Clive Mendonca will go down in Charlton Athletic historical past for scoring a hat-trick within the 1998 First Division play-off remaining in opposition to Sunderland, however he has revealed he almost joined the opposition the season beforehand.
Previous to the ultimate, Charlton beat Ipswich City 1-0 in each legs of the semi-final. Mendonca, Charlton’s prolific striker who had scored 25 objectives within the league that season, was unavailable for the second match, although, the Englishman restricted to an agonising watching transient from the bench in opposition to the Tractor Boys.
“I’ve by no means been so nervous at a sport of soccer in my life,” Mendonca reminisces to FourFourTwo, 25 years on.
A again drawback prevented Mendonca from lining up. Their £700,000 file signing could be prepared for the play-off remaining, nonetheless – to tackle the staff he’d supported since childhood.
“I’d been fighting my again, however I simply knew we had been enjoying Sunderland within the remaining. I’m a Sunderland lad. I used to be born in London, however I moved to Sunderland once I was two and was introduced up there.
“I went to highschool in Sunderland; I performed for Sunderland Boys and Durham County; I’d been a Sunderland fan all my life. Each staff I performed for, the primary outcome I seemed for was Sunderland. All of my mates are Sunderland. The whole lot I do know.”
Mendonca had joined Charlton at the beginning of that season from Grimsby, who’d been relegated from the second tier.
“Actually, I’d wished to signal for Sunderland,” he admits. “I’d come all the way down to Charlton, spoken to Alan Curbishley and was fairly pleased with what he’d stated. I’d heard that Sunderland wished to signal me too, so I stated to Curbs, ‘I feel Sunderland wish to signal us, but when it doesn’t occur, I’ll signal with you’. It didn’t occur, so I believed, ‘I’ve received to take care of myself – Charlton actually need me, so I’ll go there’.”
It appears Mendonca made the appropriate determination, too. Sport time within the north east may need been restricted because of Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips’ partnership on the time, whereas Charlton had been ultimately promoted to the Premier League at Sunderland’s expense.
Certainly, Charlton beat Sunderland on penalties within the First Division play-off remaining in 1998, a sport considered the very best play-off remaining ever after it completed 4-4 after 120 minutes. Mendonca bagged a hat-trick within the match, although he needs Sunderland did not need to bear the brunt of his goalscoring exploits.
“It was an absolute pleasure to function in a sport like that,” Mendonca says. “However I want I may have achieved it in opposition to every other staff within the league. It’s simply destiny, the way it labored out. It wasn’t simple. Some folks by no means settle for it, however I used to be merely doing my job the very best I may.”
