Flat on his knees - Stan the £1m man

Back home in Ferryhill after 17 years in America, Stan - who also scored goals for Boro and Crystal Palace - is said in a book of Sunderland biographies to have been 5ft 6ins tall and weighed nine stones 11 lbs. He remains 5ft 6ins.

"I only played the second half but I really enjoyed it," he says.

"I was on my knees every ten minutes recovering, but that's just a matter of getting fit again."

Without regular goalkeeper Phil Owers - ex-Darlington and Hartlepool - the Greyhound trailed the Owton Manor from Hartlepool 5-1 when Stan, now 43, made his appearance.

"I think I played really well, a dominant force down the left-hand side. I saw a lot of the ball and like to think I used it well.

"I tweaked my hamstring again a couple of minutes from the end, but it was just good to be playing again. I'm just looking forward to the next one."

Rob Hindmarch, a Roker Park teammate of Stan's, has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease. He is 41.

"I was absolutely stunned," says former Seaham Red Star player Bobby Davison, a colleague when Rob captained Derby County.

Rob, a 6ft 1in central defender, joined Sunderland from Wallsend Boys Club in 1977, made his debut as a 16-year-old the following January, was in the 1979-80 promotion team and had four seasons in the first division.

An England youth international, he joined Derby on a free transfer, helped them to successive promotions in 1986 and 1987 and them moved to Wolves for £300,000.

"You couldn't have wished to meet a nicer feller, a real gentle giant," says Stan. "The news is absolutely devastating."

Duncan McKenzie, Britain's first £250,000 footballer - Nottingham Forest to Leeds, 1974 - spoke at East Rainton Cricket Club's sportsmen's dinner on Friday.

He wasn't meant to; they'd booked Frank Worthington. "Contractual difficulties," said Dave Greener, the agent, and the principal difficulty was that Dave had forgotten to send it.

The switch disappointed David Martin, a director of the ever deep digging Banks Group, who reckoned Worthington his all-time favourite Sunderland player - despite just two goals in 19 appearances on his Round Britain Tour.

"Before the match he'd take out his chewing gum, play keepy up with it and then kick it unerringly into the crowd," David recalled.

East Rainton, between Durham and Sunderland, have had another remarkable season, the first team winners of the North East Durham League top division and three cups, the seconds runners up in their division and with three more trophies for the sideboard.

Ian Kitching, their perpetual dynamo, bagged another 50 wickets at nine apiece.

"I'm bowling them out of the sun," he said.

East Rainton's success is worrying league officials, however.

They have a presentation dinner next month, an awful lot of seats to fill and hardly anyone else won a thing.

The following afternoon to Guisborough v Guiseley, FA Cup, Darren Mowbray - Tony's kid brother - hitting a hat-trick in a highly entertaining 3-3 draw.

There too was Newcastle United programme editor Paul Tully, talking of the Mags' latest initiative at helping the disabled.

They've long provided commentary for 30 blind supporters who regularly attend; now they're the first Premiership club to issue a Braille programme.

Necessarily, it's abridged. "If the full 64 page programme were in Braille it would be like carrying a volume of Encyclopaedia Britannica under your arm," says Paul. Produced with Gateshead Council, it costs around £12 a copy - but sells for £1.

Leeds United publish a large print programme; Arsenal offer a taped version on which the blessed M. Wenger insists upon reading his notes himself.

Among the items in Newcastle's is a list of programme sponsors. "Even in Braille," says Paul, "there'd be war on if there wasn't."

Young Tully, incidentally, had that morning been to watch the Magpies' Under 19s against Middlesbrough at Hurworth - where the Boro centre-forward was a certain John Slaven.

Chip off the old block? "Well, he didn't look much like Bernie but it's a pretty uncommon name," says Paul. We await a returned call from the Boro.

Still with the Magpies, Sunday's Observer reckoned that 800 Newcastle fans tried to squeeze into a small Portuguese bar in London to watch the Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev - because it was the only pub in the area able to show the ITN News Channel. "A fiasco." Says www.sportspubs.co.uk.

A load of John Bull, perhaps, Friday's column was probably mistaken to suggest that the extravagantly attired Ken Baily was England's mascot in the 1966 World Cup.

What about World Cup Willie, asks John Ingham, proud owner of a World Cup Willie badge - "a little yellow plastic lion's head" - until it was confiscated by Brother Duignan, one of the monks who ran his school.

Willie was a lion, latterly much cherished. At Bonham's auction house in London earlier this year a World Cup Willie soft toy dressed in a Union Jack shirt went for £123, far above the expected price.

Other silly Willie stuff is said to have doubled in price in the past 12 months. John, from Lanchester, is incensed. "Somewhere," he says, "there's probably a little Irish monk who's suddenly made his fortune."

Ken Baily was clearly attached to his British bulldog outfit, so much so that he rarely took it off. Ken Lyons in Stockton still has a photograph of himself and Baily taken during an England trip to Denmark. "It was three days and he never even brought a suitcase," says Ken. "You can imagine the result."

And finally...

The last new test match cricket ground (Backtrack, September 27) was at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates - venue in April for two tests and a one day international series after the troubles in Pakistan. The next new Test ground, of course, will be the Riverside at Chester-le-Street.

Back, meantime, to Sunderland: who, asks John Phelan in Howden-le-Wear, was the last county cricketer to wear the red and white stripes?

Another all round appearance on Friday.

Published: 01/10/2002