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Later in the year, Sunderland would apply for entry into the Football League but prior to that, their seasons were predominantly made up of friendly and exhibition games.
Whilst already established as the strongest team in the county, matches against sides from further afield took on extra significance as not only were they often lucrative occasions, but they also helped raise the status of the club as it sought a place amongst the national elite, with a trip north on this day proving to be another welcome boost.
Following their FA Cup exit in January — which came on the back of a narrow defeat to league outfit Blackburn Rovers — the Lads had been keen to reestablish their credentials.
The two sides had met earlier in the campaign for a warmup fixture that ended with a noteworthy victory for Sunderland, so failure to repeat the trick in senior competition stung somewhat. Third Lanark, Birtley and Renton bore the brunt of that in the subsequent weeks, and having travelled to Glasgow for the first of that triumvirate before returning to Wearside for the other two clashes, it was now time for another trip north — Edinburgh being the destination on this occasion.
Awaiting Tom Watson’s boys in the Scottish capital were Heart of Midlothian, who four years earlier had beaten Sunderland on their first ever sojourn outside of England.
The hosts had since moved to a new home (informally labelled “Tyne Castle”), and prior to the game, large posters advertising “the match of the season” had been plastered across various locations in the city, with anticipation seemingly building ever since the meeting was arranged several months earlier.
Despite having the game in the diary since early autumn, the Sunderland board was still happy for the squad to travel on the morning of the game, with their train leaving Wearside at 06:00 and taking around four hours to reach its destination. The players then prepared at the Albert Hotel before making their way to the ground, where a large crowd awaited them even though admission prices started at the relatively high amount of 6d.
Joining the home fans were a good number of red and whites, believed to total around 260, with an excursion train that followed the party up being what the Sunderland Echo and Shipping Gazette referred to as “well patronised”
Steady rain at kick off made the surface quite slick at first, but with Hearts starting strongly, the visitors were forced to make do with speculative long-range efforts in the opening stages.
The home side then went 1-0 up when the greasy pitch caused John Auld to slip over and George Scott pounced on the ball to score, but whilst Johnny Campbell was able to equalise soon after the conditions became increasingly apparent.
Soft ground underfoot led to a number of errors plus a flurry of goals, and Campbell’s second of the afternoon was described as “lucky”. Jock Smith then built on the lead, yet it was 2-3 at half time after Bill Kirkley saw an attempted clearance slice off his boot and rebound past him via the fortunately-placed John McPherson.
Edinburgh born Johnny Campbell marked his return home with a hat trick. Earlier image shows a watercolour print of the 1899-90 SAFC squad.
Edinburgh born Johnny Campbell marked his return home with a hat trick. Earlier image shows a watercolour print of the 1899-90 SAFC squad.
Further downpours after the break made controlling the ball even harder and Sunderland were able to keep the pressure up due to a string of miskicks in the home defence.
When the Lads did come under attack, it was through hopeful high balls, and their ability to ride them out and take the sting out of proceedings brought on a scrappy period of few chances.
By the final minutes, the pitch was so cut up and heavy that it meant short passing had been rendered almost impossible. This forced Sunderland to go long and their bombardment proved more successful — a late corner being forced and once taken, turned over the line by Campbell amidst a scramble.
Once the players had dried off after the game had ended, both sides had dinner at Kay’s Hotel.
The spread, according to the Echo’s columnist ‘Referee’, was a “fine one, and ample justice was done to it” with the president of Hearts then proposing a toast to the guests. Unfortunately, one man not present at the dinner nor the game, was “Mr Tom Watson, the energetic secretary of the Sunderland club” who’d suddenly felt unwell prior to kick off, and following medical attention, he was “removed in a cab to a hotel”.
Although forced to miss the frivolities, he thankfully made a quick recovery and was soon “as cheery as ever” and able to return back to England as planned.
Notes and addendums
Some reports printed later in the week suggested that rather than Auld, it was actually Will Gibson that fell prior to Hearts opening the scoring.
John Oliver had been selected to play at left back for Sunderland, although George Millar of Birtley had to be drafted in at short notice.
Oliver had recently played in a friendly for a team called “Southwick Grocers” without permission and once this was found out, the club suspended him whilst also reporting the matter to the Durham FA. By doing this, the board hoped that the authorities would look kindly on the matter and allow rule Oliver eligible for an upcoming Durham Challenge Cup tie.
This is indeed what happened, meaning that seven days after the Hearts game, Oliver was restored to the starting eleven as Sunderland beat Birtley 4-0 in the second round, with Millar turning out for his parent club again.
William (Bill) Kirkley was referred to as ‘Kirtley’ throughout the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette’s reporting of the game. During this period, the Echo also referred to outside right John Harvie as so, as per the correct spelling, although the player himself preferred it to be ‘Harvey’ and this was regularly seen in other sources at the time.
This was Hearts’ first home loss of the season on home soil, although things wouldn’t have been much better weather wise had the game taken place in the north east. With the first team out of town, Sunderland’s reserves instead played at Newcastle Road and were hampered by constant showers, with players and spectators alike reported to have been extremely relieved when the game ended.
The opponents were due to be Southwick B in a Durham Junior Cup tie, but with the visitors scratching a meeting with Northumberland Junior Cup holders Newcastle Science and Art was quickly lined up to replace them, the hosts mastering the treacherous surroundings to win 4-1.
Saturday 15 February 1890
Friendly
Tynecastle
Attendance: c. 6,000
Heart of Midlothian 2 (Scott 15’, McPherson 29’)
Sunderland 4 (Campbell 17’, 25’, ??’, Smith 27’)
Sunderland: Kirtley, Porteous, Millar; Stevenson, Auld, Gibson; Harvie, Smith, Campbell; Scott, Hannah