MICKY HORSWILL was the only Mackem inside the Stadium of Light NOT celebrating Enzo Le Fee’s winner over AZ Alkmaar from the spot.
Not that the winning legend, who cried when he was sold to Manchester City in 1974, wanted anything less than a victory to kick off their campaign last month.
The 73-year-old was daft about the Black Cats, where he signed schoolboy forms aged ten, from the moment he could kick a ball outside his house in a tiny County Durham village.
But from the moment hit the net Horswill was no longer able to claim the record as the last player to score for the club in Europe.
It was 53 years ago this month that he bagged the winner in a 2-1 Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup second round first-leg over Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon at Roker Park before losing the return leg 2-0.
Horswill admitted: “I was gutted, so gutted when he scored. I thought that if we draw 0-0 in every game then we can qualify. Someone said to me, ‘What about if they get all own goals?’ I’d never thought of that, I would still have the record.
“It was a pride and joy for me for 53 years. I used to tell everybody. But it’s gone now, isn’t it. I’m still really gutted!
“[Kevin] Danso nearly scored and he wore number four, same as me, and I thought, ‘Well, that’ll not be so bad, the same number’ but he missed. Then they got the penalty and it was, ‘Oh God, here we go, it’s going to go now!’ But Le Fee is one of our best players so I was pleased it was him.”
In a strange quirk of fate, over half a century after their last European tour ended in Lisbon, a new one begins an hour-and-a-half up the road in Leiria on Thursday.
Like Bob Stokoe’s Sunderland side did to Leeds at Wembley back in the day, second tier Torreense, whose own 2,431-capacity ground does not meet Uefa standards, upset the odds to earn their Europa League place by defeating holders Sporting in the Portuguese Cup final.
A private jet flew Regis Le Bris’ squad out on Wednesday before they checked into their £200-a-night five-star hotel while thousands of Mackems touched down across the country.
All of it is a far cry from Horswill’s and co’s first foray onto the continent, especially when he got the shock of his life before a 2-0 away win in Hungary against Vasas.
Horswill, who also played for Plymouth, Hull, Happy Valley in Hong Kong and Carlisle, said: “I got off the plane and went into the hotel and she was stood there and I said ‘Wow, how’d you get here?’ It was amazing. I had been on a plane before, my grandmother hadn’t, she hadn’t been out of Annfield Plain.
“She didn’t tell me she was going. My mom and dad worked hard for us, we had four sisters, so we didn’t have a lot of money. How they got the flight money and everything to get my grandmother in a hotel and over to Budapest, and she ended up in Portugal as well, was unbelievable.”
He continued: “One of the best things about going over there was we didn’t know anything about their teams. We never had people going to Hungary or Portugal to watch the teams.
“We had to work it all out on the pitch ourselves on the day. We only knew if there was a big superstar there that he had to be sorted out, which was my job.”
Tough-tackling Horswill’s mom refused to watch him play. She walked out of Wembley after he had an early scuffle with Leeds hardman Johnny Giles in the FA Cup final.
But his grandmother Phyllis, looked after on her travels by Sunderland’s skinhead fans, went everywhere to see her magic Micky star in Stokoe’s side.
Stokoe remains the greatest manager in the Black Cats’ history. Horswill says that the crown will be taken by Le Bris should he come close to replicating Aston Villa and winning the Europa League.
He added: “If this guy can get us into the final or somewhere near it’d be a great run. These are the heroes now. It would be great for them.”
Meanwhile, Europa League winner are going all out for glory ahead of their clash at Portuguese outfit Torreense.
The on-loan Tottenham star came off the bench in Spurs’ victory over Manchester United in the 2025 final and knows what it takes to lift European silverware.
THE LOWDOWN TORREENSE
All you need to know about Sunderland's opponents:
WHO ARE TORREENSE?
Torreense, formed in 1917, are not a Primeira Liga side or even a historic Portuguese giant returning to the continental stage.
In fact, they are just a modest club located 30 miles north of Lisbon from the second tier.
HOW DID THEY QUALIFY FOR EUROPE THEN?
They produced one of the biggest shocks in their country’s history by winning the Portuguese Cup last season.
They beat giants Sporting Lisbon 2-1 after extra time in the final.
It was the club’s first major trophy and made Torreense the first team from outside the top division to win the competition.
SO, DOES THAT MEAN THEY ARE RUBBISH?
Just four days after those cup heroics they blew the chance of promotion via the play-offs following a third-place finish in the league.
Having drawn 0-0 with Casa Pia in the first leg, they lost the return fixture 2-0. That has left them preparing for European football while in the Segunda Liga, where they currently sit 15th.
IS THE GROUND TINY?
Yes, Torreense’s 2,431-capacity Estadio Manuel Marques does not even meet Uefa standards.
Their four home Europa League matches will instead be played at around 50 miles away at Leiria’s Estadio Dr. Magalhaes Pessoa, which holds almost 24,000 and was a venue at Euro 2004.
WHO IS THE STAR PLAYER?
It was thanks to a penalty from 38-year-old captain Stopira that they found themselves in Europe for the first time.
And, despite his age, the left-back will be hoping to make more headlines against Premier League opposition.
Stopira has also shone on the global stage after his cup heroics. He played in all four games of Cape Verde’s historic campaign at the World Cup, including the 3-2 round of 32 extra-time defeat to Argentina.
Now the Austrian, 24, wants to bring that winning feeling to the Stadium of Light.
Danso said: “That would be amazing. I mean, that’s the goal, you know? You go into every competition trying to win it.
“We know it’s tough, I know it’s tough, but we’re going to try and go on a good run as much as possible.”
That 1973 giantkilling, when as a Second Division club, they shocked Don Revie’s Leeds in the FA Cup Final remains the club’s last peice of silverware.
But Danso says springing another huge surprise in the Europa League this season would be the least their long-suffering and passionate fan base deserves.
He added: “It’s something I feel like Sunderland supporters definitely do deserve.
“They’re behind us every day, every game. I always feel the support before the games, during the games.
“It’s about giving them good performances and getting results on those nights.”
