'Mr Smith' has so much to answer for

A year on the Wear:The sold-out signs went up over a week ago. Eighteen hundred fans will travel the 343 miles from Wearside to Portsmouth this afternoon - and then they will travel 343 back again. Just to put that in perspective: Cork to Belfast is 264 miles.

Another take on it is that Sunderland sold out their end 10 days before kick-off even though they have not won away in the Premier League this season in 13 attempts. A measly two points have been taken from those 13 games, the last of which was at Middlesbrough in September. Nine straight defeats across five months have flowed since. That's a lot of agony to drag from one end of the country to the other. Particularly on the way home.

But Portsmouth would be an appropriate place to terminate that record. That is because Fratton Park is the scene of arguably Sunderland's worst-ever moment and this just happens to be the 50th anniversary of that occasion - Sunderland's first, and then-inconceivable, relegation.

It is different now of course. Sunderland are established as yo-yo experts, relegated twice in the past five years alone. But if fans think they are on a long run just now away from home, then they should think of the club's status in 1958.

Having joined the old First Division in 1890, Sunderland had stayed there when no other club, not even The Arsenal, had been able to. Sixty-eight years of continuous top-flight presence. That was one of the reasons why Sunderland were one of the biggest clubs in England. That was why Portsmouth was so shocking.

Moneyed, Sunderland were known as the Bank of England club. They had not won the league for two decades, but the second World War accounted for six seasons. In the mid-1950s, Sunderland were huge in a way that Liverpool, for example, were not. From 1954 to 1962 Liverpool were a Second Division club.

Then one day in 1957 a letter from a "Mr Smith" landed on the desk of the Football League. It alleged that Sunderland used some of their vast wealth to pay players illegally. It was a sensation. Sunderland were found guilty, directors and players were suspended, the club suffered a massive spasm and the relegation at Portsmouth the following season was seen as the culmination of it all.

It took six years to get back up, though whether that could be described as recovery is debatable, because while the Smith Affair and its aftermath can all seem a bit ancient, when Sunderland came to write its official history in 2000, the historians were still able to argue that the events of 1957 and its fallout a year later: "Can reasonably be pinpointed as the catalyst for many subsequent years of mediocrity."

Working such an eruption from the system should not take quite so long but another eight years on Sunderland are fighting to avoid the yo-yo again. Their recent home record of four straight wins says they will do it; their away record says something else.

Coventry City, managed by Gordon Strachan, were able to survive in 2000 despite failing to win aaway game, but no club has performed the trick since. Roy Keane did not find too much comfort in such a statistic yesterday. "Full of good news, you, aren't you?" he said to the questioner.

"I think we could possibly go to the end of the season without winning a game and still stay up. If it continues the way it is, I would hope so.

"Even at the start of the season, we knew it would be tough to win too many away games. There are another three or four teams near the bottom who are still to win an away game as well, but the fact that we've only drawn two is probably the biggest disappointment of all."

Coventry drew seven times away that season.

"We're one of three or four sides close to the bottom who haven't been able to get that away win. But the most disappointing thing is the lack of draws that we've got away from home. We've deserved a lot more than we've got. Sometimes you look at teams that finish the season with seven or eight wins, but they might also have 10 or 12 draws. The points add up and that's the most disappointing side of it, not the fact that we haven't got too many away wins under our belt, or one.

"Our home form has been decent and, while I'm not losing sleep about it, I definitely think we should have got something more out of quite a few of our away games. That's been down to ourselves a lot of the time because we've had opportunities. At Reading and Tottenham we had opportunities to get something out of the game, but didn't take them. It being the Premier League, if you make a mistake you get punished and we've had to learn a few harsh lessons."

Another is not what Sunderland need, yet Jermain Defoe's presence at Portsmouth should make those travelling fretful. Then again, Pompey were beaten 2-0 at the Stadium of Light six weeks ago and Andy Reid is in line for a full debut after a fortnight's training. Maybe Reid will prove a talisman.

"We have to keep believing that win will come," Keane said. "We hope to put that right. It will come. Hopefully it will be in my lifetime."