?) Who offered to let me kip in her hotel room if I met her after the game(she was f***ing lush an arl) but I was so pissed off after watching that heap of shite I jumped back in the car and went home:evil:
 
I can only echo the comments that's coming Bill's way. A great, great piece of investigative journalism. Whatever else has happened with your career, you can feel justly proud you made a difference in your chosen field.

It was an exciting time supporting Sunderland, with two promotions and a relegation under Denis Smith's reign. I think, though, the architect for his second one was Lou Macari. And a certain Mr. Bradshaw. I doff my cap.
 
There's that and the fact it's a completely different game these days, a lot more technical. People like Bally and Vinny Jones would struggle to get into a League 1 side these days. The performance Bally put in Vs Chelsea at home when we won 3-0 was colossal

true mate, you need a lot more than huff and puff i suppose these days
 
The coolest post i've ever read on here,don't suppose you've any dirt on 3 premier league teams this season?:lol:
I got cracking on to a Swindon lass in a pub near Wembley(the greyhound?) Who offered to let me kip in her hotel room if I met her after the game(she was f***ing lush an arl) but I was so pissed off after watching that heap of shite I jumped back in the car and went home:evil:

We might just need that dirt! Thanks for the kind comments and I am always looking, believe me. Years later (well, about four actually), Newcastle banned me when I became Editor of The Journal because they thought I was going to do "a Swindon" on them! They tried to stop our reporters and snappers from going to Gallowgate but our coverage was never better! For Christ's sake!
I enjoyed being back in the North East but before long Fleet Street called again ...and I was off back to the Smoke.
By the way, couldn't the lass from Swindon have soothed the hurt? I'm sure you still like to think so!
 
Top scorer that season Craig Russell - 4 (!) goals

We still bagged 40 points somehow.

In my time, '91 and '96 were the relegations where we at least went down fighting (too young to have been there in '77)

Yes and no, I would say. Yes we battled to a decent points tally over the course of the season and were fairly unlucky to go down with 40, but I thought we were absolutely gutless at Selhurst on the last day, when it really mattered. Went down with scarcely a whimper.
 
I have to declare an interest here...I was personally involved in the Sunday People investigation so you don't have to be Holmes to work out my identity.... it took 10 months of solo slog on a fairly routine tip-off before we ran the first story. And then it snowballed....
I was helped by two very brave (and concerned) Swindon employees who were horrified by what was going on inside their own club. They wanted the truth to come out but it took a lot of ferreting and cajoling to turn their tip and assistance into hard evidence.
Never in a million years did I believe the work I was doing would eventually result in Sunderland (yes, my team, I'm a County Durham boy) winning promotion by default!
The first story, as already correctly indicated, involved Lou Macari betting against his own side in the FA Cup (against Newcastle) - he and the chairman picked up five grand when they lost 5-0...an interesting scoreline as Swindon were riding high and Newcastle were struggling in the same (second) division.
That was dramatic and emotive but what really did for them was the second part of my investigation which involved irregular (and illegal) inducements for players to sign for Swindon OUTSIDE the official contracts lodged with the Football League.
What made this especially dodgy was the fact that Swindon would often use the then tribunal system which used the players' wages as a key part of the "multiplyer" equation to settle on fees when the buying and selling clubs could not agree terms.
So Swindon would agree a contract back then with Player "X" for £500 a week but agree a secret side agreement (not seen by the League or taxman) for an additional £250 a week. Result: the player is valued at, say, £200,000 instead of £350,000 so Swindon can build a team in this way on the cheap, gaining an unfair advantage on all others in the league. Oh, and the taxman is defrauded as well! They signed and paid many players this way.
Ultimate result? Swindon are relegated two divisions after their Wembley promotion - commuted to just one division on appeal - and Sunderland are promoted instead; their chairman, Brian Hillier, is jailed and Lou Macari, who had left Swindon by this point, is sacked by his new club West Ham.
I was delighted, professionally, by the campaign we ran and, personally, I was down the White Hart pub in Fleet Street's New Fetter Lane raising a glass and a secret smile to the Lads.
Happy Days? I'll say.

Really good of you to post that on here and a great bit of work in breaking the story.

Will you be back on Fighting Talk anytime soon?

Great surname too.
 
