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BY SOBS
STAN
PAT
It was claimed numerous times during the course of last season that we “played too much football for League One.” It’s even been mentioned a couple of times this campaign, and one of the chief reasons for those comments is Patrick Roberts. Since the turn of the year, he and Jack Clarke have run at defences and spun fullbacks on a regular basis, with the ball never seeming to be more than six inches from their feet until it is released, not always to a teammate or into the back of the net, granted, but we’re getting there. This season, chuck into the mix the incredibly quick feet of Ba, Diallo, Michut, and Benette and Roberts becomes, with Clarke, a wise old head amongst a sparkling array of ball-players.
Once Roberts got settled in at SAFC, those of us with a few seasons under our belts began to make comparisons. “It’s like watching Stan Cummins” was muttered, and wise old heads nodded in agreement. If you ever saw Stan play, you’ll know what I mean, a similar floppy hairstyle,
a similar crouched stance when in possession, a similar shoulder-dropping movement, exactly the same height (5’ 6”), and a similar ability to run as if the ball was tied to his foot as he cut in from the wing. Oh, and they both played for the Boro.
Although often described as wingers, neither is a tradi- tional “head down, get to the by-line, whack in a cross” type. Fullbacks don’t know if Roberts is going inside or outside, and the same was true of Cummins. Some folks have claimed that in the goalscoring department, Stan was light years ahead of Patrick, but the truth is that over his two spells at Sunderland, Stan bagged 32 goals in
159 games while Patrick so far has 4 in 31. That’s a goal every 5 games for Stan and every 7.75 for Patrick, a dif- ference, but not huge. Stan’s career total of league goals (98 in 426) reduces his games per goal marginally, while Patrick’s (22 in 184) does likewise. Perhaps the fact that Stan scored four against Burnley in early 1980 has burned itself into our brains, as such a feat should. Patrick’s brace at Reading, half of his Sunderland total, is in our short- term memories (at least) because, despite being nowhere near the best goals of the game, they were both things of precision and beauty in a real footballing display.
Roberts joined his local side, Fulham, aged 13, while Ferryhill lad Stan took a year longer to be spotted by legendary Boro scout Ray Grant, who also discovered Tony Mowbray, Mark Proctor, and Brian Clough. While he
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was considered too small to play for young England sides in the, shall we say, less refined football times of the mid 1970s, Roberts has played at every level from U16 to U20. How times change. They’ve both been around the world a bit, with Stan winning USA’s Western Division title with Minnesota Kicks while on loan in 1977 and playing for Seattle Sounders four years later. Patrick has spent time on loan at Celtic, Girona, and Troyes, winning the league title in Scotland.
Jack Charlton claimed that Stan, still a teenager, would be the first £1 million player, and while Trevor Francis beat him to that, he was our record buy at £300,000 in 1979. City paid £10 million for Roberts. Both helped us to promotion in their first season, 42 years apart. They’ve probably got the same size feet.
If you didn’t see Stan play, look at Patrick as ask yer dad if they’re alike. One term that can definitely be applied to both men, a joy to watch.