SAFC Legends Series – Peter Reid

Born in Huyton, Merseyside in 1956, Peter Reid began his playing career at Bolton Wanderers.

He spent 8 years at Bolton before having spells at the likes of Everton, QPR and Manchester City.

Redid began his managerial career at Manchester City in 1990, whilst he was a player there.

He was elected as caretaker player-manager after the sacking of Howard Kendell and after a good run of results, he was awarded the job on a permanent basis.

During his time there, he guided them to 2 fifth-place finishes in the first division.

He was sacked after a poor start during his fourth season in charge.

Reid returned to being a full-time player and enjoyed short stints at Southampton, Notts County and he retired at Bury in 1995.

He was appointed Sunderland manager in 1995 and spent 7 years in charge of The Black Cats.

Reid managed 353 games for Sunderland earning 2 promotions to the Premier League during that time.

When he took over in the 1994/95 season, the club were battling relegation in the First Division (Championship) but he managed to turn the form around and keep them up.

In just his second season in charge, he completely turned the club around and Sunderland were crowned as champions of the First Division and promoted to the Premier League.

Unfortunately, The Black Cats were relegated straight back down to the First Division, but the club decided to stick with Reid.

The following season was the first of a new era at the Stadium of Light, and Sunderland just missed out on automatic promotion by one place.

They did reach the play-off final however, and they faced Charlton in a match which is known by many as the greatest play-off final of all-time.

The score ended 3-3 in normal time, then 4-4 after extra-time.

Sunderland were beaten 7-6 on penalties after Micky Gray’s penalty was saved.

The Black Cats bounced back the following season and went up as champions once again.

Reid guided Sunderland to their best ever Premier League finishes, as they finished 7th two seasons running.

This record still stands today, and during that time, Kevin Phillips scored 30 Premier League goals in his first ever season and he is still, to this day, the only English player to win the European Golden Boot.

Reid built an inspirational squad in the Premier League, and they even earned two wins in a row at St. James’ Park against Newcastle, both ending 1-2.

After 7 years in charge, Sunderland’s form started to decline and they finished just one place above relegation in the 2001/02 season, and after a poor start to the 2002/03 season, Reid was dismissed by Sunderland after nearly 8 years in charge.

He will forever be a legend of SAFC, thanks to his promotion success and making the lads a really hard team to beat in the Premier League.