OTD: CROSBY BORN

Born on this day is former assistant manager, and subsequent manager, Malcolm Crosby. The South Shields native was Denis Smith’s right-hand man at York City, and moved with Smith to Sunderland.

Crosby took over as caretaker manager when Smith was sacked, but Sunderland struggled to find a permanent replacement. While caretaker, the former midfielder took the lads to Sunderland’s fourth FA Cup final in our history, which brought calls from fans to give him the job.

Before the FA Cup final, Crosby was officially given the manager’s job. We were midtable a the time and although Malcolm was a really nice bloke, there was slightly a feeling that the board "had to" give him the job because he'd led us to a final. However, Sunderland lost the final 2-0 to Liverpool and left London without silverware. Despite taking the lads to Wembley, the new manager was unable to inspire his side in the league, treading water in the second tier.

Crosby was relieved of his duties in 1993, with Terry Butcher taking over as manager. After leaving Wearside, the Sunderland fan became assistant manager at Oxford before briefly taking over as caretaker.

He then took a variety of roles, such as reserve team manager at Middlesbrough, Oxford’s head of recruitment, Birmingham’s chief scout, Derby County's senior scout and now chief scout at Exeter City, a position he has held since January 2023.