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HUNG UP THEIR BOOTS AT SAFC XI
BY COLIN BENSON
I’ve always enjoyed reading the SAFC XI articles in A Love Supreme, so I thought I’d try to create my own SAFC XI style team. I’ve put together a match day squad of the best players who made their final Profes- sional career League or cup appearance playing for Sunderland. This is my hung up their boots at SAFC XI...
RITCHIE PITT
Ryhope born Ritchie Pitt is an FA Cup winner at Wembley for Second Division Sunderland in 1973, so would be an ideal pick. Keeping Leeds’ fearsome attack in his back pocket alongside Dave Watson was no mean feat, and after his career
at Sunderland ended, he briefly played non-league with Blyth Spartans and went onto become a teacher. He was given the freedom of the city alongside his 1973 counterparts only recently.
RON GUTHRIE
Ron Guthrie is my final pick in defence, and another of the 1973 cup winning team. Born in Northumberland, he played for the unwashed up the road before signing for us in January 1973. Just four months later he was climbing the steps at Wembley to receive his winner’s medal. He would move into non-league football with Ashington and Blyth Spartans before hanging up his footy boots for good.
CENTRAL MIDFIELD:
STEFAN SCHWARZ/DWIGHT YORKE
The question is, who would make Sunder- land’s matchday squad? Any player who played their last professional game for the lads qualify for inclusion. It is not based on their footballing ability at the time of their last match, but rather ability when in their prime (even
if playing elsewhere at the time), achieve- ments in the game, cult hero status or other. This turned out to be more difficult than I first thought, as a player I thought had finished their career at SAFC ended up playing for someone else. Anyway, here are my picks in a 3,4,1,2 formation...
GOALKEEPER:
JIMMY THORPE/JOHNNY MAPSON
In goal, I’m splitting the game 50/50 between two keepers. The first, the man who literally died playing for Sunderland (winning a posthu- mous 1936 league title), and the man who took his place, going on to win the FA Cup for the Red and White wizards the following season (1937). It seems only right therefore playing Jimmy Thorpe in the first half and then Johnny Mapson in the second half.
DEFENCE:
STEVE BOULD
In defence I’ve gone for a three of Steve Bould (central), Ritchie Pitt (right side) and Ron Guthrie (left side). Steve Bould joined us after a stellar career in Arsenal’s famed back four. With us, he captained the team to seventh in the Premier League before hanging up his boots for good and going into coaching.
In Central Midfield, I’ve gone for Stefan Schwarz as the holding midfielder, and Dwight Yorke as central but slightly further forward. Schwarz would have struggled to fit his blonde bouffant into a space helmet (a clause in his contract to be available for space travel), so instead he stayed at the good ship SOL and was Mr Cool. He was always in the right place in central midfield, and always had time for the
fans which is a big tick in my book. He appeared twice at the World Cup, before quitting international football to ensure the lads finished seventh in the Premier
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