On This Day (24th November 1979): Argus catalogues the fortunes of Sunderland one last time
Today at 02:04 AM
It was a historic day at Roker Park as a Wearside institution filed their final match report!
Seven days ago, our 'On This Day' feature looked back at a vital win from 1979, when the Lads beat a dangerous Notts County side to move back into the top ten of Division Two and inject some much-needed belief into the campaign.
A week later, Ken Knighton's team were back in action at home and it was to be another significant occasion – and not just because of how the game panned out.
For generations the Sunderland Echo's full time SAFC first team reporter 'Argus' had been providing supporters with much valued analysis and information on everything that was happening on the pitch and behind the scenes, but the visit of Bristol Rovers was to be the last watching brief now that the hugely respected Billy Butterfield was stepping down from the role.
About to turn 65, Butterfield had been that most important voice across three decades yet his replacement, Geoff Storey, was not going to continue using the pen name – bringing an end to an era that had started in the 1910s when Captain Jack Anderson first took up the pseudonym.
Storey, like Butterfield, had already been working for the paper covering other sports and teams before stepping up into the top job. Having previously reported on the reserves as 'Vedra', a Roman word sometimes used to refer to the River Wear, Storey would himself become a major part of the landscape during a period when local print media was the first port of call for supporters wanting to keep up to date. Somewhat fittingly, the Argus tag had come from an all seeing figure in Greek mythology and Butterfield had more than ably carried on the torch from Anderson in his duties before that – he was diligent in his work and respected by those inside the club*, even when he had to be critical.
Able to paint a vivid picture in the days before widespread television coverage, Butterfield would remain impartial and even handed despite being a huge fan of the side himself – he famously opted not to accept the FA Cup final tickets he was annually entitled to as a sports editor unless Sunderland were to compete in the fixture, and of course his patience paid off when in 1973 he was able to bring news of the club's most glorious post war achievement from the heart of Wembley in the 5th of May's Sports Edition of the Echo.
A title winning boxer as a youth – having only taken up the sport so that he could write about it from a position of knowledge – Butterfield stepped away from the fight game once his future wife became concerned about the number of bruises he was coming home with. Football had always been his first sporting passion anyway and having originally been an odd job boy around the printing presses he worked his way up until taking over the Argus mantle from a December 1950 draw with Stoke City onwards. A canny horse racing tipster also, he signed off in pleasing fashion with a positive closing chapter courtesy of a 3-2 win against the Pirates.
That said, the second half provided a tense read as the visitors began to reel Knighton's men back in from a superb start. Mick Buckley, Kevin Arnott and recent new signing Stan Cummins were all excellent in the first half and the Lads went ahead as early as the 8th minute, Shaun Elliott hammering home with his left foot to open the scoring once Pop Robson had stabbed a Buckley free kick across the box. It wasn't long before the second came either when Cummins beat the offside trap to latch onto a Jeff Clarke through and rounded goalkeeper Glyn Jones.
By half time it was 3-0 and it was Robson that got what proved to be the clincher, reacting to a misunderstanding to cleverly lob the ball over three defenders and into the net. It would have been more but for a number of goal line clearances, yet Rovers returned after the break. Noel Parkinson did well to juggle and hook in and with less than ten minutes left things got even more tetchy; skipper Steve Whitworth had already been barracked by some sections of the crowd even though he was one of the more solid performers in the second half, and when Steve White had an easy finish to bring Rovers within a goal of the hosts the mood worsened.
The breakdown of a needlessly gung ho attack had put Sunderland in trouble and paved the way for Rovers' simple second. Bobby Campbell's outfit came on strong thereafter but Whitworth stuck to his job and helped his colleagues tighten up and ensure things ended happily ever after. Tyne-Tees were due to broadcast highlights of the match at 14:30 the following afternoon, but by that stage people had already devoured Argus' prose one last time, whether they had already seen the game for themselves or not, and will have certainly enjoyed the final lines. Hopefully, the more vocal objectors will have taken it in as well and reassessed their opinions on the captain.
It is always a shame to see a popular individual retire but the cyclic nature of football continued as always. Storey would emulate Butterfield and prove to be a journalistic stalwart, but even his service period was short in comparison to a lively debutant against Bristol Rovers – a teenage forward by the name of John Cooke, who would himself become a part of Sunderland's fabric in years to come.
The day after the game, the club held a banquet at the Mayfair Ballroom as part of its ongoing centenary celebrations. It was a high profile affair with several big name guests from Sunderland's own history plus the wider game, but Butterfield was still subject to two special presentations that evening recognising the esteem in which he was held by his colleagues in the press box and those that worked from the offices of Roker's Main Stand. Notably, former manager Alan Brown was always very effusive in his praise for him too, and once described Butterfield as the sincerest man he had ever met.
Saturday 24 November 1979
Football League Division Two
Sunderland 3 (Elliott 7', Cummins 17', Robson 42')
Bristol Rovers 2 (Parkinson 54', White 82')
Sunderland: Turner; Whitworth, Clarke, Elliott, Bolton; Buckley, Arnott, Cummins, Dunn; Cooke, Robson. Unused: Hughes.
Roker Park, attendance 21,292
