Football and space travel have never gone hand in hand. Why would they? Perhaps the closest the two have ever come to intertwining was in 1999, through wily former Sunderland man Stefan Schwarz.
Sunderland are certainly aiming for the stars right now under Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and manager Regis Le Bris.
And they sit in quite a lofty league position too; in 4th place of the Championship table following their 2-2 draw against Watford last time out, which is a position that may fans might not have expected before the campaign started.
The Back Cats are well in the race for automatic promotion. They’re even, arguably still, in the race for the title, though Leeds United are rapidly pulling away with a 4-0 win at Watford on Tuesday leaving them 10 points ahead of Sunderland.
Nonetheless, Sunderland continue to aim high. But perhaps not quite as high as former player Stefan Schwarz was aiming in 1999.
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Sunderland had to insert ‘space clause’ into Stefan Schwarz’s contract
In July 1999, Sunderland broke their transfer record to sign former Swedish international Schwarz, now 55, from Fiorentina. But the deal to sign Schwarz included a particularly bizarre clause in the Swede’s contract which would’ve seen his deal terminated, if he left for outer space.
Sunderland’s chief executive at the time, John Fickling, explained how ‘one of Schwarz’s advisers’ managed to score tickets for a flight heading out of Earth’s atmosphere, which the Black Cats weren’t about to tolerate.
Sunderland’s management team, which was fronted by Peter Reid, had to insert the clause into Schwarz’s deal as he eyed up the 2002 flight into space.
Fickling told BBC in August 1999: “One of Schwarz’s advisers has, indeed, got one of the places on the commercial flights. And we were worried that he may wish to take Stefan along with him. So we thought we’d better get things tied up now rather than at the time of the flight.
“It was a reasonable request. We would normally get insurance cover for the player throughout the length of his contract. And like a lot of insurance policies there are certain exclusions, such as dangerous activities.
“At the end of the day we are protecting the club, really. It was a little bit of a light-hearted moment during protracted negotiations. But one day it could become be quite acceptable to put such clauses in various contracts.”
Stefan Schwarz wanted to replace David Moyes at Sunderland in 2017
Schwarz actually went on to finish his career with Sunderland in 2003, spending his entire time on terra firma and making 62 appearances in three seasons, scoring three goals for the Black Cats.
He’s since lived a quiet life. But he was back in Sunderland headlines in 2017 when he stated his desire to replace David Moyes at the Stadium of Light.
Lacking any managerial experience, Schwarz said: “I think I understand the mentality of the Sunderland fans, and the culture of the area. Sunderland teams have to have an identity, and the players need to know their duties and responsibilities to each other.”
Of course, he never managed the Black Cats. But Schwarz was a good player for the club and he certainly left supporters with their share of memories.