Set the dodgy record straight
PROCTOR’S CALL TO SUNDERLAND
MARK PROCTOR wants Sunderland to banish a “dodgy record’’ in the play-offs and win back their Championship status.
The Black Cats have a troubled play-off history, losing twice in finals to Charlton in 1998 – in the old First Division – and two years ago in League One.
They also suffered heartbreak when being beaten by Swindon in the then-Second Division final in 1990.
Sunderland were later promoted when Swindon were denied a top-flight place due to their irregular payments scandal.
The Wearsiders’ hopes of a Premier League spot crumbled in 2004 when they lost to Crystal Palace in a Division One play-off semi-final.
But Sunderland’s first taste of play-off heartache was in 1987. Relegation, not promotion, was the issue then as they crashed into the old Third Division for the first time in their history.
And for Proctor, there was double penalty pain in the climax to the campaign. The former midfielder (below), now 60, recalled: “My play-off experience with Sunderland was against Gillingham. We went down on away goals at Roker Park.
“The big one really was the last league game at home to Barnsley.
“I didn’t quite connect correctly with a penalty and it hit the keeper. We lost 3-2 and it was a big miss.
“We ended up in the play-offs and I scored a penalty in the first leg at Gillingham and in general play as well, but we lost 3-2.
“Then we won 4-3 at Roker, where I had another penalty saved, but we were beaten on away goals.
“It was one of the lowest points in my career. I remember I went straight on holiday to get out of the north east.’’
Proctor, who also had two spells with boyhood club Middlesbrough and now runs the Mark Proctor Academy in the town added: “Sometimes, when you’re striving for the top two and you don’t make it and you’re stuck in the play-offs, you go into them a little bit flat.
“If you go into them like Sunderland are with a bit of a dodgy record, it can be tough.
“There’s maybe a bit of a psychological barrier to get over, but I’d be delighted to see them promoted.
“They’re a massive club and the fans are brilliant.”