Sunderland From The Archives: Which Games Stand Out?

Sunderland's Niall Quinn celebrates after scoring his fourth goal (Photo by Steve Morton/EMPICS via Getty Images) | PA Images via Getty Images Gav says… This is probably going to be a really weird choice, but I think I’ll go with the 3-2 loss to Newcastle at St James’ Park in the 2005/2006 season. I know, you’re probably thinking, “Well, that’s a bit sadomasochistic”, but I think enough time has passed since then given it was twenty years ago, and I’m still basking in the glow of our latest derby victory, so I reckon I can pull up my big boy pants and take it. I don’t think I’ve ever watched this game back, and it was only in the build up to the latest derby — when the club posted a compilation video of goals against that lot at their place, which included the ones from this game — that I actually saw the Sunderland goals, since I was actually in the ground that day.

It was a season to forget but we actually gave a really good account of ourselves, and the two thunderbastards we scored courtesy of Liam Lawrence and Stephen Elliott deserve to be showcased as they were, in their own right, outstanding finishes. I can’t really remember much about how it all played out though and I’m curious to remind myself of how we chucked it away with Emre’s winning free kick, so I’ll probably chuck it on at some point. It was a real feature of our play that season that whilst we didn’t win very many games, most of the losses were close.

We were never really battered and whilst the effort was most certainly there, we just didn’t have the quality. John Wilson says… One answer straight away: December 1999, Sunderland 4 Chelsea 1, and two goals apiece for Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips. It was one of the most surreal games I’ve ever watched — sublime goals and a sublime team performance.

We’d been hammered by them at Stamford Bridge at the start of the season, so this was beautiful payback. I remember going to the loo at half time and saying to the guy beside me (in the style of The Fast Show ) “So, we went 4-0 up at half time to Chelsea, which was nice. ” I’ve also got a mug with the game stats on, and it’s my go-to favourite league game at the Stadium of Light.