sunderland afc
& the charity shield
The Charity Shield is played for annually between the League Champions and the FA Cup winners. Although the fixture is the curtain raiser for the new season and attracts a lot of media attention nowadays, it wasnt always like that. In fact there was no Wembley venue for the game originally. Sunderland has competed in two Charity Shields, way back in the 1930's, winning one and losing one. Here are the stories behind both games. _____________________________________
First Match Report Scarcely a minute to go and the score is 1-1. Suddenly a mighty shot against the bar and the ball is kicked away. But wait! A linesman is flagging near the corner flag. The referee sees this and goes across. A little talk and a goal is signalled. A few more moments and an important football match is won and lost. This was the thrilling climax to the Charity Shield match at Roker Park. Sunderland had won in the manner described. Now to fill in the blanks.
 It was Carter whose shot won the game in such a sensational manner when the Arsenal seemed to be surviving a critical period. Carter the Sunderland captain in endeavour and merit was the Wearsiders hero. The all important shot struck the underside of the bar flew down almost perpendicular and spun out to be cleared. Now under the diagonal system of match control advised by the F.A. such a situation called for the presence of a linesman near the corner flag. His was the decision that mattered.
Nevertheless Sunderland deserved the victory because for 80% of the game they were the attacking side. Arsenals attacks were infrequent, defence as is their wont, being the primary consideration. The 2-15 kick off must have kept a lot of people away. The attendance was about 11,500, receipts being about £760 despite the weather being ideal. The football in the first half was listless though nice to watch at times but after the interval it enlivened considerably and 3 goals were scored. Sunderland took the lead after 53 minutes with a great goal from Burbanks who thus atoned for several first half lapses. He met a neat pass from Gallacher and crashed a vicious left foot shot into the net. Arsenal then bestirred themselves from defence and in a sharp raid got an equaliser 13 minutes from the end. A centre by Compton (D) went high into the goalmouth drawing Mapson out to the other flank. The ball was returned to the middle for Kirchen to tap it into the net. Twice in the next 10 minutes the Arsenal goal had fortuitous escapes. First Carters shot beat Swindin only for the ball to hit Hapgood and then another Carter shot struck Swindin's outstretched leg. A minute from the end came the sensational goal mentioned. The Charity Shield was presented to Sunderland immediately after the game by Mr. F.W. Richards, vice president of the governing body. Sunderland: Mapson, Hall, Collins, Thomson, Johnston, McNab (winners medal shown above), Duns, Carter, Gurney, Gallacher, Burbanks Arsenal: Swindin, Compton (L), Hapgood, Crayston, Joy, Copping, Milne, Bowden, Kirchen, Davidson, Compton (D) _____________________________________ Second Match Report Mr. H Whitfield of Middlesbrough was the linesman responsible for Sunderland winning the F.A. Charity Shield. Less than 2 minutes from the end of this game at Roker Park, Carter drove in a terrific shot. The ball seemed to strike the underside of the bar and bounce down into play. Immediately it was cleared by Joy but the linesman standing at the corner flag waved vigorously to attract the attention of the referee and after a consultation a goal was awarded to Sunderland. There will be varying views on this incident but the linesman was certainly in the right spot to make a decision.
 It was not an inspiring game. The first half was indeed very poor and it was not until Burbanks (pictured right) had opened the scoring after 8 minutes of the second half that any spirit was shown in the play. Earlier it had been the intention to treat the spectators to an exhibition but the intention fell short of accomplishment. What should have interested most was the battle between Gurney and Joy. The centre half got the better of the argument because of his height and his long legs plus an occasional nudge. Still Joy played a very strong game and he was never failed to cover Hapgood who played a steady game right through.
