On This Day (30 March 1996): Michael Bridges steps into the spotlight!
03/30/2025 01:00 AM
Bridges' best days in a Sunderland shirt were yet to come, but the youngster served notice of his talent against Huddersfield — with an actor of some distinction looking on!
Fans going to watch Sunderland take on Huddersfield Town could've seen a new player — albeit a very familiar one — joining the squad had Sheffield Wednesday boss David Pleat played ball earlier in the week, but Peter Reid's frustration in the transfer market was soon forgotten as a homegrown talent took centre stage instead.
Reid told The Echo's Geoff Storey on the morning of the match that he'd been in contact with the Yorkshire outfit over a transfer deadline day deal to bring Chris Waddle to the club, thinking that the former England star could've added a bit of sparkle to the Lads' push for a Premiership place.
However, with the Owls still not assured of their own place in the top flight and not fully clear of the relegation zone at that point, his counterpart at Hillsborough decided in the end that he wanted to keep his talismanic winger, and so the move was scuppered at the final hurdle.
In the main, Reid was happy with the players he had at his disposal already and admitted his intentions for Waddle would've been to bring him on from the bench should an extra bit of flair and experience been needed during the run in.
As it happened, he did need to look to his substitutes when it looked like things were going awry against the Terriers, but rather than being able to bring on a player who'd been there and seen it all before, he opted for a lad at the start of his career with the youthful promise of rising prospect Michael Bridges proving equally capable of making the difference.
Although there were to be no new signings to welcome to the club, crowd favourite Tony Norman got a fantastic reception as he took his place in goal for Huddersfield on his first visit to Roker since leaving during the summer.
He made a superb early save to tip a Paul Stewart header over the bar and keep the game goalless, but for all of Sunderland's subsequent pressure, we were stunned to find ourselves behind in the 21st minute, when Rob Edwards hit a fantastic shot into the net from the edge of the box.
However, the response was almost immediate and in a rare instance of Sunderland attacking the Fulwell End in the first half, Steve Agnew quickly got the ball into the box and Kevin Ball was there to nod past his old teammate Norman from six yards out.
Michael Gray was next to test the Welsh international, only for Norman to produce another top save, but if there was shock at the visitors initially going ahead, the reaction to Huddersfield regaining the advantage with almost an hour gone was sheer bewilderment.
Not only had the home defence been rock solid in recent weeks — having only conceded once in their last eight outings — Huddersfield had been reduced to ten men at the end of the first half and looked even less likely to get another goal after the break.
Ben Thornley had only just been booked for a nasty challenge on Dariusz Kubicki when referee Neale Barry blew for half time, and the official was unimpressed with the way the on-loan winger threw the ball back to him, and so decided to issue a second yellow.
Although Brian Horton's side felt hard done by after the incident, they struggled to create much and it was via a set piece that Andy Booth made it 1-2 as he reached a corner first and headed in powerfully.
Sunderland went in search of another swift equaliser but were foiled once again by Norman as he pushed an Agnew attempt onto the woodwork.
Stewart then had another attempt and Martin Scott saw a long range effort go wide, and with time running out and the side struggling to make a breakthrough, Reid made his switch.
It was the perfect time to introduce somebody with the guile of Waddle, and Bridges was the young pretender ready to step up and prove he had skills of his own with which to do some damage.
After a 'pep talk' from Ball as he entered the fray, he was soon involved, forcing a corner and then coming close when the set piece fell to him, before finding the target when he ran onto Stewart's knock across the box from an Agnew free kick.
It was his first senior goal on a heavily sanded Roker Park pitch, but more was to come as Bridges grabbed a dramatic late winner when Kubicki floated a beautiful cross into the danger area and the man (or boy) of the moment nipped in ahead of Stewart to spark wild scenes in the stands.
Sat amongst the jubilant crowd was Waddle himself, although he would have to wait a while longer to become a Sunderland player (he'd been a Lads fan since growing up) and Huddersfield-supporting actor Patrick Stewart, whose best known role at that point was as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
However, it was Bridges who boldly went where no substitute had gone since 1975, becoming the first player since Mel Holden to score twice for the Lads after coming off the bench.
In an alternative world, the striker could've been spending his Saturday lining up for the club's youth team in their Northern Intermediate League encounter with Rotherham United.
That match was won 2-1 with Sam Aiston getting on the scoresheet — the winger having also featured for the first team earlier in the campaign — but his counterpart Bridges was now in the limelight, as not only had he emulated Holden's performance in a win at Charlton Athletic that had taken place three years before he was even born, but at seventeen, he'd also set a record as the youngest Sunderland player to ever score a first team brace.
His goals helped to secure a ninth league win in a row, equalling another club record, and completed Sunderland's first come-from-behind victory in the league since 1991 — not bad going considering the day had begun on a bit of a downer with the revelation of how close Sunderland had been to making a big-name signing.
Saturday 30 March 1996
Endsleigh League Division One
Roker Park
Attendance: 20,131
Sunderland 3 (Ball 23', Bridges 82', 86')
Huddersfield Town 1 (Edwards 20', Booth 58')
Sunderland: Given, Kubicki, Ord; Melville, Scott, M.Gray; Bracewell, Ball, Agnew; Russell (Bridges 75'), Stewart
Unused: Hall, Howey
