Peter Lynn, aka the Wrinklier of our Petes, is back on his pop music themes, if only briefly, as he looks back on 50 years of marriage to Mrs WrinklyPete – and another blissful union, or test of endurance, his love affair with Sunderland AFC …
I have used the Tremeloes’ 1967 hit as a musical hook, even though I didn’t like them, to explain my absence from this site – for anyone who noticed!
My wife and I reached our Golden wedding anniversary in September and we have been busy celebrating although (regrettably?) I have seen some games this season which I will comment on another time.
As well as celebrating we were reflecting on major events in our lives and their coincidence with world events and I thought it might be fun to include Sunderland events over that time span. I have no idea as I write this how it will work out so if you are reading this it may not have been too bad.
1965 We married, miniskirts were introduced and Sunderland Supporters’ Association was founded
1966 Our first son was born, England won the world cup and Sunderland finished fourth bottom in Division One
1969 Our second son was born, Man landed on the moon and the legend that is Jim Montgomery was ever present during the season
1973 Not a lot happened in the Lynn household – Oh, I remember now – I went to Wembley for the cup final, with my Dad. Magic!
1976 We moved home from Bristol to Solihull, hottest summer ever and Sunderland were champions of Division Two
1978 Our elder son started senior school, the first “test tube” baby was born and Rory Gregoire became the first black player to play for The Lads
1980 Our younger son started senior school, Mount St Helens erupted and Sunderland were promoted from Division Two again
1985 Our first son started university, a hole in Ozone Layer was discovered and Sunderland lost to Norwich in the “friendly” League cup final
1987 Our younger son started university, “Black Monday” on US stock market and Sunderland hit their lowest ebb under Lawrie Mackemenemy
1991 I left the “rat race” to become a countryside ranger, the Soviet Union collapsed and Sunderland were relegated from Division One again
1999 Our first grandson was born, so was The Euro and Tommy Sorenson kept 29 clean sheets in his debut season helping towards promotion from Division One with a record 105 points
2004 My wife retired, fox hunting was banned and Mart Poom achieved a Sunderland double in the season – our first goalkeeper to score and our first goalkeeper to be sent off
2005 I retired, our first granddaughter was born, same sex marriage was approved and Sunderland were promoted from the fizzy pop league
2007 We contemplated moving back to Bristol but instead build a conservatory, the new Wembley was built too and Sunderland took up permanent (?) residence in Premier League
2011 Our second grandson was born, REM split up and Sunderland played five times unbeaten in London
2015 Our second granddaughter was born, there is a refugee crisis in Europe and Sunderland spread the managerial burden across three appointments. Perhaps we might do better if we employed all three together?
A fairly light-hearted look back from the point of view of Sunderland AFC and of course not complete but compared to some of the world events we haven’t had such a bad time of it, in my opinion.
Now, I know you won’t tell a soul and definitely not the wife but I have been in love with The Lads for longer than with her!
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