On this day in 1968, Dennis Tueart made his first appearance in red and white aged just 16 in a 0-0 draw at home to Sheffield Wednesday. He would go on to play for Sunderland over 200 times, winning the FA Cup and scoring in a European competition along the way.
The season after his debut, in 1969/70, Sunderland were relegated to the Second Division and tried to bounce straight back up the following season. However, Alan Brown was unable to do so and we were stuck in the Second Division for a while.
Sunderland appointed Bob Stokoe in 1972, sitting second-bottom in the table. However, Stokoe quickly turned our fortunes around as we went on a monumental cup run. Tueart was a key player in our run to the 1973 final, with the winger playing in wins against the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal. He played the full 90 as we achieved cup glory against Leeds, going down in the SAFC history books.
After impressing on Wearside, scoring memorable goals such as a perfect hat trick against Swindon and a great goal against Vasas Budapest in the Cup Winners Cup, Tueart joined Man City in 1974. He became a hero in Manchester, and became a League Cup winner in 1976 against his boyhood club Newcastle. He actually scored in that game, an amazing overhead kick which has been voted the greatest goal in the history of the competition.
In 1978, Tueart joined American side New York Cosmos, where he played alongside greats such as Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto and even Pele! Two years later, he moved back to Manchester City, where he played in another FA Cup final but this time losing 3-2 to Tottenham Hotspur in a replay. Tueart then played for Stoke City, Burnley and Derry City before retiring in 1986. On the international stage, he earned six caps and scored twice for England.
Outside of playing, he worked as a director at Manchester City until the club's takeover in 2007 and he is currently a director of conferencing business at Premier Events. The ex-player has also published an autobiography called My Football Journey with the book's proceeds donated to a cancer hospital.
