There was a short time between the end of the era of hooliganism and the onset of the EPL which created a massive monetary gap, and in so doing took top-flight football away from the people who had been the bedrock of the game.

The dates are fluid although events at Heysel Stadium on 29 May 1985 certainly proved that if English football didn’t change itself, somebody else would step in and change it.

Beneath the EPL though, that atmosphere and communality that football can bring never quite went away. Often you don’t see, hear or feel it where the two clubs have a history or a rivalry, and hostility never allowed it to breath.

None of that applied yesterday in Buckinghamshire where the players and fans of Wycombe Wanderers and Sunderland created a day best described as ‘football as it should be’.

The game ended 3-3 and was as spellbinding as any you will see in any division. The vocal and superbly behaved traveling fans were behind their team well before Ross Stewart, the man from Ross County, gave them a third minute lead, later reclassified as an own goal.

If there’s one thing you can guarantee about Gareth Ainsworth’s Wycombe side however, it is that the heads won’t go down. They roared back and the Black Cats, though ahead, were on the back foot almost immediately after taking the lead.

After ten minutes of domination, Anis Mehmeti drove in a well deserved equaliser from the edge of the box. It was a case of third time lucky, even in that move, as in the build up both Jordan Obita and Garath McCleary had seen shots well blocked.

The mood was already set for a memorable match.

Credit goes to Wycombe and their fans.

On the train to High Wycombe, many were approaching fans with red scarves and ensuring they knew how to navigate the considerable distance between the station and the Adams Park stadium. Those Sunderland fans subsequently boarded buses provided by Wycombe Wanderers to ensure they all made it on time.

Even on that bus, conversations between northern and southern accents could be overheard, talking amicably about the promotion race and what games were on the television later.

Word was also going around among the Wearsiders that the home side designated a tent specifically for away fans in their car park. Plans were being changed on the hoof to meet there rather than in any of the more distant hostelries.

By the time most Black Cats fans on my bus arrived, they already felt welcome. If only a club trying to make away fans feel welcome was the norm and had always been so.

On arrival at Adams Park, they indeed found a tent purely for away fans, not that the mood even suggested the need for any segregation.

Wycombe were however as competitive on the pitch as welcoming off it.

Eight minutes before the break, they took the lead. Sam Vokes’ goal will not make any season-ending highlight reels and was, at that point, perhaps against the run of play. However, it was indicative of this squad’s team spirit and their inspiring reaction to losing an early goal.

The game would not have been a classic though, only with one side alone providing a competitive edge. It was a matter of seconds before Ross Stewart put his name back on the scoresheet, from which some boffin with a TV screen had removed it. But the props should really go to the magnificent Elliot Embleton who was a threat throughout on the Sunderland left.

The Durham native has represented England at four age levels and at a mere 22 looks destined for greater things than League One. Certainly, should Sunderland go up, he is not one of the players who will need an upgrade.

A merely written article cannot do justice to how entertaining this 45 minutes was, but maybe one picture might.

As they left, referee Charles Breakspear and Chairboys coach Ainsworth walked off the pitch in conversation smiling broadly. For the untrained eye with no lipreading skills, it very much looked like two dedicated football men were sharing joy at how good a game they were watching.

The breathless pace continued in the second half although the goals dried up, this was more due to some outstanding defending. Joe Jacobson denied Sunderland goal efforts again and again with blocks and an amazing goal-line clearance.

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64′ Jacobson (again) with a key block @wwfcofficial 2 : 2 @SunderlandAFC #WYCvSUN @ProstInt #Sunderland #chairboys #BlackCats

— Steve Clare (@Steve__Clare) January 8, 2022

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His mano a mano with Embleton was one of the highlights of the second half.

In the space of just five minutes after the hour, the Wycombe skipper denied Embleton twice with key blocks while the Sunderland midfielder rocketed a shot off of David Stockdale’s crossbar, two minutes after Stockdale had also been at full stretch to deny Embleton.  That all happened in a breathless five-minute spell.

