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Anyone for cricket? Well, what about Rugby League? Or, of course, tennis? In the almost complete absence of football, Pete Sixsmith was game for most things sportive…

The beginning of July sees the end of the close season and it means that football can start again. It has to mix in with other sports and it is fairly low profile at the moment, but it’s back so a muted three cheers for that.

Over the weekend, I had a mixture of sports on the go, a kind of sporting bouillabaisse with lots of different components. But it ended up giving me a very satisfied and warm feeling, just like a stew concocted by the excellent Keith Floyd.

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Euro 2008 is behind us, Wimbledon’s into its last couple of days and…….the season tickets are being sent out. Pete Sixsmith looks back on a lifetime of SAFC worship which this year, as in others, he extends to pre-season friendlies….

You know the close season is over when the season ticket books arrive.

Mine came yesterday (as did Colin’s), and it heralds the beginning of our 44th season as regular Sunderland supporters.

Our first season tickets were in 1964-65 after the magnificent promotion the previous year. They were for the main stand paddock and cost the princely sum of £6.6s.0d – or 6 guineas in posh money. It was my Christmas present for that year and I had to work overtime on my long suffering parents to squeeze a red and white scarf and a pair of chisel toed side fastening shoes from Doggarts as extras on Christmas Day.

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Absent from the North East, missing from Euro 2008, Salut! Sunderland is lucky to have Pete Sixsmith to turn to back home. And Pete’s wit and wisdom have been spotted far beyond Coutny Durham; his delicious teacher’s advice* to the geographically and historically challenged David Pleat, already hailed by Shane Breslin of the Irish eleven-a-side site (“brilliant, Pete, love it,” he wrote), was one of three “quotes of the tournament” chosen by my sports colleagues at The National in Abu Dhabi. Perhaps they should have got him to do the “Euro Notables” round-up, too. Here is Pete’s version, his award ceremony verdicts on an absorbing footballing treat …….

Well, what a tournament. I don’t think that I have ever enjoyed a major championship as much as this one. Everything seemed right. The number of teams, the venues, the way the groups worked out – it was just brilliant. Never mind the Oscars and the Grammies, what about some Sixies?

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Pete Sixsmith marvelled, as I did, at the speed and magical fluency of the Spanish team in making a second-half mockery of all the good things said about the Russians. You need only read what follows to see that Pete was rather looking forward to a Russia v Germany final, but the defeat did nothing to stem to tide of memories unleashed by the Russians’ unexpectedly good Euro 2008 showing…

So, Euro 2008 is down to the usual suspect in Germany and persistent underachievers in Spain. It promises to be a good final with lots of outstanding players on show and the distinct possibility of a victory for a country with no words to their national anthem. I’m sure that Motty will have a list of similar nations and will astound his audience by informing us that this is the first time that a major final has been reached by a wordless anthem team. What a surprise.

As I watched Spain on Thursday, I was mightily impressed with their movement and their ability to pass the ball around the Russian defenders. The one time Russia had clearly peaked was when they thrashed the Dutch and against Spain they were much more reminiscent of the USSR teams of the 60s as they lumbered around the pitch, desperately trying to catch the likes of Silva, Fabregas and the outstanding Iniesta.

I speak as someone who was an avid fan of the USSR in the 60s, so much so that I even had an order for Soviet Weekly from Bill Clarkson’s paper shop. I got it for the grain production figures but would occasionally cast a glance at the Soviet League table which was usually headed by Moscow Dynamo. In my naivety, I assumed that they were the works team of the local cycle factory and not the representatives of the KGB.

When the World Cup came to Roker Park in 1966, I was delighted to see that the representatives of the Workers Paradise would be gracing the hallowed turf and I immediately liberated a 10/- note from my paper round in order to buy tickets for the games. The kulak paper shop owner, Jimmy Wilson, would have to do without another plate of caviar in order for me to worship the sporting representatives of Lenin, Stalin and Kruschev.

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This, I know, is the football news everyone was waiting for.

Never mind Spain dumping out Italy on penalties – a welcome result, so far as Salut! Sunderland is concerned though Spain’s first half performance was enough to drive me to bed (we kick off at 10.45pm) – or Ronaldo preparing to announce his preference between Old Trafford, the Estadio Santiago Bernabé and the Stadium of Light.

My adopted home country, the United Arab Emirates, fought their way through to the final round of the 2010 World Cup Asian Zone qualifiers last night.

Did they do it in style, sweeping to an emphatic 4-0 victory over Syria in the match played at Abu Dhabi’s second city, Al Ain? Did they come back from behind to snatch the points in injury time? Or did they at least tough it out in a dour 0-0 draw that was nevertheless enough to ensure further progress towards South Africa?

