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THE TEAM OF ALL THE TALENTS
Victorian dominance from the world champions (1890-97)
Sunderland won the league in only their second season, retained the title a year later and after two more years became the first club to be champions three times, being proclaimed 'World Champions' for good measure. This truly was The Team of All The Talents. For all of Sunderland's achievements since, including the near-double side of 1912-13 and the fabulous Raich Carter-inspired era of the 1930s, it is this period in the early 1890s that remains Sunderland's greatest and most successful period. It is the time that established Sunderland in the national consciousness as being at the top of the footballing tree. Regardless of the failings in any of the poor periods since, particularly in the post-Second World War years, this was the team of greats who did not just put Sunderland on the footballing map, but made an indelible impression that means when the giant clubs of football are discussed, Sunderland must be part of that debate.
Sunderland's support is second to none. Would any other club average over 30,000 fans in a fourth successive season in the third tier of the national league system, almost half a century on from winning their only major trophy in over eight decades, as Sunderland did in 2021-22? That unstinting support brought to worldwide attention in the Netflix series Sunderland 'Til I Die in 2018, 2020 and 2024 comes from the fact that right from the very early days of the Football League in the century before last, Sunderland's team brought pride to what was then still a town. That fierce pride in Sunderland and the wider North East has never diminished. It has been built on and renewed by other great teams, such as the FA Cup winners of 1973 and the record-breaking 105-point promotion team of 1998-99, but its origins lie in the 1890s side that featured greats such as Ted Doig, Johnny Campbell, Jamie Millar, Johnny Auld and Hughie Wilson. These players, and others among them, are legends on Wearside.
Preparations for the club's first foray into league football, in the 1890-91 season, commenced with a game against Scottish powerhouses Renton, themselves preparing to kick off the first ever Scottish League season. A year earlier Sunderland had signed goal-machine Johnny Campbell from Renton. (In 2024 Campbell was still fifth in the list of Sunderland's all-time top scorers, having hit 154 goals for the club.) In an era when the unofficial 'World Championship' was contested by clubs from Scotland and England - who were the only countries playing the game to any notable standard at the time - Campbell was the only player to become a world champion with clubs from both sides of the border, Renton in 1888 and Sunderland in 1895. As Scottish Cup winners, Renton had beaten English Cup holders West Bromwich Albion in 1888. But Renton had lost some of their best players to English clubs when the Football League commenced. These included the Harry Campbell - no relation to Johnny - who would win the English Cup in 1890 with Blackburn Rovers, having played against Sunderland and his old namesake teammate during that cup run.
Johnny Campbell was one of the scorers as Sunderland showed they meant business, taming Renton 5-1 at Newcastle Road. In five warm-up games only Middlesbrough held the Lads, earning a goalless draw on Teesside, but the big sign of what was to come was the hosting of Preston North End, the team who had won the only two league seasons so far played. Preston had been beaten in only four of the forty-four league games they had ever played, but were trounced 6-3 by Sunderland.
Having scored eleven goals in their two home warm-up matches, there was optimism in the air ahead of Sunderland's first ever league fixture on 13 September 1890. The visitors were Burnley, a club who had finished second from bottom of the table the previous season and had had to apply for re-election in both years of the league. The league season had actually kicked off the week before Sunderland's first game, Burnley drawing 1-1 at Accrington.
There was a shock in store for the 8,000 crowd at Newcastle Road on Sunderland's big day, as the home side fell behind as early as the eighth minute. Alec Stewart put Burnley ahead with the first ever goal in a Sunderland league fixture, the Scot scoring his first ever league goal. By the half-hour mark Sunderland had asserted themselves and led 2-1, Campbell nudging them ahead after John Spence had claimed the Wearsiders' first league strike. Spence had arrived the previous season from his hometown club Airdrieonians. Disappointment was to follow as Burnley swept ahead with a couple of goals in the next few minutes, through Claude Lambie and Alexander McLardie, and the visitors ran out 3-2 victors.
