Dave Watson: A Battle Bigger Than Football

March 1973: Footballer Ritchie Pitt, (No 6), and Sunderland FC teammate Dave Watson, (right), during a match against Fulham FC at their ground at Craven Cottage, which ended in victory for Sunderland. Fulham striker Steve Earle is on the left. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images) | Getty Images Dan Ballard’s sending off against Wolves dominated discussions around Sunderland last week, with the club deciding to appeal against his VAR red card for the now much-talked about hair pull.

However, while the club waited for the FA to predictably reject their appeal, elsewhere, a far more significant – but much less publicised – decision regarding a Sunderland defender was being made. This decision was not held in a VAR suite but in a Court of Law. And it was a stark reminder of how the game used to be, with potential ramifications for how the sport might look in the future.

If, like me, you grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, the sight of players running out onto frozen snow-covered pitches, where the white lines had been cleared to allow the officials to see whether the ball had gone out of play or not, was anything but unusual. We even had orange match balls to make them visible against the snow! If they weren’t frozen, pitches resembled a mud bath that wouldn’t have looked out of place in World War I, with leather balls that absorbed moisture and became heavier as the game wore on.

It was during that era that Sunderland signed a physically menacing centre forward from Rotherham. Dave Watson was intended to be the focal point of Sunderland’s attack but, between Bob Stokoe and his temporary predecessor Billy Elliott, Watson’s potential as a dominant defender was identified. Alongside Richie Pitt, Watson was at the heart of the defence that brought FA Cup glory to Wearside in 1973, and he would go on to enjoy a stellar career with Manchester City and England.