On This Day (18 March 1953): Floodlit Sunderland look bonny against Clyde!
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The Lads welcomed their Scottish visitors to Roker Park for a non-competitive exhibition game on an evening during which several key players made their mark!
The 1952/1953 season saw Sunderland bring floodlit football to Roker Park for the first time, and the fans who turned up for a 19:15 kick off on 18 March were expecting another entertaining evening.
Exhibition matches against Dundee and East Fife, plus a Durham Senior Professional Cup tie against Darlington, had already lit up the night sky in the weeks prior and the latest visitors to Wearside were Clyde of Scottish Division A — said to be one of the most attacking sides from north of the border.
Victims of a cup shock at the weekend as they lost at home to local rivals Third Lanark, 'The Bully Wee' were keen to get back into the swings of things as soon as possible, whereas for Sunderland, this was a chance to reintroduce influential centre half Fred Hall after a spell on the sidelines.
There was also a late recall for veteran goalkeeper Johnny Mapson, who was brought into the side ahead of the untested Ted McNeill and Tommy Fairley when regular number one Harry Threadgold dropped out with a knee problem.
Sunderland appeared to be facing a fresh injury worry when Len Shackleton pulled a thigh muscle as he stretched for the ball in the twelfth minute and whilst he was able to continue, this was one of the incidents that led to a match that had started at a furious pace slowing down as time went on.
However, we did treat it like a competitive fixture and stuck to our gameplan throughout, working hard to keep our noses in front for as long as possible after taking an early lead through Dickie Davis.
The opener arrived when Davis headed in Trevor Ford's knockdown — the ball having been delivered into the box by Johnny McSeveney — and unlike in many friendlies where keeping possession seems to be the priority, both teams tried to attack thereafter.
Their efforts were appreciated by the crowd, although the attendance was down significantly from the numbers that took in the East Fife fixture two weeks prior.
The Lads had lost that one yet the consensus was that the reduced attendance was in no way connected to the level of opposition, the status of the clash or the attitude towards the late finishes floodlit football had enabled.
Instead, it should be attributed to poor recent form as we hadn't won a senior game in two months and a confidence-boosting win was therefore much needed — although Clyde weren't going to give things up easily.
A superb save from Mapson to deny Anderson was the highlight of the second half and Jack Hedley had to clear an attempt off the line to stop the visitors equalising, but most players appeared to get a second wind in the final ten minutes and that's when the leveler duly arrived.
Ring started the scoring move and then raced into the box to meet a cross from Robertson that he diverted to McPhail to put away from close range.
Despite this, Sunderland had just about shaded things and we eventually grabbed a morale-lifting victory when Davis passed to Billy Bingham and the Northern Ireland internal placed a sweet left-foot volley over stopper Wilson.
Further gloss could've been added had Ford tucked away a late chance but on the balance of play, the winning margin felt right.
Following recent results, manager Bill Murray was grateful for any type of triumph and somewhat crucially, he also saw two important members of his squad easing themselves back towards full match fitness.
Ford had only just returned the previous weekend after a nasty ankle break, whilst Hall appeared to be very comfortable during his comeback. Elsewhere, the experienced Jack Stelling was strong at right back whilst the emerging pair of Stan Anderson and Albert Snell did their future prospects no harm at all, with solid displays.
All in all, there were some welcome positives for the club ahead of a crucial return to league football against Manchester City, scheduled for a more familiar Saturday slot three days later.
Wednesday 18 March 1953
Friendly
Roker Park
Attendance: 12,861
Sunderland 2 (Davis 14', Bingham 82')
Clyde 1 (McPhail 81')
Sunderland: Mapson, Stelling, Hedley; Anderson, Hall, Snell; Bingham, Davis, Ford; Shackleton, McSeveney
