On This Day (24 Jan 2004): Lads seal FA Cup win at Ipswich, as McAteer-Wise feud bubbles under

01/24/2025 01:00 AM

It's a battle that would erupt as the cup run progressed.

Sunderland's return to the championship for the 2003-04 season had taken a couple. of games to get going, but we began slowly picking up a bit of a head of steam in autumn. A run of just one win in ten league games, however, saw us drop into midtable, before we returned to winning ways as Christmas approached.

A 1-0 FA Cup Third Round home win over Hartlepool, in front of more than 40,000, saw the lads register a fourth consecutive victory, followed by three points at home to Nottingham Forest.

An away reverse at Millwall, however, was an eventful affair. The game was notable for being on loan Wolves winger Kevin Cooper's one and only Sunderland appearance, playing 13 minutes from the bench, and two goals for the Lions for Danny Dichio, in response to Marcus Stewart's opening.

However, a yellow card for Jason McAteer, frustrated by the antics of Millwall's player-manager Dennis Wise lay the foundations for a story that would play out a couple of months later.

On this day 21 years ago, Mick McCarthy took his side to Suffolk to face divisional rivals Ipswich Town in the Fourth Round of the cup. Darren Williams, Julio Arca and Paul Thirlwell all returned to the starting XI, replacing the suspended Marcus Stewart, the injured Stephen Wright, and John Oster, who was on the bench. For Ipswich, Darren Bent and Chris Makin missed out, however Kelvin Davis and Tommy Miller both started.

In an entertaining game, both teams had early chances to open the scoring, Kevin Kyle putting narrowly wide after controlling a lovely Thirlwell pass on his chest and swiveling to take on the shot, while Jim Magilton forced a save from Mart Poom, while Arca and Pablo Counago both went close.

It was Sunderland who took the lead right on half time however – Tommy Smith, who I always thought was a pretty underrated player and should have stayed at the club longer than he did – scoring a side-footed half-volley after Darren Williams had won possession just inside the Ipswich half, surged forward and crossed.

McAteer wasted a chance to make it two before Ipswich piled on pressure and had a few chances to get an equaliser. The lads were rattled and kept giving the ball back to the opposition cheaply. So it was something of a relief when Sunderland got a second goal, through Julio Arca.

Although in truth the goal had less to do with any Argentine brilliance and far more to do with some horrendously bad goalkeeping – giving us a sneak preview of the horrors that awaited us the following season.

A McAteer free kick was lofted towards Kyle, who didn't get a touch on the ball, which ran through to Kelvin Davis.

Davis dropped low to take possession easily at the far post, but under no pressure let the ball bounce out to the feet of Arca, to put in from six yards out.

Quite what made the watching Mick McCarthy think, 'There's the keeper I want if we get to the Premier League' no one will ever know. One for Mick.

Anyway, Ipswich got a late goal back through Reuser, Simon Ramsden made his debut late from the bench and the lads held on to progress to the Fifth Round of the cup, where Birmingham lay in wait.

In the Football Echo after the game, a small column that followed up from the Millwall game, however, has pretty big significance when you consider the events that followed later in the season.

As most of us know, Sunderland reached the FA Cup Semi, facing Millwall at Old Trafford – and we lost that game because Jason McAteer – our captain – lost his cool and was sent off after being wound up by Dennis Wise all throughout the game.

The seeds for this, it seems, were already well and truly sown by this point.

After the Millwall game the previous week, in which McAteer alleged Wise had kicked him in the face as the pair lay on the ground, the former Liverpool midfielder had said:

I thought Dennis Wise should have been sent off. I think he's a cheat.

The referee was very lenient with him and if he wants the shirt off my back he can ring up Sunderland and get it.

Wise, in typical fashion – through Millwall's keeper Tony Warner, a former teammate of McAteer's – took him up on his offer, and McAteer obliged, sending Wise his shirt; laying the foundations for what happened at Old Trafford just over two months later.