The sky’s the limit for new manager Steve Bruce

Jun 4 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

Steve Bruce is from the wrong side of the North East’s tribal divide, but his appointment as Sunderland manager still felt like a homecoming. Chief Sports Writer Luke Edwards reports

“I left the North East because nobody ever wanted me as a footballer,” said Bruce, with a Geordie twang which appears to have become more pronounced back on home soil.

“I wasn’t going to be good enough. I had a trial at Sunderland, but I was turned away 30 years ago. I was turned away by everyone. Only Gillingham were interested, so I ended up going 330 miles away, they were the only club that would have me.

“I was devastated when I was turned down. I thought I was going to have to work in the shipyards. I thought I was going to be a plumber until Gillingham came calling.

“I was delighted. The shipyards are shut now so I’d have been out of a job.

“I played for the famed Wallsend Boys Club. I played with the legendary Rob Hindmarsh, who was captain of Sunderland at 19 years old.

“I had to go to Gillingham while Rob was captaining this club. It’s taken a long time to come back and it’s been a fair trek along the way. But I think the time’s right to come back and I’m delighted.”

The last Geordie to brave the wrath of the Wearside hoards as a manager was a certain Bob Stokoe and Bruce, well aware of his regional history, did not miss the opportunity to remind everyone he has something in common with the mastermind behind Sunderland’s 1973 FA Cup triumph.

Birth certificates and childhood loyalties of course, ultimately mean very little. Bruce will be judged, like every single Sunderland manager before him, on results first and performances second. Everything after that is merely decoration.