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All Pete’s fault. His Soapboxes extolling the virtues of Euro 2008 struck a chord. Leaving work today (Abu Dhabi Saturdays are not days off for everyone), I was asked – as usual – if I’d be watching tonight’s footie.

And as usual, I replied: “No chance. I cannot find a channel showing it and don’t fancy going out to catch it.”

The colleague didn’t let go this time. Finally, here was someone who wanted to explain how easily I could set things right – if I wanted.

So, an hour or so later, I went in search of a satellite card that would give me Holland v Russia (this link takes you directly to the highlights flagged in the YouTube clip), and the games to follow. I’d helped myself to a wind-down glass of wine by then so taking the car anywhere, in a country where driving with the least trace of alcohol equals jail, was not an option.

But a helfpul man in an electrical supplies shop down the street pointed me in the right direction. Soon I was in a gold and white cab heading a mile down the main road to a cluster of shops, any of which I was told would help me out.

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Even if you did not read my Club v Country: an easy home win chapter in the ALS book More 24 Hour SAFC People, you probably know that Salut! Sunderland is rarely found devoting too much space to football at international level.
Since I am currently based in Abu Dhabi, I care more about the UAE’s prospects of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – one point at home to Syria tomorrow night would take them to the next qualifying stage – than England’s. But I do feel I may have been missing something in the last couple of weeks. From Pete Sixsmith to the abaya-clad interns at the office, so many people have raved about Portugal (au revoir), Spain and Holland that Euro 2008 has clearly been producing some great football. Bringing me further up to date, with his a midterm review of the competition, Pete oozes appreciation of Russia, Turkey and Croatia…

So, we are more than halfway through and Keano still hasn’t signed any of the stars of the tournament. I’m sure we would all agree that Ronaldo, Toni, Henry and Cech have had outstanding tournaments and, on their performances so far, would grace the likes of Blyth Spartans and Horden CW.

The best sides have been the relatively unfancied ones. I watched the Russians beat Sweden and was transfixed by the pace of their game and the accuracy of their passing. Sweden were a little ponderous (Gary Breen and Jeff Whitley might well have felt comfortable in their line up) and they lacked any form of penetration up front. I know Ibrahamovic was injured but at times you could almost understand why Reidy favoured Flo over him. All right then, maybe not.

Both Russian goals were excellent examples of what good sides should aspire to. Guus Hiddink is a marvellous coach and it can’t be coincidental that his side plays in a similar style to Dick Advocaat’s Zenit Leningrad*. The Dutch influence is clearly at work there and here’s hoping that Roy can pick up some of it on his worldwide coaching odyssey. Mind you, what the Dutch side FC Twente hope to get from Steve McClaren is difficult to fathom. Maybe fashion tips on umbrella styles.

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Salut! Sunderland, during Euro 2008, has been a bit like the Circular, the No 5 United bus that used to – still? – slog all over Shildon on a roundabout route towards Bishop: you wait for ages for one, then two come at the same time. With the football focus switching to internationals, it has been quiet here. Then the fixtures list for next season appears and we’re both competing for space. Here, Pete Sixsmith runs the rule over the fare from Austria and Switzerland.
Some things, he finds, never change. We’re linked yet again with Jan Koller. David Pleat still has problem with basic general knowledge. I could add that the other thing that remains unchanged is Pete’s struggles to spell Kenwyne: two Ns all last season, one N but two Ys today (spotted in time). In any event, the varied splendour s of Sixer’s Soapbox are back. Read on….

Well, the fixtures are out and now we can begin the great guessing game of when we might play the actual game.

Will it be Saturday lunchtime or teatime? Might it be Sunday early or late? And what about that real novelty, a 3pm, kick off on a Saturday afternoon against any one of the self styled Big 4?

As we read. the executives of Sky and Setanta are squabbling over who does get the rights to Hull v Bolton or Wigan v Stoke – or, more to the point, who doesn’t.

The last few weeks have been very quiet, hence no Randall/Sixsmith activity on the site. Like Setanta we have been recycling stuff from last season and trying to convince the readers(s) that they are classics that need to be read again. I know that Colin has been soaking up the Mediterranean atmosphere at his home on the Cote d’Azur while I have been dodging creditors and attempting to pay for next season by marking GCSE History papers. There’s 260+ of them sat in my spare room, looking at me and demanding to be graded.

Usually I throw them down the stairs and the ones that go the farthest (the heaviest ones) get the best marks. In the past, we got to know where the papers came from so you can imagine that any Newcastle schools that were allocated to me had a 100 per cent failure rate, schools from Jarrow were 50 per cent pass and 50 per cent fail while any Sunderland centre had every student passing with a Grade A*. Only joking, Examination Board!!!!

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