Carter was easily Sunderlands best forward. Gallacher was poor and Burbanks even more so because of the chances he had, failing to accept all but one of them. On the Arsenal side Bowden and Davidson operated well with the half backs in midfield but generally the absence of such players as Roberts, Bastin and James made a vast difference to the craft of the Londoners side. There was nothing very striking about the play of Milne and Dennis Compton while Kirchen in the centre is certainly not a Drake. If anything Sunderland should have won by reason of the chances they made. Swindin on 3 occasions was distinctly fortunate in his saves while Mapson only had one direct shot to negotiate. Sunderlands opening goal came from Burbanks. Carter slipped the ball across to Gallacher who put it through and Burbanks ran around Leslie Compton to drive in a pile driver which Swindin could not reach. The equalising goal was the direct result of slack half back play by Sunderland. The ball was sent wide to Milne who drew Johnston and Collins to square it along the ground and Kirchen managed to get in front of Hall and to touch it into the net. The attendance was 11,500 and the receipts £760. The smallness of the crowd was almost entirely due to the early kick off demanded by Arsenal to enable them to get back to London that night. _____________________________________ This wasn’t the first time that Sunderland had won the Charity Shield. If we cast our minds back to the 1903 win over Corinthians it had then been known as The Sheriff Of London Shield, but in those far off days it was an annual fixture between amateurs and Professionals. The FA Charity Shield evolved from the Sheriff’s Shield in 1908. As we shall now see we would compete for the Charity Shield again in the 1937/38 season, this time against Manchester City. _____________________________________
City at the second attempt in their history won the Charity Shield from the holders Sunderland in an interesting enough game if only for the contrast in styles. While the Wearsiders were the cleverer of the two sides they lacked the forcefulness near goal of City who would have won more convincingly but for some unaccountable misses by Toseland and the excellent goalkeeping of Mapson. Actually until the last quarter hour Sunderland were inclined to treat the game purely as an exhibition match. Carter, Gurney and Gallacher delighted the crowd of 12,000 with crafty short passes and rapid interchanges of position but it seldom brought any tangible results.
 With more responsive wings however they might have caused more trouble. The weakness on the wings spent the visitor’s effort. The young and inexperienced Rowell was out of his depth at outside left. Where he was slow and indecisive and rarely got the ball across. Spuhler (pictured left) on the other wing was hardly any better. Practically all through he was in the grip of Barkes and missed a fine chance of getting an equaliser near the end when Sunderland with an opportunity to save the game fought spiritedly. The game was generally of misses as far as the shooting goes though there were plenty of thrills.
On at least 3 occasions Toseland was remiss with the goal at his mercy. His crowning blunder came 15 minutes after the interval when he shot wide of an open goal after a splendid movement between Barkes, Bray and Doherty. Both Herd and Tilson also failed with the goal at their mercy with little being seen of Doherty except for his goal. Yet City swung the ball about freely and made ground rapidly to give Mapson and his defenders plenty to do. Johnston was effective in defence and there was not much wrong with the backs but Mapson was easily the star in the Sunderland rearguard. Twice he saved at full length and only his lightening anticipation and quickness foiled Doherty on another occasion after a shot from Tilson had rebounded from a post. Herd and Doherty scored City’s goals. The former opened the scoring 7 minutes after the interval with a drive from close in following a move started by Percival and a final pass from Tilson. Gurney later shot through for Sunderland but was clearly offside though he did not think so. Three minutes from the end Doherty clinched the issue with a header from a centre by Brooks. Manchester City: Swift, Dale, Barkes, Percival, Marshall, Bray, Toseland, Herd, Tilson, Doherty, Brooks Sunderland: Mapson, Gorman, Hall, Thomson, Johnston, Hastings, Spuhler, Carter, Gurney, Gallacher. Rowell _____________________________________ Sunderland would of course famously win the 1973 FA Cup to set up a date with Liverpool, the League Champions, in the Charity Shield. However Liverpool decljned to play Sunderland. Without Liverpool as opponents Sunderland decided not to play at all. This left that years Charity Shield match to be competed for by Manchester City who had won the competition in 1972 and Burnley who were the 2nd Division champions. It was mooted that the reason Liverpool declined to play us was due to the humiliation heaped upon Leeds United when they were defeated by Sunderland in the cup final. Quite simply they wanted no repeat episode. |