Paris

Tales from the Red and Whites: Monty, Benno, Lord Rowell and Sixer

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Lane Hardy: 'hopefully the first of many ...'
Lance Hardy: ‘hopefully the first of many …’


CONDOLENCES to the French midfielder Lassana Diarra on the loss of a cousin, a Muslim like him, in Friday’s attacks by the odious ISIL in Paris. See footnote …


There is not enough time just yet – for reasons I outline in a long footnote touching on the sadness of recent days – to offer a proper review of the volume of Sunderland-related essays edited by Lance Hardy, the author of a superb book on our 1973 FA Cup final win, Stokoe, Sunderland and ’73.

But it is right to record its publication, with the promise that as soon as other commitments permit, a full review will appear on these pages.

Pete Sixsmith was invited to write the review but declined, nobly judging that it was inappropriate for a contributor to the book to assess its merits.

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You thought football had left the neanderthal age? See these Chelsea fans …

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NB: what you see above is just an impression of the clip: since The Guardian has chosen to block access via YouTube to footage it should want the world to see, I will use the BBC link suggested by Phil in the comment below. See it at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31515624

The bad news is that this happened in 2015. Long after we fondly supposed such low-life primitives had found other outlets for their vile prejudice, a group of English “supporters” are caught on film preventing a black man from boarding a Metro train in Paris before the Chelsea game at PSG. They chant “we’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it”.

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Sunderland, the play wowing Paris, to be St Etienne le film

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It is a great feeling to be changing lines on the Metro in Paris and find a poster for Sunderland the play, currently running at the Petit Théâtre de Paris, staring you in the face. Equal billing with Calamity Jane – Jane, not Steve, you’ll note – which is being presented at the bigger (ie no Petit) Théâtre de Paris in the same building in the 9th arrondissement.

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Salut!’s Week: Liverpool greed, Crossan gold, Arsenal groans

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The second week of a non-football fortnight, as it has been for those who care little for internationals, has been a busy old time at Salut! Sunderland. Here is a resume for readers who do not visit the site every day, starting with something that isn’t in the headline but should be …

Jonathan Wilson is widely acclaimed as one of the best football writers around. You can read him in The Guardian, in his own books (his Brian Clough biography is due out soon) and, as of this week, Salut! Sunderland.

A truly magical piece of writing, about an unbreakable attachment to Sunderland AFC passed down from one generation to the next, appeared first at the SB Info Plus website but was reproduced here with the permission both the writer and the site. Several people who read it were, like me, deeply moved by Jonathan’s words.

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Paris, Paul Dacre and Jeff Whitley’s confessions

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Whatever the French can do, the English do better. Or just differently.

You heard earlier this week about Clément Koch’s black comedy for the Parisian stage, entitled and set in Sunderland and owing something to his observations while a student at Durham.

Since Salut! Sunderland‘s piece appeared – see here – it has been in The Times and Independent and on the Today programme – Sunderland apparently described there as being on Teesside – as well as on Ready To Go and the Newcastle pages at not606.com

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Taking Paris by storm: Sunderland, the play

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Images: V Tonelli

Now if only it could be Sunderland’s play taking Paris by storm. That for all their Qatari gold, we’d gone to the Parc des Princes and walloped Paris Saint-German 3-0 to proceed still further in the Champions’ League.

There’s the fantasy. Here’s the reality, or Sunderland as presented on the Parisian stage.

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