Brian McBride v Sunderland: The only Fulham goal that never was
Sammy remembers the almighty snow storm that led to one of Fulham's most Fulhamish moments.
It was the evening of Friday 7 April 2006 and as a 14 year old spotty teenager, I found myself ready to attempt something for the very first time...
No, nothing like that. I was actually at Gatwick Airport ready to take my first flight by myself .
My Mum dropped me in the parking bay and I headed up to the South Terminal, Fulham scarf draped around me and way too cocksure of myself that I had this under control. I made my way through the departure lounge and boarded the Friday night Flybe service up to Tees Valley Airport. I’m fairly sure the flight doesn’t actually exist anymore.
In fairness, I wasn’t being hugely independent; my Dad was waiting for me at the other end. He was working in Darlington at the time and as a result, we had pencilled Sunderland v Fulham as the big away-day that we would try to go to that season. Given that my Dad worked up north and that I was at school, away days were a rare treat at that age.
‘Treat’ may not be the right word though because this was peak “how shit must you be, we’re winning away” era for Fulham. We were imperious at the Cottage, but complete pushovers on the road.
Two weeks earlier, Fulham had slayed Jose Mourinho’s record-breaking Chelsea team on home soil, but on the road we surrendered every game meekly, even against sides below us in the table.
Then along comes Sunderland (A) - absolutely rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table. Not just going down, but going down disgracefully. What we now call ‘doing a Derby’ - but this was actually before Derby did a Derby.
The Black Cats went into the match against Fulham with 11 points from the first 32 matches of the season only having won two matches all season, both of those away from home. The poor old Mackem season ticket holders by that point had only actually been lucky enough to witness four paltry draws at home that campaign.
Fulham by contrast were fairly safe by this point, but hadn’t reached the 40 point mark. A win against the Black Cats would have effectively guaranteed survival, so this was definitely a match that Fulham needed to get something from.
On the Saturday, my Dad and I drove from Darlington to Sunderland and it was a beautiful crisp April morning. There was a chill in the air, but the sun was shining as we drove up the A1(M).
What I love about the Stadium Of Light is it’s one of those cathedral-like football stadiums, poking up high above it’s surroundings. I remember the giddy anticipation as we drove closer. It was extra exciting knowing that this was a winnable away game.
At that point, it still felt like a completely ordinary away-day. We briefly went to a cafe for a bite to eat and then we made our way to the ground at around 2.30pm. At that moment, just as we started walking up to the Stadium of Light the weather changed in an instant, huge grey clouds loomed over and snow started to fall around us.
It’s hard to describe, but it just wasn’t one of those days where it should snow, it felt like somebody had turned on a snow machine. In fairness though, we didn’t think too much of it and we entered the stadium and made our way to the away end, which is now at the other end of the ground to where Sunderland house the opposition fans these days.
As you’d expect, it was far from a big turnout by Fulham, a few hundred hardy souls rattling around in a section that could house a couple of thousand. No doubt we’d take far more today, but Fulham’s away support was a different beast back then.
We watched the last 10/15 minutes of the warm-up and as we did, the intensity of the snow kept ratcheting up and up. By kick-off it reached the point where the other end of the pitch was barely visible. Suddenly, the prospect that this game was in jeopardy become a reality, but as the two teams walked out, it seemed like all parties were content to just try and get on with it.
The game though was a farce. Rory Delap picked up an injury after 10 minutes after colliding with his own player and the ball barely moved on the sodden pitch.
A minute before that Delap injury, Fulham took an early lead through Brian McBride, not that many of us really knew what happened given that it was at the other end of the stadium. In hindsight, the soaked pitch definitely got the assist, with the ball stopping dead at the foot of the American who gobbled up one of the easiest goals of his career.
At this point, an easy Fulham win felt inevitable; this Sunderland team’s confidence was on the floor, and there wasn’t even toxicity from the home fans, just a pure apathy that their team would lose yet again.
As the minutes ticked along, conditions continued to deteriorate and eventually the referee picked up the ball and ushered the players down the tunnel. Right on cue, the relentless snow storm started to ease. Would this maybe just be a time-out where everyone waited to see how things developed?
Alas, no. The stadium PA announcer quickly informed everyone that the match had been abandoned and that it wouldn’t be restarted. I remember being absolutely gutted and even kicked a seat in frustration - it felt like such a hasty decision.
To compound matters further, as we walked out of the stadium, the clouds parted and sunshine re-shone from the heavens. The snow storm had passed right through and the weather returned to exactly how it was about an hour beforehand. I was incredulous that the referee didn’t just wait a few minutes to see how it panned out.
It was a long journey back down south and the only positive is that we were back home to watch the matches that did take place on Match of the Day.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to make the re-arranged fixture, which the Premiership stuck as the penultimate match of the campaign on a Wednesday night.
Despite going into that match with three consecutive victories, Fulham conspired to lose 2-1 with goals from those roll-off-the-tongue names of Anthony Le Tallec and Justin Hoyte, both of whom sound like regens from Championship Manager. The Black Cats avoided the ignominy of being the first ever top flight team not to win a home game all season. The word ‘Fulhamish’ is in the club’s lexicon for scenarios just like this.
Good luck to those heading up this weekend to Wearside - it truly is a wonderful place to watch football. Above all else, I hope you get to witness more than 21 minutes of action.
I was at this game after a great morning touring about with my son and Sunderland mate. Afterwards I got him to take me to the biggest Sunderland pub around and got well and truely pissed with their fans. I was telling them that this was the best result they had all season.
Remember it like yesterday. The one and only time I attended a football match with my father in law who despite being a Geordie and living in Jesmond was keen to attend a football match with me. We stayed at the Seaburn Hotel which happened to be where the Fulham squad was staying. We were always destined to lose the re-arranged fixture ...