On This Day (6 Sep 1999): Roy takes on Gazza as new signing eyes first-team spot

09/06/2024 01:00 AM

New Ferens Park was the place to be on many weekday evenings during the late 90s.

Sunderland's first team was flying high in the Premiership under Peter Reid, and during the late 1990s, New Ferens Park was a popular haunt for Sunderland supporters in search of a midweek football fix.

Durham City's ground was the home of our reserves – when reserves were still proper reserves – and on this day 25 years ago, new summer signing Eric Roy got his first competitive action in a clash against Middlesbrough.

Roy, who'd played for Sunderland on trial in Kevin Ball's testimonial against Sampdoria, had signed from Marseille for £200,000, and was hoping a good showing in the reserves would see him in line to replace the suspended Alex Rae in the next first-team fixture, against Leicester.

Roy told the Sunderland Echo:

I have seen nothing in the Premiership so far that I need to be afraid of. I think the Premiership will suit my style of football, and I'm confident I can do a good job for Sunderland.

Kick off had to be delayed to let the crowd of more than 3000 into the ground to see Ricky Sbragia's team take on a Middlesbrough side featuring Colin Cooper, Andy Townsend, Curtis Fleming, Alun Armstrong, Neil Maddison and one Paul Gascoigne, who was making a comeback after being sidelined for three weeks through injury.

Alongside Roy in Sunderland's team were Kevin Ball – who lined up in defence – Darren Williams, Paul Thirlwell, Michael Reddy, Danny Dichio and new signing Carsten Fredgaard.

The game was billed as a clash between Roy and Gascoigne, and both game through the full 90 minutes – although at half time Sbragia swapped Roy with Bally, the Frenchman playing at the back and Ball shadowing Gazza – who didn't appear to be fully focused.

Ian Laws, reporting on the game, which ended 0-0, wrote:

Gascoigne delivered more wisecracks to the crowd than he did passes to his teammates. The Geordie was sloppy with a lot of the possession he enjoyed, and frequently handed the initiative back to Sunderland with wayward passes.

Kevin Ball's close attention in the second half meant Gazza's influence on the game in the second 45 was negligible, turning in a 'very quiet' second half – with the exception of his constant chat with the crowd and the referee, who eventually took the former England superstar's name for dissent.

The game itself wasn't great – Fredgaard showed flashes of his apparent pace, but neither team really carved out too many chances. Roy looked assured on the ball and keen in the challenge, and most importantly came through his first real action in red and white unscathed, and ready for first team action.

If I have a chance to play on Saturday, I will enjoy it. I have not played a full game for three months until tonight, but I have worked hard in training, and I feel I am ready if needed.

My big motivation is to play at the Stadium of Light, but for me it was a good experience to play for the reserves. In France, you will get 100 supporters at reserve team football, and they are mostly friends and family of the players.

Having more than 3000 people for the game against Middlesbrough made a great atmosphere and is another example of the passion for football in the north east.

Gascoigne was talking all the time with me and I told him not to talk, just play, as I didn't understand most of what he said.

He is a big player, but I think he cried too much to the referee. It is part of his personality, and I think the crowd enjoyed it because he made a lot of jokes.

It was skipper Kevin Ball – who'd been on the bench so far – who replaced Alex Rae in the line up against Leicester five days later; Roy coming off the bench for Gavin McCann with four minutes remaining. McCann had got the second in a 2-0 win, which moved the lads up to eighth in the table.

Roy did get a start in both legs of a League Cup tie against Walsall – scoring at the Bescot Stadium in a game remembered as Brazilian striker Bica's one and only game for the club.

In the league, Roy was off and on the bench until the dark nights drew in, making his first league start for the club in a 2-1 win over George Graham's Spurs. He kept his place the following week, too, for a game against Middlesbrough at the Riverside. Unfortunately, he was withdrawn in favour of Darren Williams just after the half-hour as Reid was reshuffled following an early red card for Chris Makin in a game that ended 1-1. Fortunately for Eric, Gazza was an unused sub that day!

Kevin Ball's departure to join Paul Bracewell at Fulham in December opened up more opportunities, and the Frenchman made 19 Premiership starts plus five games from the bench as Sunderland took the top flight by storm. He famously started alongside Paul Thirlwell – and ran the show – against Chelsea and was an incredibly classy player who added a lot to the midfield.

Despite starting the following season in the first team – in the Stan Varga game – Roy found himself increasingly on the fringes of the first team, and left the club on a free, seeing out his career with Troyes, Rayo Vallecano and Nice.

Since then, he's worked in football in various roles, initially as director of marketing, communication, and PR at Nice before taking on the sporting director role and then manager.

After leaving Nice under a cloud (and winning a court case for wrongful dismissal), he spent a couple of years at Lens as sporting director and a shot spell at Watford in a similar role before becoming manager of Brest in January 2023. He led Brest to a third-place finish last season, meaning the club qualified for its first-ever European competition with a place in the Champions League.

So, when Reggie gets poached by Real Madrid, we know where we're looking...