Chelsea v Sunderland

CFC: Champs £launderx17 · Dec 21, 2015

The Relic said: ↑

FAO Bristol Blue and SAFC83 (and thanks for the plug, SAFC83 - I wish it was true!).

I remember some of the firecracker games BB’s grandfather was talking about. One season around 1954/5, we beat Chelsea 4-3 at home and 3-2 away, both nail-biters right up to the final whistle! I remember Chelsea winning their first ever league title in 1955, with Roy Bentley banging goals in like no tomorrow! They were good games.

First point - Sunderland never built a lot of ships for the RN. Our river - the Wear - simply isn’t wide enough to launch them. Most of the RN work that got farmed out beyond Deptford usually went to wider rivers like Tyne, Clyde, Mersey, plus Barrow and Belfast. Our success came from small to medium cargo carriers - lots of them, particularly colliers, but also general carriers for everything and everywhere. So Merchant Navy here, rarely ever Royal Navy.

Sunderland’s most successful period in football was the 1890s, and it was heavily financed by J. L. Thompson, Jnr (who owned the most successful shipyard here throughout the 1890s) and by Samuel Tyzack who owned a lot of Durham coal mines, plus some iron casting and general engineering firms. But the origin of our success eventually became our downfall. The first and foremost thing you have to understand about Sunderland is that they were renegades. Always. They paid players what they thought they were worth, and generally ignored maximum wage rules. In 1904, several of our Directors were banned for life for illegal payments, and whilst that didn’t entirely end our connection wi th shipbuilding, it certainly removed some of the biggest players in it. Shipbuilding was in slump by the 1930s, and very few yard owners had the money for football any more. Since then, more general traders have joined our Board of Directors. That was fine - for a while. At some point in the 1930s, we were lucky enough to get the best Chairman we’ve had up until Ellis Short. His name was Ted(?) Ditchburn, and I particularly want to mention him here because I believe one of his descendants contributes to this forum - jdsafc? The problem with Mr. Ditchburn (admirable as it was with me!) is that he followed in the fine Sunderland tradition of being a villain. He paid players a decent living wage and to hell with rules. In February 1957, the FA had had enough. They banned him and several other Board members from all football related activity for life, and fully intended to expel Sunderland from the Football League. They stopped short of that, but made it clear that it was only to avoid disrupting that season’s fixture list. Since then, investors in Sunderland have not had the clout of earlier ones, and we’ve had to ‘cut our cloth’ accordingly.

That’s really the reason for our decline. Sunderland AFC is really two clubs - before 1957-8 and after 1957-8. There is no resemblance between the two. None.
Click to expand...

Great post and fascinating read. Thanks for sharing

The Relic · Dec 22, 2015

CFC: Champions of FFP said: ↑

Great post and fascinating read. Thanks for sharing
Click to expand...

My pleasure and privilege,CFC. And I'm particularly pleased to have written it on Chelsea's board, It seems to me you guys (and Manchester City) get a lot of flak today from others for "buying success". But that's not a new thing. Sunderland were signing great players by paying them great (if illegal) wages back in 1889. It doesn't take an Einstein to work out how we won three league titles, the first four years we were in the league! I see nothing wrong with that at all. Good luck to Chelsea (and Manchester City) is all I can say.

One last thing I'd like to say to all Chelsea fans - Merry Xmas, lads.

Blueman · Dec 22, 2015

The Relic said: ↑

My pleasure and privilege,CFC. And I'm particularly pleased to have written it on Chelsea's board, It seems to me you guys (and Manchester City) get a lot of flak today from others for "buying success". But that's not a new thing. Sunderland were signing great players by paying them great (if illegal) wages back in 1889. It doesn't take an Einstein to work out how we won three league titles, the first four years we were in the league! I see nothing wrong with that at all. Good luck to Chelsea (and Manchester City) is all I can say.

One last thing I'd like to say to all Chelsea fans - Merry Xmas, lads.
Click to expand...

Really refreshing to hear mate. Merry Xmas.

CFC: Champs £launderx17 · Dec 22, 2015

The Relic said: ↑

My pleasure and privilege,CFC. And I'm particularly pleased to have written it on Chelsea's board, It seems to me you guys (and Manchester City) get a lot of flak today from others for "buying success". But that's not a new thing. Sunderland were signing great players by paying them great (if illegal) wages back in 1889. It doesn't take an Einstein to work out how we won three league titles, the first four years we were in the league! I see nothing wrong with that at all. Good luck to Chelsea (and Manchester City) is all I can say.

One last thing I'd like to say to all Chelsea fans - Merry Xmas, lads.
Click to expand...

Went to the milk cup semi in 85 and cup replay in 92 at your gaff.

Both cracking atmospheres.

Bristol Blue · Dec 28, 2015

The Relic said: ↑

My pleasure and privilege,CFC. And I'm particularly pleased to have written it on Chelsea's board, It seems to me you guys (and Manchester City) get a lot of flak today from others for "buying success". But that's not a new thing. Sunderland were signing great players by paying them great (if illegal) wages back in 1889. It doesn't take an Einstein to work out how we won three league titles, the first four years we were in the league! I see nothing wrong with that at all. Good luck to Chelsea (and Manchester City) is all I can say.

One last thing I'd like to say to all Chelsea fans - Merry Xmas, lads.
Click to expand...

Merry Xmas to you and to SAFC83, superb and enlightening posts from the pair of you - thank you.

Chelsea v Sunderland

CFC: Champs £launderx17 Captain Ahab

The Relic Well-Known Member

Blueman Well-Known Member

CFC: Champs £launderx17 Captain Ahab

Bristol Blue Well-Known Member

Share This Page

About Us

Quick Navigation

Like us on Facebook

Buy us a beer!

Useful Searches

Chelsea v Sunderland

CFC: Champs £launderx17 Captain Ahab

The Relic Well-Known Member

Blueman Well-Known Member

CFC: Champs £launderx17 Captain Ahab

Bristol Blue Well-Known Member

Share This Page