I have to declare an interest here...I was personally involved in the Sunday People investigation so you don't have to be Holmes to work out my identity.... it took 10 months of solo slog on a fairly routine tip-off before we ran the first story. And then it snowballed....
I was helped by two very brave (and concerned) Swindon employees who were horrified by what was going on inside their own club. They wanted the truth to come out but it took a lot of ferreting and cajoling to turn their tip and assistance into hard evidence.
Never in a million years did I believe the work I was doing would eventually result in Sunderland (yes, my team, I'm a County Durham boy) winning promotion by default!
The first story, as already correctly indicated, involved Lou Macari betting against his own side in the FA Cup (against Newcastle) - he and the chairman picked up five grand when they lost 5-0...an interesting scoreline as Swindon were riding high and Newcastle were struggling in the same (second) division.
That was dramatic and emotive but what really did for them was the second part of my investigation which involved irregular (and illegal) inducements for players to sign for Swindon OUTSIDE the official contracts lodged with the Football League.
What made this especially dodgy was the fact that Swindon would often use the then tribunal system which used the players' wages as a key part of the "multiplyer" equation to settle on fees when the buying and selling clubs could not agree terms.
So Swindon would agree a contract back then with Player "X" for £500 a week but agree a secret side agreement (not seen by the League or taxman) for an additional £250 a week. Result: the player is valued at, say, £200,000 instead of £350,000 so Swindon can build a team in this way on the cheap, gaining an unfair advantage on all others in the league. Oh, and the taxman is defrauded as well! They signed and paid many players this way.
Ultimate result? Swindon are relegated two divisions after their Wembley promotion - commuted to just one division on appeal - and Sunderland are promoted instead; their chairman, Brian Hillier, is jailed and Lou Macari, who had left Swindon by this point, is sacked by his new club West Ham.
I was delighted, professionally, by the campaign we ran and, personally, I was down the White Hart pub in Fleet Street's New Fetter Lane raising a glass and a secret smile to the Lads.
Happy Days? I'll say.

Do I send the bill for the car repairs to you then. ;) I was trying to get into a parking space behind the Fighting Cocks in Durham - the space is now student flats when it was announced on the radio. I was that gobsmacked that I looked at the radio but forgot to put my foot on the brake and ended up bumping the car next to me. :lol: Didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Think the initial announcement gave Swindon the right of appeal and that only the first day fixtures were released.

We got lucky that year finished 6th went up and still buggered the next season up through lack of investment in the team.
 
I have to declare an interest here...I was personally involved in the Sunday People investigation so you don't have to be Holmes to work out my identity.... it took 10 months of solo slog on a fairly routine tip-off before we ran the first story. And then it snowballed....
I was helped by two very brave (and concerned) Swindon employees who were horrified by what was going on inside their own club. They wanted the truth to come out but it took a lot of ferreting and cajoling to turn their tip and assistance into hard evidence.
Never in a million years did I believe the work I was doing would eventually result in Sunderland (yes, my team, I'm a County Durham boy) winning promotion by default!
The first story, as already correctly indicated, involved Lou Macari betting against his own side in the FA Cup (against Newcastle) - he and the chairman picked up five grand when they lost 5-0...an interesting scoreline as Swindon were riding high and Newcastle were struggling in the same (second) division.
That was dramatic and emotive but what really did for them was the second part of my investigation which involved irregular (and illegal) inducements for players to sign for Swindon OUTSIDE the official contracts lodged with the Football League.
What made this especially dodgy was the fact that Swindon would often use the then tribunal system which used the players' wages as a key part of the "multiplyer" equation to settle on fees when the buying and selling clubs could not agree terms.
So Swindon would agree a contract back then with Player "X" for £500 a week but agree a secret side agreement (not seen by the League or taxman) for an additional £250 a week. Result: the player is valued at, say, £200,000 instead of £350,000 so Swindon can build a team in this way on the cheap, gaining an unfair advantage on all others in the league. Oh, and the taxman is defrauded as well! They signed and paid many players this way.
Ultimate result? Swindon are relegated two divisions after their Wembley promotion - commuted to just one division on appeal - and Sunderland are promoted instead; their chairman, Brian Hillier, is jailed and Lou Macari, who had left Swindon by this point, is sacked by his new club West Ham.
I was delighted, professionally, by the campaign we ran and, personally, I was down the White Hart pub in Fleet Street's New Fetter Lane raising a glass and a secret smile to the Lads.
Happy Days? I'll say.

Fair Play to you Bill........You should have been nominated for player of the season!:lol:
 
Just dug out this little gem. Written I believe by one David Robertson, who deserves an award.

We were on our way to Wembley
In the play offs to partake
We didn’t win a trophy
We didn’t win a cup,
But what really riles the Geordies is
We lost and still went up,

“The Makems finished under us
The play offs are all wrong,
We had six more points than them”
The Geordies whined along.

It started ten days earlier
At St. James park,
They danced around like arseholes
But wasn’t it a lark,

You should have seen those Geordies
They made an awful din,
But you should have heard the silence
When Marco’s goal went in

They came on from the Leazes
The stands, the paddock too
They were stopped at the half way line
By all the boys in blue

I’ve only one regret that night
They should have let them through
Oh I’ll never forget that magic night
The night Newcastle f*** died
 
The illegal payments issue was definitely 'public' because I wrote in my diary from then (I was about 10 yo) that I was going to Wembley to watch us play against Swindon and they might not get promoted even if they won.
 
