On This Day (20 September 1995): Sunderland's first-ever £1m player arrives at Roker

09/20/2024 01:00 AM

Unfortunately for us, it was four years too late.

Back in 1991, as Denis Smith searched for a replacement for Marco Gabbiadini, David Kelly was high up on his list.

As the evenings became shorter and the temperatures colder, it looked certain that the Leicester City striker would be arriving at Roker Park. Unfortunately for Smith, after agreeing a £250,000 deal with the Foxes, the Sunderland board wouldn't meet Kelly's £1000 per week wage demands. From looking like a done deal, the move collapsed.

Days later, Kelly rocked up at St James Park with Kevin Keegan, saved them from relegation and fired them to the title the following season with 28 goals.

Sunderland.

Smith had managed to seal the signature of Don Goodman the West Brom striker joining for £900,000 (his wages apparently not a problem). And while (Big Bad) Don managed a very healthy 47 goals in 128 starts for the lads from 1991 to 1994, the team looked more likely to go down than up as the managerial door revolved from Smith to Crosby to Butcher to Buxton.

Across the river, upon promotion in 1993, Kelly had been ruthlessly discarded by Keegan who was of the view he needed better to establish the mags in the top flight. The Republic of Ireland striker joined second tier Wolves, where he stayed for a couple of seasons before losing his place in the second half of the 94-95 season to one Don Goodman, who'd been sold by Reid's predecessor Mick Buxton in the December.

So, in a roundabout sort of way, Kelly arrived at the club as the man Reid was pinning promotion hopes on – and with a £900,000 fee, which would rise to £1m if the club went up, it was no small investment.

On this day in 1995, Kelly was talking to the press after sealing a return back to the north east. To the right side of the river, this time.

The striker, who put pen to paper just after the deadline to play in that evening's game against Liverpool at Anfield in the league cup (who knows, he might have taken the penalty instead of Mickey Gray!), said:

I have very fond memories of the north east so coming back is very pleasing, even if it all has happened so quickly. We sorted a few things out on Tuesday, but one or two points took a little longer than expected yesterday.

Reid, who had been keen on landing a proven striker to spearhead his attack, said:

I will be delighted to pay the million. Sometimes the market is inflated, but you get what you pay for with proven goal scorers.

David is a player I have been after for a while so I'm delighted that we have signed him after the speculation.

Kelly said that reason the 1991 move fell through was that, rather than wages being an issue, Denis Smith 'hadn't sold the club to him', but was very keen to play for Reid.

I have heard good reports about Peter Reid. Niall Quinn said you get nothing but honesty out of him and that's good enough for me. Wolves accepted a bid for me and, if you're not part of the manager's plans, you pack your backs and move on.

Unfortunately for Reid, Kelly's move to Roker wasn't anywhere near as successful his move to St James – for the player, at least.

Kelly actually got off to a brilliant start (bizarrely wearing the number 5 shirt). He put in a good performance on his debut in a win over Mick McCarthy's Millwall, scored on his home debut against Reading the following week, and the winner away at Palace the week after that.

Unfortunately, after just three games for his new club, he picked up a knock which saw him in and out of the side for a few weeks, and then – when a rest seemed the best course of action – he was called up for the Republic of Ireland squad.

With depressing predictability, while on international duty, he suffered a serious ankle problem in training. It initially ruled him out for a couple of months, but after a couple of attempted comebacks, when clearly unfit it was decided surgery was needed. An FA Cup start at Old Trafford was the last we saw of him that campaign.

On the field, the lads were firing, and won the league as Kelly watched on from the sidelines. And Wolves rubbed their hands at the extra £100,000 coming their way.

He did play a lot the following season as the team battled to stay up – although he was ridiculously deployed on the right of midfield, which was one of Reid's strange quirks – and the following summer, left for second tier Tranmere as we moved into the Stadium of Light and Kevin Phillips arrived at the club.

I always think David Kelly's time at the club was such a shame. With a fully fit Kelly up front, that 95-96 season could have been even better as we actually struggled for goals that campaign. If he'd stayed fit, he would now be very fondly remembered for his time here, too. Unfortunately, we're little more than a footnote for him.