WITH Sunderland returning to FA Cup action this afternoon as they take on non-league Kidderminster Harriers in the fourth round of the competition, thoughts will turn to the heroes of 1973, who were the last players from the club to lift the trophy.

One such hero is Vic Halom, a powerful striker who played an integral role in Sunderland’s remarkable run to Wembley 41 years ago.

He only joined Sunderland in a £35,000 switch from Luton midway through the 1972-73 season, but the Burton-born forward made an immediate impact, scoring on his Roker Park debut in a 4-0 derby win over Middlesbrough.

His second game at Roker was one of the key fixtures in the FA Cup, with Sunderland taking on Manchester City in a fifth-round replay after the initial tie at Maine Road had finished 2-2.

With more than 51,000 fans watching, Halom scored one of Sunderland’s three goals, a long-range screamer in front of the Fulwell End that has gone down in history as one of Sunderland’s most celebrated goals.

Halom was involved again as the Rokerites beat his former club, Luton Town, in the quarter- finals, and was a key figure in the semi-final at Hillsborough as Arsenal were vanquished 2-1.

Wearing an all-white strip, Halom scored the opening goal of the game, a somewhat scruffy affair from a long ball that owed much to the striker’s tenacity.

Billy Hughes extended Sunderland’s lead, and while Charlie George pulled a goal back for the Gunners, Bob Stokoe’s side were at Wembley.

Halom’s physical and gutsy performances in the second half of the season made him an ideal foil for Ian Porterfield, and the pair lined up alongside each other as Sunderland took on Leeds in the final.

Porterfield’s winning strike might be a thing of legend, but Halom’s energetic display, in which he never gave Norman Hunter or Billy Bremner a moment’s peace, is widely credited as a major factor in Sunderland’s victory.

Halom continued his fine goalscoring form in the 1973-74 campaign, with his most notable contribution being a hattrick in a 3-0 win over Derby County at Roker Park. Despite being troubled by injury, he was a key contributor to the 1975-76 promotion-winning triumph, which saw Sunderland remain unbeaten at Roker in the league all season as they ran away with the Division Two title.

His chirpy character earned him cult status among the Sunderland fans, and he eventually left the club to join Oldham in 1976 having scored 40 goals in 134 appearances.

The Northern Echo:
Halom in December 1975

He went on to link up with Porterfield again at Rotherham, with Halom a playercoach, while his former teammate managed the South Yorkshire club.

He took up a variety of coaching and managerial roles with Barrow, Rochdale, Burton Albion and the Norwegian side Frederikstad, before leaving the game in 1987.

He reappeared on the North- East landscape in 2002 when he stood as a Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for the Sunderland North ward, finishing third behind Labour and the Conservatives.