As the years go by, many Sunderland wins may fade with memory loss, but never if it’s against Manchester United, so it makes me feel decidedly old to say I remember this win over the Red Devils very well!
It was to be the-then Sunderland captain Tony Towers’ twenty-fifth birthday two days later, so it was an early birthday present as he slotted home the winner from the penalty spot to give the Black Cats a 2-1 victory over Manchester United.
It wasn’t early as far as Sunderland fans were concerned, but it arrived with perfect timing to give them a much-needed boost and jump up the table. Towers hadn’t played for over two months and so it was a very welcome return to duty for our strong-tackling midfielder — a player I’ve always been very fond of and would be in or around my favourite Lads team of the decade.
If his deciding goal wasn’t enough to make everyone feel glad he was back, Towers was also the instigator for the other Sunderland goal, scored by Kevin Arnott. It all culminated in a very creditable win over a Manchester United team that was chasing a European place on two fronts.
Sunderland were one of several clubs involved in a dogfight towards the bottom of the table, and this win said a lot about our grit and determination to battle for our top flight status.
The win moved us up the table to sixteenth out of twenty two — the highest-placed of six sides all on twenty seven points — with only six games remaining, and our best position since August.
The Lads had been ‘dead men walking’ when moving towards Christmas and during the early months of 1977, winning only two of their first twenty five matches. This included a run of nine straight defeats and a ten-game run without even scoring a goal. Furthermore, Bob Stokoe had already resigned earlier that season due to the poor start, citing health problems.
Indeed, Sunderland had occupied one of the bottom four spots for all but one week — from September 11 1976, until this game — so you can imagine the relief and the boost the fans and team would’ve received from that climb (albeit on goal difference — the first time this had been used, as opposed to goal average)
New manager Jimmy Adamson had vowed they would do everything in their power to stay out of the bottom three (“But obviously, it’s going to be about what the other teams around us do as well,” he added). How ironic and true that claim was to become, but whether or not we could survive, everyone was given a huge shot in the arm from this fighting display.
We took on and beat United at their own attacking game, making a very fast start and with Arnott on hand in the fourth minute. Gordon Hill equalised from the penalty spot before Sunderland were awarded their own spot kick in the nineteenth minute, which Towers scored. This gave us a 2-1 lead at half time, which we held onto.
The best football was played in the first half, with Arnott and Gary Rowell in particular adding fluency and skill to proceedings.
Towers, who always seemed to be cool and calm when pressed for space, set Mel Holden off down the left, and his quick injection of pace caught the United defence out. United goalkeeper Alex Stepney couldn’t hold onto Holden’s cross, and Arnott was on hand to put the ball into the net.
The first of the two penalties was awarded to United by referee Keith Hackett when Sean Elliott brought down David McCreery.
It was a perfect penalty into the top left hand corner and although Barry Siddall went the right way, he had no chance of keeping it out. Hackett awarded the Lads a penalty less than four minutes later, and Towers matched McCreery’s spot kick prowess by also putting it high and out of Alex Stepney’s reach.
United couldn’t have been helped by the withdrawal of Lou Macari at half time but if anything, they seemed to play better in the second half, with Hill, Steve Coppell and McCreery coming close, leaving Siddall to count his blessings.
Luckily, Elliott was having a very good game; however, it was mostly ‘backs to the wall’ in that second half.
Sunderland: Siddall, Docherty, Bolton; Arnott, Waldren, Ashurst; Towers, Elliot, Holden; Lee, Rowell
After sharing those early and deplorable stats, it’s only right to mention that during the second half of that season, Sunderland’s fight and the turnaround in results was amazing.
Having gone all those games without a win and even longer without a goal, we then enjoyed a four-match winning run which saw us score seventeen goals. Indeed, in the last nineteen games, we only lost three times — almost champions form — and the fightback had been magnificent…only to be cruelly robbed at the death.
Historians amongst you will know that this was the season when Coventry City kicked off their final game late, and after announcing over the tannoy that Sunderland had been defeated at Everton, they played out a draw with visitors Bristol City to secure safety by one point at the expense of Sunderland.