On This Day (23 May 1970): A Long-Forgotten European Foray For Sunderland!
Sunderland are hoping to make a little bit of history tomorrow — but do you remember their 1970 European exploits?
As we gear up for what could be an historic moment in our clubs history — a first qualification for European competition via a league position —- on this day in 1970, we bowed out of a (thankfully) almost forgotten European trophy, the Anglo-Italian Cup ( ‘Coppa Anglo-Italiana’ ) after a 0-3 defeat away at Fiorentina. The initial version of the Anglo-Italian Cup was played between English and Italian clubs and staged as an annual tournament between 1970 and 1973. Sunderland were involved in the first ever incarnation, an invitational tournament that was sadly often marred by violence, a real scourge on the game in those years.
Indeed, the first ever final in 1970 was stopped due to crowd trouble, and Swindon Town were announced as the winners. During its time, the competition had a reputation for violence — not only between fans, but also the players on the pitch! It ran intermittently in various guises until 1986, when it was eventually abolished.
During the first ever competition, twelve teams took part — six from England and six from Italy. These teams were split into three groups featuring two Italian teams and two English teams. Two points were awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and a point for every goal that was scored.
For Sunderland, the tournament started on May 1 with a fine 3-1 win over Lazio at Roker Park in front of only 3,764, with the goals coming from Dennis Tueart and a brace for Bobby Kerr. We’d been relegated from the top flight that season with average gates of around 18,000, so maybe the indifference to the competition was understandable. The Lads followed that up with a decent 2-2 draw with Fiorentina, again at home, with goals from Mick McGiven and Bobby Park in front of a slightly increased attendance of just under 6,000.