That was September 1979. During the next eight months Dunn and his Sunderland teammates became wrapped up in one of the happiest seasons for the club. They had a 13-match unbeaten run that left them needing to avoid defeat against West Ham in the final game to clinch promotion, with all the other teams having completed their fixtures.
The Hammers had beaten Arsenal 1-0 in the FA Cup final two days earlier and were still suffering the after-effects of their celebrations when they arrived at Roker Park. “There was a lot of pressure on us, but when they turned up at 7pm for a 7.30pm kick-off, you could see in their eyes that they weren’t really interested.”
Sunderland won 2-0 to finish second behind Leicester City and above Birmingham and Chelsea, one point behind. “The celebrations were massive,” says Dunn. “They went on until about 4am, but the problem was we had to catch a flight to America at 8am that day for the club’s end-of-season break.” Nobody was complaining, though, least of all manager Ken Knighton, in his first season in charge. [The numbers refer to a photograph, which is not carried on the website.]
1 Kevin Arnott The scorer of one of the two goals against West Ham, Arnott was a 21-year-old midfielder. He spent six years at the club, playing in 133 league games. He also played for Sheffield United, Chesterfield and for Vasalund in Sweden. He works in his family’s building business in south Wearside.
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2 Rob Hindmarch The next season he became Sunderland’s youngest captain at the age of 19. A Wallsend Boys’ Club defender, he won England youth honours. He played in 115 league games and then won two promotions in two seasons with Derby, where he was captain. Hindmarch also played for Wolves, and was player-manager of Cork City. He opened a football academy in the US, but died of motor neurone disease at the age of 41 in November 2002.
3 Gordon Chisholm A Glasgow-born central defender, he played 197 league games in seven years and helped the club reach the League Cup final in 1985. He also played for Hibernian, Dundee and Partick. He was assistant manager at Partick, Clydebank, Ross County, Airdrieonians and Falkirk and managed Dundee United, where he was sacked after 10 months on January 10.
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4 Shaun Elliott He missed only one game in the promotion season, having established himself in the centre of the defence after joining in 1975. Elliott played 321 league games in 11 years. He also played for Blackpool and Norwich, where he is a car salesman.
5 John Cooke An England youth winger, Cooke joined in November 1979 and made his debut in the promotion season. He played in 55 league games in six years. He was also at Carlisle, Stockport and Chesterfield. He returned to Sunderland in 1994 to become the full-time kit man.
6 Alan Brown A useful forward, he made 113 league appearances in six years for Sunderland. He scored 21 goals in his time which included a loan spell to Newcastle, where he netted three goals in five games. He also played for Shrewsbury and Doncaster. He works for the prison service in Lower Newton and his son Chris plays for Sunderland.
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7 John Hawley After playing for Hull and Leeds, Hawley joined Sunderland in October 1979 as they pushed for promotion. He scored 11 goals in 25 league outings in the next two seasons and then joined Arsenal for a year. He enjoyed success at Bradford and finished his career at Scunthorpe. He owns an antiques shop in Beverley, East Yorkshire.
8 Barry Dunn He worked for the gas board before joining Sunderland at the age of 27. Known as the Flying Gasman in his two years at Roker Park, Dunn was a winger who scored twice in 23 league appearances. He also played for Preston and Darlington before becoming a publican. He is a statistician for the Press Association in the northeast.
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9 Steve Whitworth A solid right-back, he represented England at all levels during a 10-year spell with Leicester. He played in 399 games and scored one goal, the winner in a Charity Shield victory against Liverpool in 1971. Whitworth, who won seven caps, spent three seasons with Sunderland and also played for Bolton and Mansfield. He moved to London, and Leicester and Sunderland have lost track of him.
10 Stan Cummins After three years at Middlesbrough, Cummins moved to Sunderland in November 1979 and scored on his debut against Notts County. A short, skilful midfielder, he was at the club for four years, scoring 29 goals in 133 league games. He moved to Crystal Palace when his contract ran out in August 1983 but was back at Roker Park a season later. Cummins coached in America and is an amateur club manager in the northeast.
11 Chris Turner An England youth goalkeeper, he joined Sunderland the previous summer after three seasons with Sheffield Wednesday. He played in 195 league games in six years. He also played for Manchester United and managed Leyton Orient, Hartlepool and Sheffield Wednesday. He spent a year in charge of Stockport but left in December and is tipped to return to Hartlepool.
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12 Mick Buckley A skilful midfielder and youth international, he joined Sunderland in August 1978 from Everton and had five seasons at Roker Park. He also played for Hartlepool, Carlisle and Middlesbrough. He runs a pub in Bury.
13 Joe Hinnigan A Liverpool-born full-back who was at Wigan before Knighton signed him in February 1980 to add impetus to the promotion challenge. He spent nearly three years at Roker Park and also played for Preston, Gillingham, Wrexham and Chester, where he became a physiotherapist. After a spell as physio at Bury, he returned to Chester last week as assistant manager.