On this day in 1999, only three days after Superkev's quadruple/foursome/hattrick-plus-one/double brace had secured promotion and the world's best conga at Bury, we travelled to South Yorkshire and beat Barnsley to take the Championship title with three games to spare. For reasons lost in the mists of time, we followed that Tuesday game at Bury with a Friday night at Oakwell. Actually, it was because Sky had spotted a potentially crucial game - for us, the chance to go up, for the Tykes, the...

On this day in 1981 Ken Knighton was sacked as Sunderland manager after just under two years in charge of the club. Knighton had played for six English clubs in his playing career, Wolves, Oldham, Preston, Blackburn, Hull and Sheffield Wednesday, making over 350 appearances before arriving at Roker Park as a coach in 1976. In less than three years, he was made manager, replacing ex Sunderland player Billy Elliot as boss. After being the man who ran on to the pitch with a sponge and water, Ken...

On this day in 1989, Marco Gabbiadini scored a hattrick in a 4-0 Second Division win over Ipswich Town. Gabbiadini put his third in the back of the net after profiting from a rebound following a missed penalty. Tony Humes then fouled him and our striker responded with a punch and was shown a straight red card. Following a 3-1 loss at Brighton and Hove Albion in 1987, which left us in tenth place, Marco made his debut at home to Chester City; as we lost 2-0. Away at Fulham, though, a few days...