On This Day (23rd March 1996): Reid’s Sunderland Make It Eight In A Row!

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - January 6: Peter Reid, Sunderland Manager celebrates after the FA Cup match between Manchester United and Sunderland at Old Trafford on January 6, 1996 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images) | Getty Images Ah, the summer of 1996 – what a time to be alive. Euro 96’, three lions on a shirt, the mags had just blown their chance of winning the FA Carling Premiership, and Sunderland had won Division One to get back to the top flight when nobody expected them to.

It came from nowhere, and as Bobby Saxton emotionally said on the day we lifted the trophy, “money can’t buy this”. Almost exactly twelve months earlier – the 24th March 1995 to be exact – Sunderland were in trouble. Mick Buxton’s side travelled to Oakwell to take on Danny Wilson’s Barnsley with a side that included two new signings, Brett Angell and Dominic Matteo, but we lost 2-0.

In the aftermath of the defeat, it not only left us close to the drop zone that would head to the third tier, but it turned out we could potentially face a point deduction due to the Matteo transfer not being completed correctly before he put on a shirt. Oh, and Buxton was sacked after the game as well – never a dull day. In a departure from the strategy that saw the three previous managers being appointed from the existing backroom staff, the board went all out and brought Peter Reid in a deal that initially only covered the final seven games of the season.

Optimism spiked immediately, and not only did the results keep us up, but the Matteo thing magically went away as well. Which meant that in the summer of 1995, we could hand Reid a two-year contract and start again. Rumours swirled during the summer that Reid might tempt ex-England teammates like Chris Waddle to come to Roker, but in the end, it was just Paul Bracewell who joined as player-assistant manager and John Mullin who arrived from Burnley.