Fair Play to you Bill........You should have been nominated for player of the season!:lol:

Ha... closest I got to that was when a scout spotted me playing for my school team and I got invited to a trial at Washington. I still have the letter from Alan Brown. 'Dear William, Owing to the fact that we have so many good young goalkeepers on our books, we do not think you will be able to make progress with us..'
It was very much a Dear John letter - but I'm still proud of it!
Definitely did more good for the club with that investigation than my goalkeeping ever could have done.
I guess the pen was mightier than the boot, so to speak!
 
Ha... closest I got to that was when a scout spotted me playing for my school team and I got invited to a trial at Washington. I still have the letter from Alan Brown. 'Dear William, Owing to the fact that we have so many good young goalkeepers on our books, we do not think you will be able to make progress with us..'
It was very much a Dear John letter - but I'm still proud of it!
Definitely did more good for the club with that investigation than my goalkeeping ever could have done.
I guess the pen was mightier than the boot, so to speak!

You get to cover many of our game now like marra?

And you do realise now any rumours about sacking, resigning, transfers etc you will get hit with a load of private messaging asking if you know out;):lol:
 
Do I send the bill for the car repairs to you then. ;) I was trying to get into a parking space behind the Fighting Cocks in Durham - the space is now student flats when it was announced on the radio. I was that gobsmacked that I looked at the radio but forgot to put my foot on the brake and ended up bumping the car next to me. :lol: Didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Think the initial announcement gave Swindon the right of appeal and that only the first day fixtures were released.

We got lucky that year finished 6th went up and still buggered the next season up through lack of investment in the team.

Tell you what... if you can find the bill, I'll tell you whether or not Swindon would have used it as part of their flakey financial deals. If it had a VAT number on it, NO CHANCE! Sounds to me like you thought the bent bodywork was worth it. If I'd done that, I'd definitely have laughed...my old Mum always said I'd laugh if my a*** was on fire!

You get to cover many of our game now like marra?

And you do realise now any rumours about sacking, resigning, transfers etc you will get hit with a load of private messaging asking if you know out;):lol:

I've not 'covered' the lads' games - or anyone else's - since I moved up into sports editing rather than reporting. That's definitely one of the things I missed about becoming a sports editor rather than being 'on the road'. Great times at the Evening Chronicle and The Journal following the boys back in the day though ... the teams of Knighton, Elliott, Durban, McMenemy (!), Ashurst and Smith.
Since then I've stayed as close as I can to the club and got on very well with Bob Murray (despite the odd row), Peter Reid (more than the odd row), Niall Quinn (top bloke, great for the club and fine football man) and, I have to say, Steve Bruce was a gent...I know that won't win many friends on this forum!
Now I am really glad that we have Martin O'Neill as manager and just hope against hope that this season's stats so far don't translate into another slog against the drop. The omens are not good but he IS a bloody good manager. Fingers crossed fellas.
 
I've not 'covered' the lads' games - or anyone else's - since I moved up into sports editing rather than reporting. That's definitely one of the things I missed about becoming a sports editor rather than being 'on the road'. Great times at the Evening Chronicle and The Journal following the boys back in the day though ... the teams of Knighton, Elliott, Durban, McMenemy (!), Ashurst and Smith.
Since then I've stayed as close as I can to the club and got on very well with Bob Murray (despite the odd row), Peter Reid (more than the odd row), Niall Quinn (top bloke, great for the club and fine football man) and, I have to say, Steve Bruce was a gent...I know that won't win many friends on this forum!
Now I am really glad that we have Martin O'Neill as manager and just hope against hope that this season's stats so far don't translate into another slog against the drop. The omens are not good but he IS a bloody good manager. Fingers crossed fellas.


alright bill,
i google imaged your name to see who you were.
ive seen you on tv, heard your accent and always assumed you were a newcastle fan. i promise i'll never throw anything at the screen again.:lol:

next time your on you should wear your mag slayer shirt.:lol:
top fella.
 
alright bill,
i google imaged your name to see who you were.
ive seen you on tv, heard your accent and always assumed you were a newcastle fan. i promise i'll never throw anything at the screen again.:lol:

next time your on you should wear your mag slayer shirt.:lol:
top fella.

Cheers Piston.... I often sport the red & white tie but the T shirt is food for thought! Bit gutted that you thought my accent pointed to the Mags (surely not)... Especially as it was first forged in deepest Dawdon Colliery in Seaham although it was polluted for a few years when the folks moved to Low Fell when I was in my teens. To my ears, it's far more Wear than Tyne!!
 
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