Roker hero and his place in English infamy

In one respect, the historical omens are good for England ahead of their European Championship qualifier against Turkey at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night. The countries have met eight times before, and England have yet to lose. Indeed, they have yet to lose a goal, in seven victories and one draw against the Turks.

But, then, like the Brazilian mining town of Belo Horizonte, Sunderland does have a ghost in the closet for England. It was at Roker Park in 1934 that the national side suffered a defeat every bit as humiliating as the 1-0 loss inflicted by the United States in the 1950 World Cup finals.

It was even heavier than the 6-3 hammering administered by Puskas, Hidegkuti and the rest of the Hungarians at Wembley in 1953, the first win by a foreign nation on English soil. England's conquerors at Roker on 21 March, 1934 were an "enemy" from within. They were beaten 7-1 in a trial match by The Rest, although locally the scoreline became more popularly known as England 1 Sunderland 6.

Six of the goals the national side conceded were scored by uncapped Sunderland players, Raich Carter bagging four and Bobby Gurney two. Eric Brook of Manchester City scored the other goal for The Rest, whose maroon shirts were matched by the faces of the England selection committee at the final whistle.

"Why was an England team beaten so decisively?" the Newcastle Journal pondered the following day. "Because The Rest played 'league' football, showed exceptional understanding, and were quicker all round. There was not a weak spot in their forward line. Carter responded well and Gurney helped him. It was a triumph for Sunderland's pair to get six of The Rest's seven goals."

It was indeed. Both men were from the Sunderland district – Carter from Hendon, Gurney from Silksworth – and together they forged a striking partnership which put their home-town club on the national map. In the 1935-36 season, Carter, one of the all-time great inside-rights, and Gurney, a goal-poaching centre-forward, scored 31 times each as Sunderland won the First Division championship (it remains the most recent title success by a North-east club).

As it happened, there was a more famous name in the national shadow team at Roker Park that day in 1934, although Stanley Matthews had yet to make his mark at the time. He was a month past his 19th birthday and in his first season of First Division football with Stoke. The young Matthews showed some of his dribbling wizardry on the right wing but was spellbound by the man in-field from him. "Carter put on a masterly show for his home-town crowd," he later reflected.

Like Tom Finney, Matthews idolised the man who was born Horatio Stratton Carter. "He was an architect who designed every game in which he played," Matthews said. "He truly was a connoisseur's delight. His hair was turning silver but he had the Midas touch on a pitch, turning many a game into a golden memory. He'd ghost in to great positions and had the rarest of talents on the ball. I felt he was the ideal partner for me."

Unfortunately, the Football Association's selection committee didn't see it quite the same way. They gave Carter his debut against Scotland a month later and picked Matthews for his first international against Wales the following year, but the pair only played together for England three times.

Like Matthews, Carter picked up his career after the Second World War. In 1946 he played in the Derby team that beat Charlton 4-1 in the FA Cup final. He also played cricket for Derbyshire that year. In 1947, though, the masterly Carter made his 13th and final appearance for England.

He died in 1994, six years before Matthews, who played at international level until 1957. Matthews, in fact, was a member of England's World Cup squad in Brazil in 1950, although he didn't play in Belo Horizonte. He watched from the stands that day as Larry Gaetjens scored the goal that inflicted England's most infamous defeat – England's most infamous defeat against foreign opposition, that is.