The Chairboys survived it and Jack Grimmer and Brandon Hanlan both had decent efforts at the other end. Josh Scowen was the next home player to make a superb block to keep the home side level.

Sadly, the moment that was to remove so many smiles happened shortly after.

Anthony Patterson and the outstanding Corry Evans clashed and it was the Ulsterman’s head that took the full brunt.

His colleagues stood over him and it was only after four minutes that they felt relieved enough to move back to the halfway line, a sign for us all that the situation was now under control.

Nine minutes were to be added. Although it took time for the game to regain its impetus after the Evans injury, it was about to do so with a thunderous cacophony and closure.

Two minutes into the added nine, Adams Park was in bedlam.  Ross Stewart ran onto a through ball, outmuscling as much as outpacing the defender. Still some distance from goal, he slid the ball under the advancing Stockdale.

The next seconds unravelled in slow motion as the ball bobbled, at first seemingly heading wide of the right-hand post. Then a chance collision with a divot altered its trajectory and the ball nestled just inside the goal, right in front of the Sunderland fans. Player and fan alike converged on the corner flag where Stewart had gone to celebrate.

The Black Cats, it seemed, had stolen the points at the death. But Ainsworth ain’t no quitter. The Wycombe boss removed Mehmeti and Anthony Stewart, introducing Daryl Horgan and Tjay de Barr. Stockdale was forced into yet another save from Embleton but Sunderland were defending inside the Wycombe half to see this one out.

But then the last mad moment came. and it came to the most deserving man on the pitch. Without Jacobson’s top-class defending, 3-2 would and should have been 6-2. A lofted corner from Garath McCleary was headed down by Chris Forino and Jacobson reacted first as he really had all day to give Wycombe a well-deserved point.

 

24' What a superb moment. As the scoreboard honours Wycombe players & fans who died, #Sunderland pause a free kick to allow applause to continue. The #BlackCats fans join in too. Football can be lovely sometimes@wwfcofficial 1 : 1 @SunderlandAFC #WYCvSUN @ProstInt #chairboys

— Steve Clare (@Steve__Clare) January 8, 2022

On a day with so so many memorable moments, however, one will stick in the mind for a long time. Around the 24 minute mark, the Adams Park scoreboard listed the names of many connected with the club who had passed. Applause was ringing out from the home fans.

Simultaneously, Sunderland won a free kick in a dangerous position on their left.

As all around them were applauding, gazing diagonally across the stadium at the Roll of Honour, the Sunderland play

ers stopped and allowed the moment to last, eschewing a quick restart to the game. In the true spirit of the day, the away fans cottoned on to the moment and joined in the applause for the departed.

It was a day when fans and clubs did football right and football returned the favour with bells and six goals on.

On the same Shuttle Bus back to the station, fans of both sides were discussing the game redolent with respect for what they had seen from each other’s clubs. They both knew they had witnessed a classic.

And to round it off, those conversations involved many a female fan, whose opinions were being treated with the respect they deserved, well removed from the stereotypical chauvinist behaviour which social media can often overemphasise.

Both clubs remain in the heat and heart of the promotion race.

Other results were helpful especially Oxford United’s 2-0 loss at Lincoln and MK Dons dropping two points at  Accrington even though Stanley played the last hour with ten men after Liam Coyle was sent off.

Wycombe and Sunderland will play worse this season and win.

If either side plays better, they will thrash someone. Fortunately, Lincoln are in form because they head to Wearside on Tuesday. The same night Wycombe head to Ainsworth’s home county of Lancashire to face Bolton, a side they narrowly beat at home to end a losing streak.

On this evidence, both sides will be involved in the race to the Championship right to the end.  On this evidence, they will deserve to be.

Applause for those we lost in 2021.

Thank you to #Chairboys and #SAFC fans for paying their respects in a poignant moment during the game at Adams Park.#WYCvSUN pic.twitter.com/wIgjQkFsRv

— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) January 9, 2022

 

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