On This Day (23rd Sept 1985): Sunderland prepare for some major arrivals

Prince Charles landed in the region, quite literally in fact having taken been invited onto the flight deck to take over the controls of his propeller powered Andover aircraft, but whilst his appearance in Sunderland garnered plenty of attention the fortunes of SAFC were still making their own headlines too in late September 1985.

The Prince of Wales was in town to visit a Community Venture in St Thomas Street that had been named after him. Met by the Mayor of Sunderland Ralph Baxter and welcomed by thousands of local residents that had lined the streets, Charles himself had originally initiated the centre four months earlier and had reportedly been very keen to make a swift return. Whilst the May visit had seen him joined by his wife though, on this occasion the Princess Diana remained on the plane, which had set off from Aberdeen that morning and was due to go straight to London once the prince had alighted and been picked up by car.

Although a shame for her Wearside fans, who had delighted in the fact Diana had chosen to wear and red and white dress when visiting in May, royal enthusiasts were thrilled still to get a glimpse of Charles, who spent an hour in the rain chatting to members of the public following a meeting with project representatives tasked with helping train 18-24 year olds so that they could serve in their community.

Unsurprisingly, the visit was the lead story of that evening’s ‘TOWN’ edition of the Echo. The back page however led with an article entitled ‘Burley Keen To Sign’ that outlined managing director Lawrie McMemeny’s attempts to sign former Scotland full back George Burley, with the Ipswich Town stalwart confirming that he was keen to see the proposed switch take place. Speaking ahead of what was expected to be a £50,000 transfer, the defender was quoted as saying “I need to make a fresh start and also have to look after my family.”

Things were then wrapped up on the 25^th of September, at the same time McMenemy was said to have approached Everton and made an enquiry for former Roker favourite Ian Atkins whilst also considering approaches for Howard Gayle, Clive Walker and David Corner. It was a hectic period for Sunderland certainly, as in the days prior to the Prince of Wales’s appearance the club had been as busy in a footballing sense as the town had been preparing for their Monday royal appointment.

The weekend just gone had been quite extraordinary, with the Lads finally securing a long awaited first win of the season at Shrewsbury Town. This was despite them falling behind to an early Colin Robinson goal, which was cancelled out by Nick Pickering just before half time, and whilst the opener had been given away cheaply the leveller that came via a goalmouth scramble was fully deserved. Better still, Sunderland resisted a sustained period of pressure after the break and hit back with a fantastic Pickering volley in the closing stages to take the points.

The victory had been most welcome and completed a double of sorts coming on the back of Alan Kennedy’s move to his hometown team a day earlier. The local press on the morning of the game had covered the story extensively, with Newcastle United furious that the ex-Liverpool man had, despite reaching a verbal agreement earlier in the week, decided against a return to St James’ Park at the last minute and plumped for Roker instead. The relationship between the two North East clubs was said to have soured due to the ‘snatch drama’, with Newcastle intimating that Sunderland’s approach had been in some way duplicitous. As for Kennedy himself, he stated that he had made several attempts to contact United boss Willie McFaul to explain his change of heart, and that he was still keen to speak to him and set the record straight.

The situation was reminiscent of Eric Gates’ arrival six weeks earlier. He too had been due to sign for Newcastle only to scrap that plan and come to Sunderland instead, so with two big name arrivals being pinched from under the noses of their greatest rivals’, supporters were getting a bit of a spring in their step. Burley’s imminent move also meant that both full back positions had been strengthened, and added to the victory at Gay Meadow, there was cause for optimism. There had been a healthy number of traveling fans in Shropshire anyway and their return journey was all the sweeter, despite the heavy rain endured, but even with their presence on the terraces the attendance was well below the figures the team were used to prior to relegation out of the top flight at the end of the previous relegation.

Although the 3,919 spectators recorded was about average for Shrewsbury, the figure still represented the lowest league crowd Sunderland had appeared in front of since a game played against Oldham Athletic during World War I. The 1^st of February 1915 had witnessed another away win for the Lads, whilst this latest success didn’t just bolstered the fans, but McMenemy himself. His first win appeared to suggest his work in the transfer market was going to bear fruit, with debutant Bob Bolder looking particularly good having sealed an initial loan deal just ahead of the Football League’s 17:00 deadline the day before the match, and his move would in time become permanent.

The Sunderland supremo claimed that it was when talking to Bolder’s parent club Liverpool and he was casually informed that Kennedy would not be moving to Newcastle that he decided to pounce for the man in the middle of the latest Wear Tyne saga. Whatever the exact details though, it was obvious that he still had more activity in mind. When confirming the Bolder arrangements on the 20^th of September, the Echo touched on an emerging link with Cambridge United’s Andy Sinton too, and as a side note, featured McMenemy’s explanation that Gordon Chisholm’s Hibernian link up, rubberstamped that day, had been for a nominal amount purely as a goodwill gesture in recognition of his fine service, and not because anybody had been trying to push him out of the door.

Unfortunately, the rebuild proved unsatisfactory for most of those concerned. Some of the new faces did well for themselves but in general terms McMenemy’s policy of bringing in older heads was disastrous, as was pretty much every other aspect of his reign too. A lot of water has passed under the Wearmouth Bridge in the 40 years that have passed however, with Burley for instance going on to become a respected manager himself. And as for Prince Charles, he too has taken on a different role since his own Sunderland sojourn…

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