Thank you @SunderlandAFC for everything, it has been nothing but a great adventure.
Sunderland will always be more than a football team it will always be like family to me! #OviedoBaby pic.twitter.com/h17RqRISuR
— Bryan Oviedo (@Bryan_Oviedo) July 29, 2019
The goals we wanted finally came – and no fans were there to witness them, says Monsieur Salut. Our new striker Marc McNulty grabbed a confidence-boosting hat-trick and one apiece from Aiden McGeady and Chris Maguire gave Sunderland a 5-2 win over Hartlepool.
I could find no trace of this on the club site – the game was played in private (behind closed doors seems a daft phrase when applied to the Academy of Light) – but you’ll find a brief account at the Sunderland Echo site.
And now – while bidding farewell to Bryan Oviedo, off the payroll with a move to the Danish top-flight side FC Copenhagen (he goes with our thanks and good wishes, reciprocated above) – on to the real business. Tell us how you think SAFC will fare in Saturday’s League One opener against Oxford United.
There won’t be a Guess the Score prize for every match but we’ll make exceptions when it seems right, as it does for the first game of the league season.
Be first to predict the correct score, have a UK address and you will win the classic mug with the option to choose the five names you want to appear on the dressing room image …

Have a go. And Ha’way the Lads …
* And remember, if you support Oxford United you can also enter (a suitable alternative prize would be found). Any Oxford fan wishing to answer a few questions about his or her club should click on the image below …
Just back from Bishop where the U23s won 4 0. Same scoreline on Saturday will do.
Let’s have a handfull 5-0 to the lads
…… 3 – 0……
McNulty (2), Grigg (1)
A sheen cleat to start the season and a marker set for a hundred points. ?
…. and then I woke up ?
This will be one of the 19 draws from last season that we’ll convert into a win….
I’ll go for 3-2 to the lads.
The eternal optimist says let’s get off to a flyer fower nowt to the lads
1-0 to the lads.
I am starting to get excited about the new season.
The Coventry home game last season showed me that I had not been taking this great competition seriously enough with my favoured 4-3 win predictions so it’s a 5-4 win to The Lads to start the season off.
4-1 to the Lads.
Thought we were ponderous against Heerenven mind.
Into the new season with a resounding one-all.
1-1
The pessimist wins!
3-1 to the lads
2-1 home win.
3 0
Start with a clean sheet. Mcgeady, O’Nien, Grigg with a Danny Graham style fluke
To score more goals and concede less – that’s our aim this season and Oxford will be the first team to experience the new Sunderland in a 2-0 home win.