Calling warm, witty or wise Leicester, Burnley and QPR fans: you’re needed

Sunderland: the new away top*
Sunderland: the new away top*

First off, here – with SAFC’s much appreciated co-operation – is the new away strip for 2014-2015. It will be officially released on June 27 but orders can be placed now at www.safcstore.com or at official SAFC stores at the Stadium of Light, in Debenhams, Sunderland or at The Galleries, Washington. Now on to business of our own …


QPR being what we were
and threaten often enough to become again, a yo-yo club, their supporters know the drill. Burnley ones with slightly longer memories will have an idea what is coming, too. For Leicester fans, it is uncharted territory.

Salut! Sunderland is famous for its Who are You? features, or likes to think it is. Before each game – and there were 49 of them last season, what with the cup runs – we interview a supporter of the team we’re about to meet. Last season yielded some gems, as the annual awards process highlighted.

That means, ideally, that we need two each from champions Leicester, runners-up Burnley and by-the-back-door playoff winners QPR.

Jake demands lots of answers
Jake demands lots of answers

QPR and Burnley have each produced cracking interviews in the past, with Salut!’s great Hoops-following pal Steve Colwell and the bagpipes-playing arch spin doctor Alastair Campbell, a Burnley fanatic, leading the way but by no means alone.

If you feel you can emulate their best efforts, let me know and I will try to pin down a couple from each team for the games in which we’ll play each other next season (with supersubs in reserve for late cancellations and/or cup ties). A quick message to salutsunderland@gmail.com would do the trick.

Thinking of the new Sunderland away kit, it strikes me that given the colours of the promoted sides, fans of Leicester and QPR will not see them at their grounds. There is an awful lot more claret than blue in Burnley’s home strip, so maybe at Turf Moor …

Here’s how SAFC describes it:

Gus Poyet’s side will play in a new ‘sharp blue’ kit away next season, manufactured by adidas and sponsored by principal club partners, Bidvest. Dark grey pinstripes lend a retro feel, while grey and white trims complement the iconic white adidas stripes. The shorts and socks are also ‘sharp blue’, set off by a white trim and adidas detailing.

The kit was modelled in a recent photoshoot by Black Cats stars Connor Wickham, John O’Shea and Adam Johnson. Speaking about the change strip, Connor said: “It’s a really striking kit. I love the bold, bright colour, the design is different to previous kits and I’m sure our fans will like it.

We would probably be reading too much into the photoshoot to suppose Adam Johnson’s future necessarily lies at Sunderland. But who knows?

Matt's cartoon as adapted by Jake
Matt’s cartoon as adapted by Jake

4 thoughts on “Calling warm, witty or wise Leicester, Burnley and QPR fans: you’re needed”

  1. Steve: I’ll always bear in mind your enthusiasm and will come back perhaps more than you’d like for pieces. But with Who are you?, I felt the spirit of the series called out for new people – I seem to recall you did two in quick succession. I am now awash with QPR volunteers!

  2. That’ll be a ‘no’ for me then? 😉
    Have a look at my friends on facebook, and you’ll see a few hundred QPR fans among them, I’d suggest Kieran Robinson would be a good candidate…
    Cheers!

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