Sunderland 3 Blackburn 2 December 5, 1962

ON December 5, 1962, Brian Clough grabbed the winning goal as Sunderland beat Blackburn 3-2 in a thrilling encounter at Roker Park in the quarter final of the League Cup.

Clough, one of the most controversial men in English football during his playing and managerial career, had joined Sunderland a year earlier from North-East rivals Middlesbrough, for £48,000.

In his time at Ayresome Park, Clough racked up an impressive 198 league goals in 214 appearances, and by the time injury brought his glittering career to an abrupt end, his statistics read 251 goals in 274 games. Staggering.

At the time, Blackburn Rovers, managed by Jack Marshall were in the First Division, while Sunderland were half-way through their sixyear spell in the Second Division after being relegated from the top flight in 1958.

Marshall brought his Rovers side to Roker Park confident of brushing their lower league opponents aside and seemingly adopted a physical approach.

Rough tackling, body checks and fouls brought roars from the 25,000-strong crowd, but it was a moment of magic that left the Sunderland faithful cheering.

Clough’s 11th minute goal, which drew the home side level, was described as one of the best goals to be scored at Roker Park for a long time.

After surviving a Rovers attack, the Rokerites broke with Herd finding Clough with a superb 30-yard pass and the goal machine did brilliantly to flick the ball past Woods, before finishing with a powerful shot that went in off the post.

Clough’s goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of the visitors and, 12 minutes after equalising, the home side were in front.

Again Clough was involved, but this time he turned provider. His stinging shot brought a great save from Else, but the Rovers keeper could only parry the ball to McNab, who headed the rebound home.

As the game progressed, the more tackles flew in and at one point, it seemed the game could get out of hand.

But again it was Clough who let the football do the talking and, despite being given a rough ride by Woods, he got Sunderland’s third in strange style in the 84th minute.

A scramble in the Rovers box led to Sunderland appeals for a penalty and Blackburn a goal-kick, but the ball somehow fell to Clough, who shuffled the ball onto his right foot and blasted it past the goalkeeper.

It looked as if the home side were through to the semi-final, but less than a minute after Clough grabbed their third, Ashurst turned the ball into his own net to provide a nail-biting final few minutes.

And despite Ratcliffe having a great opportunity to force a replay, Sunderland held on to record the memorable victory – thanks to a fighting performance and some Clough magic.

Is your sports club celebrating an anniversary or a landmark achievement of years gone by?

Write to Steph Clark’s Sporting Yesteryear at The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington DL1 1NF, email steph.clark@ nne.co.uk or call 01325-505090