TOM WATSON: IN MEMORIAM

On this day in 1915, Sunderland’s first ever manager, Tom Watson, passed away.

Born in Newcastle in 1859, his football journey began as a player with local sides Woodbine, Rosewood, and Heaton before he formed the Rosehill club in 1881, and after that his career off the field really began. He was secretary of both Newcastle East End and West End – basically, their overall manager, and for the latter he obtained the lease of Sid James Park, then known as St James’ Park. However, he resigned after a game there between Aston Villa and Shankhouse in 1887 nearly ended in disaster when a crush occurred. After a brief while away from the game he moved to East End for the 1888-89 campaign and maintained his raids across the border to bring Scots to the English game.

He arrived at Sunderland in 1889, a year after we’d turned professional, and a 7-2 win over Villa in April 1890 prompted the league’s founder, William McGregor, to dub us The Team Of All The Talents. He took us into the football league a year later - becoming champions in only our second season, retaining the title in 1893, and finishing top again in 1895, after being runners up to Villa in 1894. Crucial to this success was Watson’s continuing recruitment of Scots like ‘keeper Ned Doig, Johnny Campbell, Jimmy Hannah, Jimmy Millar, Hugh “Lalty” Wilson, Don Gow, James Gillespie, and John Auld to name a few of the better known ones – club legends all. After a disappointing 5th place finish in 1896, Tom moved to Liverpool with a Sunderland record of three championships and a second place in seven seasons, only six of which were actually in the league. Canny.

On Merseyside, his success continued, as he became their first championship-winning manager in 1901 after finishing second the previous season and thus becoming the first manager to win the title with two clubs. Somehow they were relegated in 1904, but were division two champions in 1905 and followed that with their second league title the following season. They captured the charity shield in 1907 and were league runners-up in 1910 before their first FA Cup final in 1914, which was lost to Burnley.

His time in football was sadly curtailed after he took ill following his 56th birthday party in Newcastle in late April 1915, and he died of pneumonia soon after. His sixteen years in charge at Liverpool, covering 742 games, make him their longest serving gaffer, and his three league titles on Wearside make him our most successful.

Tom Watson, 191 games in charge, 119 wins, 28 draws, and only 44 defeats.