He did a lot of great stuff for the club..and in the main I have a lot of resect for Murray. But......he should have made the most of Reid's side when finished 7th twice, failed to invest then, big mistake...aslo brought in Wilkinson, couldn't understand that.
He had a mixed time. He was financially restricted so couldnt push the boat out when Ready needed it Appointing Wilkinson is definatly his biggest cock up and in hindsight Ready shouldn't have been sacked either. He always had the clubs best interests at heart though and sold the club when someone came along that he believed could take the club forward. Id shake the mans hand if i ever met him again.
I was too young during his reign as chairman to loathe him for that, and by looking at what he's done off the pitch I think the club owe him a lot, I also have a lot of respect for him with the way he handled selling the club.
Wrote to him twice and got a letter back each time, signed by him. Always did his best for the club, so he's OK in my book.
Well Sir Bob did make a number of mistakes - as noted above - however for me he always had the club's best interests at heart, mistakes or not, and everytime we walk into the SOL we should just consider the huge achievement in getting the stadium built, closer to the city centre and for what was a bargain price. He'll always have my respect for that.
I used to have a beer or two with a bloke who went to school with him and he reckons as a boy/ young man that BM was SAFC daft, just like most of us, however he made money in life and tried to follow his natural instincts (as we would do given the same opportunity) but he made one or two mistakes and hopefully he will be remembered by our fans for the good things he did not the mistakes.
I live down the road from him, and every matchday that I've driven past his house he's had the Sunderland flag flying. Without him, we wouldn't have the Academy, the SOL or any of the other infrastructure that we have now. Yes, he made mistakes, but IMO, all in all, he was good for the club.
I believe Bob Murray always had the best interests of the club at heart, but for me he showed just how much he was out of touch with the average SAFC fan when he named the stadium.
Done some work at his flat in Whitburn. nowt flash just a crash pad. Agree with your sentiments re: the academy, the SoL etc but he did make mistakes, however imo he did good for the club.
Not denying he did his best Reg. Just sometimes he didn't have the dream! Always seemed happy with the status quo. I'm pretty sure when the Premiership was first touted and Sunderland was mentioned as a candidate even though we weren't in the top Div at the time. He said Sunderland wouldn't have been interested!!!!
For me he was a visionary who, for all he made natural mistakes in judgment, dragged the club out of the doldrums of the 80s.
As a frustrated kid I used to hate Sir Bob Murray but upon gathering a little more life experience I can now see that his contribution to Sunderland was on the whole very very good. Sir Bob Murray presided over the best times we have seen at Sunderland in many a year. I remember going 2-0 to the good against Man United at the SOL when we were 2nd in the table, superb memories. It's a shame things went pear shaped under McCarthy. Those were painful days indeed but on the whole I look back in gratitude for some wonderful memories along with the development of the new stadium and training facilities that formed the platform for where we are today.
he made mistakes, and at the time i felt he let us down occasionally. fact is, he put in place the things we needed to get to where we are now. quinn wouldn't have got a penny to save the club if it wasn't for the building blocks murray put in place.
Time has mellowed my opinion of Murray tbh. He was seen as a breath of fresh air after the largely depressing Cowie years but he ended up with a record of relegations that tainted his stewardship. I wanted rid of him for years and wasn't afraid who knew it. However, with the benefit of hindsight and the onset of my 'mature' years, I have a far better opinion of the man and his latter achievements. Our fantastic stadium, academy facilities and the dignified way he eventually sold the club to Niall, for THE right reasons not money, tells me he did have this club, his boyhood club, at heart. He is a wealthy man but he wasn't a billionaire. He did what he could and don't forget he was chairman during those 3 incredible years under Reid, Quinn, Phillips, Johnston, Summerbee etc. He would receive my warmest welcome if I met him today that's for sure.
Murray has always spit opinion for me though I'm totally at a loss as to why. The bloke saved our club. After the disastrous reign of Cowie if it hadn't been for Bob we would have gone under. BM didn't have Billions to spend but gave what he could even at one point offering to sell the club back to Cowie for £1 if Tom invested the clubs true value into the squad. Obviously Cowie declined despite constantly criticizing Bob for lack of investment beforehand. Even the name Stadium of Light divides opinion, or did. For me though there's no ego behind it from Bob. Just a nod to the miners who lost their lives in Sunderland and the region. BM will always be very fondly remembered by me for one stand out achievement that no one could dispute. The finest Stadium North of London. Cheers Bob.
imo he did agood job off the pitch [academy,sol,foundation]and the club was geared to go forward ,but it seemed to stagnate under his leadership,due to lack of ambition,drive and maybe know-how,i think he got out the club at the right time ,when i felt after relegations from division 1/ premiership in 91,97,03,06 a number of fans were turning against him. the club was in a healthy position when drumaville invested so i will always be grateful for that.
Murray did fine for himself out of SAFC and, did fine for SAFC but, he lost the way after giving Reid 20mil was it to spend then sack him after 3 more games. The investment should have been there when we were second in the league (maybe third) behind Chelsea at Christmas, when all and sundry were crying out for some new players in the January window to give us that final push. Personally not too bothered about him or the naming of the stadium, the Academy could have been handled better.
i agree time has mellowed i think everone, but theres allways a but we should have moved on and upwards during the skp erra
