Countdown to the 128th Tyne-Wear derby

Apr 16 2008 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

Click here to view a photo gallery of previous derby matches

May 16, 1990 was one of the most notorious nights in Tyne-Wear derby day history, and for one former Sunderland striker it remains more memorable than most. Mark Douglas talked to Eric Gates about a game he’ll never forget

ERIC Gates’ memories of the goal that sent shockwaves through North East football 18 years ago have been clouded by time, but he remembers with razor-sharp clarity the look of hatred he was shot by a Newcastle fan before the game.

The uninitiated Gates was the proud scorer of one of the most important goals in the Tyne-Wear derby’s 125-year history when he lit the blue touch paper under the 1990 play-off semi-final powderkeg with the first of two goals that earned Sunderland a notorious victory.

An atmosphere that Gates recalls as the most poisonous of his playing career grew uglier as Sunderland began to exert their influence on the tie, and when Marco Gabbiadini fired the decisive second goal it was the cue for home fans to spill from the terraces in a menacing pitch invasion that was intended to get the game abandoned.

It didn’t work but it did ensure the night would forever be remembered as one of the lowest points in the rich history of Tyne-Wear derby games.

Playing in the eye of that storm it is no surprise that extraordinary night, when he scored what turned out to be his last goal for the Wearsiders, remains the most vivid memory of his career.

But it is perhaps illuminating that the arch goal poacher still resists a full condemnation of the supporters who were intent on creating as hellish an atmosphere as possible for him and his Sunderland team-mates that night.

While hardly wistful for an evening that ended with 66 arrests, Gates admits it was exhilarating to play – and win – when the odds and the crowd were seemingly stacked heavily in the favour of their rivals.

“It was one of those nights. You could see the hatred in the eyes of their supporters when we drove to the ground. It was like you felt you were about to be thrown to the lions – a very intense kind of atmosphere,” said the former Ipswich and England striker.

“I played in Italy when we had the coach windows put through and I remember a game in Greece when armed guards pinned me to the ground but that night at St James’s Park was definitely the most hostile atmosphere I ever played in. But as strange as it might sound I didn’t think it was a nasty thing, it just showed how much the game meant to everyone.

“People talk to me about the Newcastle fans coming on the pitch and that is why some people remember it for, but I think the Sunderland supporters would have done the same at Roker Park. It just showed how charged-up for the game everyone was. We probably escaped pretty lightly, thinking back.

“I remember us all sat in the dressing room afterwards and I was thinking ‘Let’s not go overboard on the celebrations – let’s just get out of here as quickly as possible’.

“Funnily enough, that is just about the only derby day I can remember. I must have played in a few more but none of them stick out in my mind like that atmosphere and the build-up to that night. And even then it’s more the atmosphere than the actual game – I can’t even remember the goal that well, to be honest. I went in with a crowd of players and just managed to pop it over John Burridge.

“We played the first leg at Roker Park and drew 0-0 and just about everybody had written us off at that point – the media, their fans, you even sensed it a bit in their players. It looked like we’d missed our chance and we were going there as no-hopers.

“And the feeling was Newcastle would go through and they deserved to because they’d been in the play-offs nearly all season while we’d come in with a late run. But that motivated us even more and I think that was what caused a bit of the anger at the end too.

“I think Paul Hardyman’s tackle on the goalkeeper in the first leg after his penalty was saved (and earned him a red card) didn’t help either.”

Winding forward to the present day, Gates recognises the derby landscape has changed since his era. Thankfully, the violent edge to the derby game has been dulled since the inception of the Premier League but as a consequence that has also taken some of the rawness of occasions in his day.

Newcastle now boast established internationals on multi-million-pound contracts, and Gates’ old side are hardly paupers either with a side strengthened by the Drumaville consortium.

Gates believes Newcastle’s extra pedigree – now they have hit form – could edge the game over players in red and white, who he thinks are better in a battle.

“If you’d have asked me three weeks ago when it looked like the game could decide which of the two might stay up and which went down I’d say Sunderland would win because they’ve got the characters for a scrap,” he said.

“In the likes of Viduka, Owen and Martins, Newcastle have got more class and a higher calibre of player, but I’m not sure they’ve got the scrappers, I’m not sure it’s in their mentality.

“Now though, they’ve got their tails up and that might be the deciding factor.” Gates retains a sense of realism when discussing the progress made by Roy Keane, the Sunderland manager chipping away at the Black Cats’ reputation as a team that flits between Premier League and the Championship.

“They’ve done as well as we could have expected them to. I didn’t expect them to do much better and I don’t anticipate they’ll be so much better next season.

“It might be small improvements, season-by-season while they build. But I like Roy Keane. So many managers are full of hype and rubbish after games, you wonder whether they’ve been watching the same game as you. But with Keane you recognise where he’s coming from.”

Gates still speaks to his old team-mates from that night, and is still approached regularly by Sunderland supporters in the street.

He was even asked by one whether he, like former team-mate Gabbiadini, was planning on playing again in benefit and friendly games – a query that led to him pointing out that his strike partner was almost 15 years younger than him when they both played.

From his limited Tyne-Wear derby experience, Gates knows that heroes and villains can be created on Sunday.

“Do the players appreciate the importance of the game as much? I’m not sure but you’d like to think they do and they recognise the pride and passion that exists in the game,” he said. “And it’s the chance for you to make a bit of history if you do well, because goals and great moments stick in the memories of fans. Me and Gabbers did that by scoring those two goals, which people still ask me about today. Of course, no one really remembers that we went to Wembley and lost (to Swindon) afterwards – maybe that game had taken so much out of us we couldn’t match it.”

Click here to view a photo gallery of previous derby matches