Rare film footage of the FA Cup parade in Sunderland - watch as Vic Halom, Micky Horswill and Billy Hughes wave to the crowds

It was the day when we packed on to roadsides from the outskirts of Durham to the centre of Sunderland just to get a glimpse of the FA Cup.

Stokoe’s boys had done it – and now they were bringing the cup home to Wearside.

Heaven only knows how many fans there were. All we know is that the crowd stretched from Carrville to Roker Park.

Here’s a chance to re-live an unbelievable experience thanks to this rare cine footage of the FA Cup parade, courtesy of the North East Film Archive which has a vast library of film footage.

This amateur film was originally made by Michael Gough, a member of the Newcastle and District Amateur Cinematographers’ Association.

Enormous roar as the FA Cup goes past

Listen to the roar as Sunderland fans watch the bus pass by, packed with Black Cats stars such as Porterfield, Hughes and Montgomery.

Fans wore Sunderland scarves, rosettes and other club paraphernalia. Local people even covered their cars in messages and honked horns.

One Mini says “Welcome Home Lads” and others drive past with SAFC scarves hanging from the windows.

A van painted with “Sunderland-1 Leeds-0” drives by and other vehicles have the message “Nice One Ian” and “Bobby’s Dazzlers Haway”.

Seaburn in 1966

Our thanks go to NEFA. If you think this cine footage is a wonderful glimpse into Wearside’s past, have a look at even more on the NEFA website

NEFA has a huge catalogue of over 70,000 items of original film, video tape, and born-digital material.

Its team has painstakingly taken on the task of preserving, cataloguing, and digitising these vital collections of reminders of our past.

NEFA officials have previously shared footage of fun at the Seaburn fairground in 1966 and Brian Clough in one of his last matches for Sunderland before the injury which put paid to his playing career.

The archive operates over two regional sites: Yorkshire Film Archive, based in York, and North East Film Archive, based in Middlesbrough.

Interested people can find out more about its work and collections by visiting the archive’s website online here.

If you have cine film of Sunderland and County Durham in the past, we would love to hear from you.

Get in touch by emailing [email protected]