Alan Sunderland

Alan Sunderland (born 1 July 1953) is an English former footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Arsenal and Ipswich Town. He was also capped once for England.[4]

Alan Sunderland
Personal information
Full name Alan Sunderland[1]
Date of birth (1953-07-01) 1 July 1953[2]
Place of birth Conisbrough, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1969–1971 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1971–1977 Wolverhampton Wanderers 158 (30)
1977–1984 Arsenal 206 (55)
1984 → Ipswich Town (loan) 15 (3)
1984–1986 Ipswich Town 43 (8)
1987 Derry City 4 (2)
Total 426 (98)
National team
1974 England U23 1 (0)
1976 England U21 1 (0)
1978–1981 England B 7 (1)
1980 England 1 (0)
Teams managed
1996–1997 Birkirkara
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Sunderland was born in Conisbrough, Yorkshire, and began his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers as an apprentice who played as a midfielder.[5] With the Wolves he won the 1974 League Cup in a 2–1 win over Manchester City in the final at Wembley.[6][7] Sunderland also went on to win the Second Division title in 1977 with the Wanderers.[8] Altogether he made just under 200 appearances and scored a sum of 30 goals for the Midlands side.[9][10]

In November 1977, he joined Arsenal for £220,000.[11][12] Whilst at Highbury he switched from being within the role of a midfielder to that of a centre forward.[13] Sunderland became a regular starter for the club, playing in the 1978 FA Cup Final, which Arsenal lost to Ipswich Town.[14]

Sunderland's most famous moment came in the 1979 FA Cup Final. During the game Arsenal had gone 2–0 up against Manchester United, with goals from Brian Talbot and Frank Stapleton, and looked set for victory with only five minutes remaining. However, United scored twice in three minutes, with goals from Gordon McQueen and Sammy McIlroy, and extra time loomed. In the very last minute of the match, however, Arsenal pushed forward in a desperate counter-attack. Liam Brady fed Graham Rix on the left wing, and his cross was converted by Sunderland at the far post to make the score 3–2, and win Arsenal the cup.[15]

Sunderland stayed at Arsenal for another five years, forming an impressive partnership with Frank Stapleton for two seasons.[16] He was the club's top scorer in 1979–80 together with 1981–82, and featured in the Arsenal sides that lost the 1980 FA Cup[17] and Cup Winners' Cup finals.[18]

However, after a spate of injuries and the arrivals of Tony Woodcock and Charlie Nicholas, he thus found himself out of the first team. Sunderland eventually left Arsenal after netting 92 goals from 281 appearances for the Gooners.[11] He went on then joining Ipswich Town on loan in February 1984. He helped them to avoid relegation from the First Division, and made the move permanent later in the summer.[19] He played for Ipswich until 1986, then had a brief stint at Irish club Derry City,[20] before retiring.

Personal life

Following retirement, he opened a pub in Ipswich. He eventually emigrated to Malta[21] where he coached Birkirkara F.C. based within the town of Birkirkara.[22]

International career

Sunderland won a single England cap which came in a 2–1 friendly win over Australia in Sydney on 31 May 1980,[1] and also represented his country at under-21 (as an over-age player),[23] under-23[24] and 'B' team level.[25]

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Arsenal

References
  1. "Alan Sunderland". Englandstats.com. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  2. "Alan Sunderland". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  4. Alan Sunderland at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
  5. Davies, Gareth A (17 May 2005). "My Sport: Alan Sunderland". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  6. "Classic Match Manchester City 1 Wolves 2 League Cup Final March 2 1974". Express and Star.com.
  7. Fort, Didier (25 February 2001). "England – League Cup Finals 1961–2001". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  8. "General Stats: 1976–1977". Wolves-Stats. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  9. "Whatever haapened to Alan Sunderland". Football Fancast.com.
  10. "Players. A–Z". Wolves-Stats. Archived from the original on 1 November 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  11. "Alan Sunderland: Profile". Arsenal. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009.
  12. "On this day in..." Arsenal F.C. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  13. "Alan Sunderland". Arsenal Player Database. Arsenal F.C. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  14. Fox, Norman (8 May 1978). "The country blues show at Wembley". The Times. p. 13.
  15. "'The Five Minute Final' stuns Manchester Utd". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  16. "Stapleton's Arsenal years". Manchester United F.C. 15 September 2006. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2009. Initially I had Malcolm MacDonald as my strike partner, but later it was Alan Sunderland, who I formed a great partnership with. With him it just worked.
  17. Fox, Norman (12 May 1980). "West Ham's vision of glory carries the day". The Times. p. 10.
  18. White, Clive (15 May 1980). "Valencia beat Arsenal on penalties". The Times. p. 12.
  19. "Sunderland on contract". The Times. 7 July 1984. p. 32.
  20. Murphy, Colm. "Superstars of the League of Ireland". Dundalk Football Club. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  21. Hart, Michael (18 May 2005). "Sunderland gone from game but never forgotten". Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  22. "Five-minute final: Where are they now?". BBC Sport. 19 May 2005. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  23. Courtney, Barrie (10 January 2004). "England – U-21 International Results 1976–1985 – Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  24. Courtney, Barrie (27 March 2004). "England – U-23 International Results- Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  25. Courtney, Barrie (21 March 2004). "England – International Results B-Team – Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  • Alan Sunderland at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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