On this day in 1998, Danny Dichio made his Sunderland debut up front in a 2-1 loss at Norwich.
Much like Mickey Bridges struggling to dislodge Kevin Phillips, Danny was competing with Niall Quinn for the ‘target man’ position under Peter Reid. He was a solid player for us, but in his four years at Sunderland Dichio only started more than two league games in one season. That was when the Irishman was injured in 1998/99.
To be fair to Danny we were promoted when he deputised that season, with Dichio firing 10 goals in 16 starts, as well as 20 more appearances off the bench. Looking back he probably wasn’t given a fair crack of the whip at Sunderland – although how could he start ahead of the legendary Niall Quinn?
Being a deputy was nothing new to the striker though, who had served as Les Ferdinand’s understudy at QPR and at Sampdoria provided backup for World Cup winner Jurgen Klinsmann and Italy international Vincenzo Montella. He was actually a youngster starting out at QPR as a teammate of Peter Reid. So when Danny’s move to Sampdoria didn’t work out, Reidy wasted no time in sorting a transfer back to England.
One of his finest moments for Sunderland must have been when we smashed Oxford 7-0. Fans were worried going into the game due to Quinn and Phillips both being out, but Dichio and Bridges were the perfect replica of the ‘big man, little man’ combination. The pair both scored twice, as well as substitute Alex Rae getting a brace and Michael Gray grabbing a goal in an immense performance from the Lads.
Anyway, it was on this day that he made his debut against Norwich. They’d beaten us earlier this season, but we’d recovered really well and had been on a 16-game unbeaten run that saw us fourth in the table. Quinn and Phillips were of course starting, with Nicky Summerbee supplying the crosses out wide.
Reid’s men did start brightly, so it was typical when Norwich took the lead against the run of play. It was a well-taken finish but it was our own goalkeeper who landed us in trouble. Lionel Perez came out of his box to clear a through ball, but scuffed his kick to the talented Darren Eadie who sent the ball back over Perez from all of 50 yards and into the back of the net.
In the second half, we once again shot ourselves in the foot to make it 2-0. Jody Craddock turned Erik Fuglestad’s cross into his own net from close range – immediately Quinny was brought off and Dichio came on with the target of igniting a comeback on his debut.
We huffed and puffed, throwing men forward but it only meant we were vulnerable on the counter. In all honesty Norwich could (and should) have made it 3-0 when Coote’s header hit the post. But with six minutes left we were given a lifeline when captain Lee Clark worked some space 25 yards out and blasted the ball past Gunn, who got a hand to it but simply couldn’t stop the sheer power behind the shot.
Ultimately we couldn’t find an equaliser, and Danny Dichio’s Sunderland debut coincided with our first league defeat in four months. Known as ‘Mellow D’ due to his part-time disk jockeying, Dichio’s SAFC Career started slowly when he was signed to add some firepower up top. He ended up being a steady but useful player, before leaving for West Brom initially on loan and then permanently for £1.25m.
