The kids of today don't know the challenge we faced in 1973 of trying to follow Sunderland on the radio

It’s a thrilling time to be a Sunderland supporter.

The Black Cats find out today who they will be playing in the Europa League and it’s the first time that Mackems have dared to dream of real overseas success in 53 years.

The Sunderland Echo and Shields Gazette’s digital nostalgia specialist Chris Cordner is old enough to remember the days when the red and whites played in the European Cup Winners Cup.

And as he reports, it was no easy matter to be a Black Cats fan trying to follow your heroes in 1973.

Okay, so we’ve won the FA Cup and beaten the might of Leeds United.

Next up was European football in a 1973 and a chance to follow the Lads as they headed off to some exciting foreign hotspot.

Not me. I had to be content with trying to find a live commentary on the away games via a radio.

But first, there was the excitement of the Cup Winners Cup draw. Milan possibly? Bilbao maybe? No, Sunderland were drawn against Vasas Budapest, a far-off location hidden well behind the then notorious Iron Curtain.

As a 13-year-old, there was no chance of me getting anywhere near Budapest. Only 500 stalwart and determined fans made the trip which was a herculean challenge in itself. Instead, I tried to master the art of following the match at my family’s home in Durham.

Radios in the 1970s were an interesting phenomenon. You would battle with the dials as you tried to find the station you wanted. Just when you thought you had the right channel, there would be a heap of chatter which would come from the station next to it.

Or even worse, you would get your channel working perfectly and then, just as you congratulated yourself with a fist pump, the dial would slip and you’d be listening to a catchy folk tune from Hilversum or some other far-flung place.

Then there was the other challenge - the constant noise if you didn’t get the dial exactly on the station you were after. It sounded a bit like rolling waves which came in with a huge thunderous roar and then eased off again, only to return a minute or so later.

Or even worse, you might actually get the match you were after and suddenly realise it was being interrupted by two people having a chat on their ham radios.

And often, you only realised you had actually caught the channel you were after when some commentator could vaguely be heard saying ‘Tueart’, ‘Hughes’ or ‘Watson’.

The struggle was real. Still, you persevered in the hope of following your heroes.

Share your memories of following Sunderland in 1973 by emailing [email protected]