Just two days later Sunderland had the chance to make amends when they entertained Wolverhampton Wanderers. Forty-eight hours earlier, Wolves had been hammered 5-0 by Everton at Anfield, which was then the Toffees' home ground. Wolves had already defeated Aston Villa prior to that, and they made the trip to Sunderland looking to bounce back. Such hopes for the Midlanders seemed forlorn, as with over an hour gone they trailed 3-0. Calamity was to strike, however, as Sunderland astonishingly went on to lose 3-4, the dispiriting winner coming a couple of minutes from time from England international Harry Wood, who denied Sunderland what would have been their first point.
Football is a brutal and ruthless business. For all the talk about astronomical sums of money ruining modern-day football, the fact is that this is nothing new. All that really changes is the number of noughts on the end of transfer fees and salaries. Even in 1905, Alf Common's transfer from Sunderland to Middlesbrough for the game's first £1,000 fee led to questions in Parliament. Money was dominating the sport and, as we have seen, controversy over players being paid as professionals had already caused problems for Sunderland, as well as the wider sport.
After just two league matches ruthlessness reared its head at Sunderland. Monkwearmouth-born goalkeeper Bill Kirkley had been a stalwart of the club's early years. He had been at the club since 1885 and had played in all but the first of Sunderland's pre-league English Cup ties, as well as the opening two league games. Nonetheless, he was instantly dropped, never to play again, despite reports that he had been ill during the Wolves game when he made mistakes that led to the defeat. He would go on to play for Sunderland Albion.
There was clearly no room for sentiment at Sunderland, but at least Kirkley's replacement was someone who would become a giant of the club. Two days after the Wolves defeat Sunderland swooped to sign Ted Doig. Commonly known as Ned elsewhere, Doig's eventual 457 appearances for Sunderland remains the third highest in the club's history as of 2024, and is likely to remain so for many years to come. Only Len Ashurst, with one more appearance than Doig (including six outings as a substitute), and Jim Montgomery have ever played more.
Ted Doig's grandson Eric carried out immense research into his grandfather and claims that, in total, Doig played more games for the club than even record appearance holder Montgomery's 627, pointing out that in Doig's day the so-called 'friendly' matches that made up much of the season were usually lucrative and prestigious challenge matches that were keenly contested, unlike friendlies of modern times. What is certain is that Doig was a key figure in the success of Sunderland in the 1890s and beyond, when he became one of only two players to win four league title medals with SAFC. To 2024 he also remains the man to have played the most top-flight games for Sunderland - 417.
Doig kept a clean sheet on his Sunderland debut as the club's third league match brought a handsome 4-0 win at West Bromwich Albion's Stoney Lane. Albion were the only other club without a point at this stage, but despite their victory Sunderland were not rewarded with the points. Remember that Sunderland's first ever English Cup win in 1887 against Morpeth Harriers had to be replayed, as a player had not been registered in time. Once again, Sunderland's administrators had slipped up.
Doig had not been correctly registered, so not only were the club docked their first points, but they were fined too: £25 for the incorrect registration, caused by a slow postal delivery to the League headquarters, and £5 for a technical rule breach following a protest by Doig's former league club Blackburn Rovers for not having their written consent for him to play. Welcome to the league!
Having been capped twice by Scotland while with Arbroath - still by the end of the 2023-24 season the only man to win a full international cap with the club - Doig had played one game in the English league before coming to Sunderland. In November 1889 he had appeared for Blackburn Rovers in a 9-1 win over Notts County. Doig had signed for them after the game, accepted a £30 signing-on fee, but then changed his mind and returned to Scotland. Feelings were obviously high, as Rovers served a court summons against Doig on 14 December 1889 for 'stealing the sum of £30', only to settle out of court for the repayment of the amount less £4 travel expenses. When he played for Sunderland he had not been registered with the club for seven days, so technically he was considered to be still on...
