Sunderland 23 v 0 Castletown

Durham Challenge Cup, 20 December 1884

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This game was originally intended to be a Durham County Cup tie but the visitors turned up 3 players short and scratched in favour of the home side who are the current Cup holders. A game was still arranged with Castletown borrowing 3 Sunderland reserve players to bring them up to strength. The visitors were absolutely overwhelmed and in the 90 minutes play Sunderland ran in 23 goals. Briggs, Nicholson and the Castletown goalkeeper played well for the losers in a game that was umpired by Dr. Wilson of Birtley.

In 1931 John Grayston, the only surviving member of the original 1879 Committee wrote his Sunderland AFC Memoirs in the Sunderland Weekly News. Although he recounted the score as 22 v 0 and also that the match was a friendly following a challenge from Hylton’s Colonel Briggs, he wrote that “his Sister rode round the field on horseback to cheer her Brother on.” Quite what the Sunderland players made of that is anyone’s guess! Grayston confirms that “I got some of them” i.e. some of the goals.

This was the highest recorded vistory ever by a Sunderland team and also the highest individual scoring record with James Allan (pictured above) alleged to have scored 12 of the Sunderland goals.