On this day - 10 October

Friendly Queens Club

Sunderland 5
Casuals 1

Two friendlies in two days, and another resounding win, this time against one of the best amateur sides in the country.

With a much smaller League programme than nowadays, Sunderland played a total of 35 first-team friendlies that season.

Division One Stamford Bridge

Sunderland 0 (0)
Chelsea 2 (0) Windridge Rouse

Sunderland: Roose, Agnew, Forster, Tait, Thomson, Low, Thompson, Hogg, Brown, Holley, Bridgett

Attendance: 35,000

League Position after match: 8th

Chelsea were a club founded to play on an existing ground (Stamford Bridge), following Fulham’s refusal to take up the offer of a new ground.

There was quite a bit of animosity towards them for this fact alone; they hadn’t played a single game before being elected to the League.

Having gained promotion to Division One with a good number of expensive signings, they were promptly relegated at the end of this season - but still managed to take maximum points off us.

League Cup Selhurst Park

Sunderland 0 (0)
Crystal Palace 0 (0)

Sunderland: Turner, Venison, Daniel, Bennett, Chisholm, Atkinson (West), Berry, Wylde, Gayle, Pickering, Walker

Attendance: 6,871

Two Rodger Wylde goals in the first leg had, obviously, convinced the locals that there was no way back for them.

It didn’t quite feel like that among the away fans, though the match was strangely featureless, particularly so when compared to following visits down south in the League Cup that season.