We’ve chosen one of Jake’s generic Salut! Sunderland images as this is a democratic effort
John McCormick writes: It was Malcolm who sent the e-mail about a poll to decide on names for the stands at the SOL but it was Eric who made the original request, via the comments section, in Colin’sguess the score for the opening game of the season. My contribution was the headline you see above and the construction of the page.
Charlie Hurley, Bob Stokoe, Bradley Lowery, Raich Carter, Stan Anderson, Jimmy Montgomery and Ian Porterfield, in no particular order, were the first names we came up with; I added Cloughie and Shack when setting up the poll.
Monsieur Salut writes: Big Sam sends on a midfielder in place of a forward to save a point at home against strugglers. Thousands of SAFC fans see the writing on the wall. So let’s dwell briefly on real Sunderland heroes, heroes of other ages …
Richy Dugggan, project manager at the Hendon Young People’s Project in Sunderland, is among the lucky supporters out on the Algarve for the warm-up trip. Tonight Sunderland play the first of two games, against Recreativo de Huelva, and Richy will be there to pass on his thoughts to us.
You may recognise the name from recent Salut! Sunderland reporting: Richy’s admirable project is the beneficiary of the generosity of Raich Carter junior, son of the Hendon-born Sunderland (and later Hull City) legend.
Who are You? – interviews with fans of teams SAFC are about to play – is a feature of which Salut! Sunderland is quite proud, even if it sometimes seems a thankless task. What you are about to read makes the whole thing feel worthwhile …
Raich Carter, son of the man who played 278 times for Sunderland and nowhere often enough for England (13 caps) despite being one of his generation’s finest footballers, was a popular choice as the winner of Salut! Sunderland’s annual “Who are You?” awards. He’s a Hull City fan – dad was their player-manager from 19478-1951 and made a huge impact on Humberside – with a massive soft spot for Wearside.
Our Lad, Raich junior’s dad, handed the FA Cup by the King’s lass
This, then, was the winner. You have had another chance to savour the interviews with our second and third-placed “Who are You?” interviewees, supporters of Manchester United and Norwich City, and also the recipient of the editor’s special award, Kidderminister Harriers’ Scott Jones.
Here, though, is the deserving Number One, Raich Carter, son of the Sunderland legend but a product of the life he later made in and around Hull. Raich, when finally tracked down and told he was our judges’ choice, said: ‘Very honoured by the award and congratulations to Gus and the Lads for battling it through!’
Raich’s interview is reproduced below. He may now choose goods valued at up to $200 by our generous US award sponsors soccerpro.com. It seems to be quality clobber and doesn’t come cheaper, but Raich could – say – have this Brazil World Cup top and still have $50 to spend …
“Not a bad wedding present for Mrs Carter.” That was how the Queen Mother, then Queen Consort, put it when she handed the FA Cup to Sunderland’s captain Raich Carter in 1937, a few days after his wedding. One of the finest players of his time, Raich had scored the second goal in our 3-1 win over PNE. Raich died in 1994. His son, Raich Carter junior*, a product of his second marriage, to Pat (he also had two daughters, one from his first marriage), is a warmly welcome guest in the ‘Who are You?’ series. Not a Salut! Sunderland mistake; Raich is an avid … Hull City fan. That’s easily explained and I’ll leave it to him to do so as he answers our question ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup quarterfinal ..
We have ever-presents at this site, either every home game or virtually every game home and away. Sixer gets to development squad games, too, and would doubtless turn out even if the Under 7s were playing away to Rhyl.
Not all of us can claim similar goodliness. Some live so far away that the North East of England, and the towns and cities Sunderland visit, are a world apart. Others are prevented by a variety of work, domestic and health factors from attending games.
With their unsure grasp of history prior to the Wenger era, Arsenal’s millions of scattered supporters, living their lives without the least contact with north London or even Woolwich, would not know that when Sunderland last won the top flight championship, Saturday’s equivalent fixture ended with a 5-4 home win in front of just under 59,000 at Roker Park.
NB: A tweet by the author, coinciding with World Alzheimer’s Month, has brought this poignant and outstandingly written article a deserved new burst of interest, causing Salut! Sunderland to promote it back to the front page of the site nearly a year after it first appeared. It will stay prominently displayed for the rest of September …
I am proud to say that permission has been received for the reproduction of this quite exceptional and moving account by Jonathan Wilson*, the Sunderland-supporting Guardian sportswriter, of memories of his dad, and an exchange as death approached, that summed up the passion handed down through generations …
Last year, after my dad had died, I stayed holding his hand for about quarter of an hour and then left the nurses to it. In the hospital waiting room I made three calls. The first was to Sunderland Civic Centre to register the death. The second was to the undertakers. And the third was to The Independent to tell them that I was, after all, free to cover Sunderland v Burnley the next day.
I know a lot of people found that odd. To be honest, looking back, it seems odd to me. At the time, though, it seemed perfectly natural.
