Sixer’s Sevens: Maja makes the difference at Blackpool

by
Jake: ‘just enough’

Was it 7,000, 8,000 or perhaps even more Sunderland fans who made the trip to Blackpool for the New Year’s Day fixture at Bloomfield Road? Pete Sixsmith was among them and was delighted to record Josh Maja’s 15th goal of the season. Barnes and Benno kept those of us nowhere near the Lancashire seaside in touch and it was clear from their radio coverage that having been well on top, we proceeded as so often to live dangerously after going ahead.

Gary Bennett said repeatedly how important the second goal was to us (‘come on,’ he said before one corner, ‘score from one of these set pieces!’… the cushion never arrived, there was clearly an occasional threat to McClaughlin’s clean sheet, a Bradford-style goal-line incident and a lot of necessarily solid defending. And won. Not the most convincing of victories, but Sunderland stepped three points closer towards promotion. Sixer’s seven-word verdict – on which he will doubtless build for his full report – salute the massive contribution of the scorer, a man we desperately want to hang on to …

Read more

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Ground: Blackpool and Bloomfield Road

by
The man himself

John McCormick writes: I thought it was when I was old enough to go into pubs but not old enough to do so legally that I first went to went to Bloomfield Road, which would put the date around 1968. I’m pretty sure, however, that it wasn’t Sunderland I saw playing there but Bolton Wanderers, who had Charlie Hurley turning out for them and he didn’t join Bolton until the start of the 69-70 season.

Pete Sixsmith has no such doubts. He was there before me and he remembers it, or at least the bits thatmatter, well.

Read more

Blackpool vs Sunderland Guess the Score: seaside frolics?

by
Jake: ‘forget the hangovers – roar the Lads to victory’ at the seaside’

New Year’s day is part of a great English football tradition. Games are played on January 1 just as they take place on Boxing Day, so much better than the wimpish French trêve (it also means truce but here denotes a widwinter sporting break).

And Sunderland, accompanied by 7-8,000 supporters, are at Blackpool. A special Who are You?, to be published on Sunday afternoon, will combine answers from the Lancashire club’s mascot, the Bloomfield Bear, and another look at the smashing interview gven to us a few years ago by the Blackpool and BBC legend Jimmy Armfield, who died in January 2018.

Read more

Blackpool vs Sunderland Who are You?: Bloomfield Bear helps us remember Jimmy Armfield

by
Click on the Bloomfield Bear to see the archive of Who are You?s so far in a vintage season for the series

Monsieur Salut writes: which of the Newcombes, father Gary or son Kieran, a) appears in the photo and b) answered our questions? Not sure about the photo but we can take it Gary answered the questions since the responses suggest a longer stint as a Blackpool fan than that of his lad. Kieran’s lips are sealed beyond saying ‘they’re the bear’s answers’ so here, before the exceptional treat of another look at replies the late Jimmy Armfield once gave us, is the Bloomfield Bear, complete with a succinct reference to the afternoon at Wembley that brought a fairytale season back in the top flight after 40 years, if one with no happy ending.

And then he can work out how to entertain home fans PLUS 8,000 Sunderland supporters on New Year’s day …

Read more

North Eastern Programme Club: the year SAFC picked the right people

by
John McCormick at work

SAFC fans who buy the matchday programme will know that Salut! Sunderland writers regularly contribute. For the Shrewsbury edition, our associate editor John McCormick looked back over a tumultuous year for the club and its supporters. Here is his article (NB: there may have been a couple of edits before publication) …

Read more

Sixer’s Sevens. A 1-1 damp squib against Shrewsbury

by
Look what Santa brought Sixer

Pete Sixsmith was not a happy soul in a poor first half seen by another big SoL crowd, not quite 46,039 but 33,288 is an impressive count.

When Shrewsbury took the lead, he sent a text message saying Sunderland were playing like men with hangovers. Shortly before half time, he noted that we had finally “stirred ourselves” as Maja scored a fine equaliser. But before the goal, Gary Bennett thought we’d been as bad in that first half as at any time this season. It seems to have been a little better in the second half but no one was able to snatch a winner and Shrewsbury very nearly managed it themselves in stoppage time.

As usual, this is Pete’s instant, seven-word verdict. Expect to see his fuller reporting due course …

Read more

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Team: Shrewsbury Town

by
Click the banner to go to the prize Guess the Score competition. Shrewsbury fans welcome.

With Christmas and hopefully Salut! Sunderland’s website issues behind us, we look forward to New Year and a trip to the seaside, where more than 7,000 Mackems, many of whom will be nursing massive hangovers, will converge on Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road.

But before that we have a little matter of a home game against Shrewsbury Town, currently languishing just above the relegation zone. It is a game we will be expecting to win but as we have found out already this season, there are no easy games in this division and our boys will need to be on top form to avoid an upset. Pete Sixsmith first saw them at a time when punk rock was about to be usurped by New Wave but it was Pink Floyd keeping Abba off the top of the charts.

Read more