Lance Hardy

Tales from the Red and Whites: Monty, Benno, Lord Rowell and Sixer

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Lane Hardy: 'hopefully the first of many ...'
Lance Hardy: ‘hopefully the first of many …’


CONDOLENCES to the French midfielder Lassana Diarra on the loss of a cousin, a Muslim like him, in Friday’s attacks by the odious ISIL in Paris. See footnote …


There is not enough time just yet – for reasons I outline in a long footnote touching on the sadness of recent days – to offer a proper review of the volume of Sunderland-related essays edited by Lance Hardy, the author of a superb book on our 1973 FA Cup final win, Stokoe, Sunderland and ’73.

But it is right to record its publication, with the promise that as soon as other commitments permit, a full review will appear on these pages.

Pete Sixsmith was invited to write the review but declined, nobly judging that it was inappropriate for a contributor to the book to assess its merits.

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Sunderland, Leeds and Wembley 1973. Part 3: everyone knows where they were when …

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From the wall of my bunker in France
From the wall of my bunker in France

I feel we’re on a roll and shouldn’t stop spinning. Maybe it has something to do with not wanting to think too hard about next Monday night. Maybe it’s whatever I’m taking. But the 40th anniversary of Sunderland 1 Leeds United 0 is a powerful reason for going over the top. So as well as producing fresh material – Malcolm Dawson’s wonderful conversations with Jeanette Sutton over the past day or so; Monty, John McCormick, Ken Gambles, Bill Taylor and Pete Sixsmith to come – I am dipping into the archive. This appeared here in December 2009 to coincide with publication of Lance Hardy’s book about that great cup run and Wembley triumph. I have corrected typos but all else is how it appeared, so specific references (such as Lance’s then BBC job) may be out of date …

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Long ago, when all the world willed us to beat Leeds

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bobbykerr
There were no neutrals. Everyone outside Leeds wanted Sunderland to win the 1973 FA Cup Final. Continuing our coverage of Lance Hardy’s new book** on the sensational upset our Lads caused at Wembley, Pete Sixsmith wallows in the memory of a quite different world …

Photos from 1973 by kind permission of the Sunderland Echo

Patrick Vieira on £150,000 a week; Kenwyne Jones valued at £40m; Manchester United with debts of £750m and tickets for Saturday at Chelsea at a tad under £50.

Money, money, money. I don’t think the game has ever been so wrapped up in finance and it somewhat dissipates the pleasure of watching a simple football match.

There were days when football, and everything around it, was much more innocent. I was reminded of this as I read Lance Hardy’s excellent book, Stokoe, Sunderland and ’73.

The title tells you everything you need to know; it’s a book about the greatest FA Cup victory in living memory, the manager who engineerd it, the players who delivered it and the fans who witnessed it and who have never quite got over it.
stokoe

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The greatest FA cup final shock of all time?

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Stokoe and Sunderland

Just out: Lance Hardy’s carefully researched story of the 1973 cup final when Sunderland threw off underdog status to defeat Don Revie’s mighty Leeds and win the FA Cup. It needs a great leap of faith to think you’ve much chance of getting the book from Amazon before Christmas. But you can get it, by clicking this link, at the knockdown price of just over £11 (instead of £18.99 and it’s even cheaper if you opt for second hand). Colin Randall wallows in nostalgia …


Where were you when Sunderland beat Leeds 1-0 in the FA Cup Final of May 5 1973?

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