On This Day (13th April 1998): Reid’s Sunderland Don’t Rise Over Easter Weekend!

Sunderland Manager Peter Reid feels the pain after hearing Middlesbrough gained automatic promotion and his side have to participate in the play-offs (Photo by Matthew Ashton/EMPICS via Getty Images) | PA Images via Getty Images Looking through rose-tinted specs, the transition of moving to the Stadium of Light seems to have gone smoothly if you look at the points tally of 90 in the first season and 105 in the second – but it was a little bumpy to start with. For a start, our first season there was on the back of a heartbreaking relegation from the Premier League, and there were fears that a half-empty new stadium in the second tier was a little embarrassing. Added to that, the mood turned a little sour at the naming ceremony.

But, Status Quo and Ajax came to town to officially open the Stadium of Light – with a safety certificate that was issued at the last minute, and spirits were raised ahead of the opening day of the season against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Chris Makin and Lee Clark made their debuts that day, and Chris Byrne from the bench, as Nigel Spackman’s side welcomed us back into Division One with a pretty convincing 2-0 defeat. Three defeats in the first four followed, which resulted in the players being spat at as they left the pitch after suffering defeat against Norwich City.

By early November, Sunderland were down in 12th after a run of two wins in nine games, but two games signalled a turning point. First, a 1-1 home draw against Nottingham Forest saw the return of Niall Quinn from a long-term knee problem that began early in the previous season, and this was followed by a 4-1 win at Portsmouth, which saw the debut of Nicky Summerbee. By this time, through injuries to Andy Melville, Richard Ord and Chris Makin, Reid had looked to youth, and our defence now consisted of Jody Craddock and Darren Williams in the middle, with Darren Holloway and Micky Gray occupying the full-back positions.

Quinn also formed his partnership with Kevin Phillips, and we were off, winning 17 out of 25 league games. Then we arrive at the Easter weekend fixtures. Going into the Friday home game against QPR, we were second in the table as we trailed Nottingham Forest by four points – although we had a game in hand.