Why the Black Cats have the Blues – despite not playing against them

Sunderland host Coventry City in their opening game of the Championship season tomorrow - a match that will reignite a little-known rivalry between the clubs.

Most footballing rivalries are based on geographical factors. Some are based on sporting factors that see two clubs dominate for trophies as they duel to show who is the ‘best of the best’.

But for Sunderland and

Coventry, teams that are separated by over 200 miles, their rivalry is a little different.

It’s unlikely that Alex Neil or Mark Robins will use this rivalry for extra motivation for their clash, but for a generation of Sunderland fans, Sundayprovidesanopportunityto reignitealong-standingrivalry.

But what is this rivalry and just where, when and how did it begin?

Rivalry origins

The rivalry between Sunderland and Coventry dates back to the 1976/77 season but doesn’t actually involve a match between the two clubs.

Headingintothefinalgame of the season, that was played on a Thursday because of a fixture pile-up, both Sunderland andCoventrywereindangerof relegation from the top flight.

In order to survive, Sunderland, who faced Everton at Goodison Park, had to match

Coventry’s result against fellowrelegation-threatenedside Bristol City.

What happened?

Bothgameswerescheduled to kick off at the same time, however, because of traffic congestion outside Highfield Road, Jimmy Hill, who was managingdirectorofCoventry at the time, delayed kick-off by 15 minutes in order to let fans into the ground.

This meant that Sunderland’s

match with Everton finished before the end of the clash between Coventry and Bristol City.

TheBlackCatsweredefeated 2-0 by the Toffees that day, a result that was subsequently broadcast over the tannoy system at Highfield Road.

Both sets of players there knew that a draw would be enough to ensure each team would survive the drop.

Thegame,whichwasfinely poised at 2-2 at that point, having seen Bristol City recover fromatwo-goaldeficit,petered out with both teams happy to share the points - meaning Sunderland were relegated by a single point.

The Black Cats then spent three seasons in the second division before returning to the top-flight in 1980. Coventry, meanwhile, remained a topflight side throughout Sunderland’s absence.