Salut! Sunderland: a new home for football’s most literate blog

Well, it may or may not be football's most literate blog. Typos creep in all the time; one of us struggles with apostrophes. But Salut! Sunderland does have a new home.

Colin

The site has been running now for more than two-and-a-half years. It began as an offshoot of Salut!, a site started in Oct 2006 just after I – Colin Randall – was fired by The Daily Telegraph, which had decided that 29 years of me was quite long enough.

Pete

At first, Salut! Sunderland was a one-man show. I transferred, with the enormous help of Madame Salut, a large archive of "celebrity supporter" interviews originally done for 5573, later relaunched as Wear Down South, the newsletter of the London branch of the Sunderland AFC Supporters' Association. I wrote about anything to do with Sunderland that took my fancy. And then I persuaded my great friend Pete Sixsmith to help out a little.

A little!

With Sixer's Sevens – his seven-word verdicts on each match – and his Sixer's Soapbox, wonderful and witty insights into the world of football (and life) as seen through the eyes of a Sunderland fan, it is Pete who has made the blog the literary giant I claim it to be. Add to that the features, interviews and a brilliant series of contributions by the fans of opposing teams and you have a wealth of reading that even non-SAFC fans can appreciate.

Between us, we account for around 90 years of Sunderland support. Back in the 60s, we had our first season tickets in the Main Stand paddock at Roker Park, were present for the monumental FA Cup replay against Man Utd, saw the Boxing Day injury that eventually ended Brian Clough's career and began lifetimes of support, with long periods of torpor punctuated by occasional ecstasy and agony.

Judge the site yourself, here at its new home hosted by Football United, about which more later. You may also for now – and depending on how the move goes – catch up on the past glories of Salut! Sunderland by paying visits to the old site.

And look out here for more news of our baby steps towards something maybe bigger. I have set the visitor counter to start at about 158,000 – the figure it had reached at the old site when I last checked a few minutes ago.

2 thoughts on “Salut! Sunderland: a new home for football’s most literate blog”

  1. They say that moving home is the most traumatic event after a family bereavement and divorce. Here’s hoping that this move works out well and that cack handed technophobes like me can access it easily.
    I hope the transfer fee paid is not as wasteful as the one we spent on the likes of Flo, Wallace and Andy Kerr!!

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