Friendly
Sunderland 2
Corinthians 4
Our second-ever trip to London, and a Saturday game against leading amateur side Corinthians.
Although we were reigning Football League champions, and on the way to a second successive title, this was a rare defeat in a season where we were the first team to score 100 goals in a league season (30 games) and over 250 goals in all games.
Division One Stamford Bridge
Sunderland 0 (0)
Chelsea 4 (2) Spence Burgess Hanson Argue
Sunderland: Mapson, Gorman, Hall, Thomson, Lockie, Saunders, Spuhler, Carter, Gurney, Gallacher, Burbanks
Attendance: 37,103
League Position after match: 9th
In the last season before the War, the Sunderland team was in something of a transition: the replacements being brought in weren’t always of the highest quality, something which (associated with his increasingly odd behaviour after having socialised post-match) eventually led to the resignation of manager Jimmy Cochrane next spring.
You can say what you will about Chelsea, but there was something splendidly mad about having a Scottish forward called Jimmy Argue.
Division Two Stamford Bridge
Sunderland 1 (1) Gabbiadini 11
Chelsea 1 (0) Wilson K 70
Sunderland: Hesford, Kay, Gray, Bennett, MacPhail, Doyle (Ogilvie), Owers, Armstrong, Gabbiadini (Gates), Whitehurst, Pascoe
Attendance: 19,210
League Position after match: 9th
Our first visit to Stamford Bridge since the joyous madness of the League Cup semi-final in 1985, and a rather subdued atmosphere by comparison, though the pre-match reckoning was that we definitely had a few in our team who could look after themselves if it got nasty.
Chelsea were promoted as champions that season with 99 points, so some small satisfaction for us from that aspect alone in getting a draw.