Beauties and beasts: simply red and glowing with pride after Leeds epic

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Check out the Classic Football Shirts Sunderland AFC collection at http://bit.ly/1MEMc5Z

Ken Gambles was admirably prompt in his response to requests for contributions to the Beauties and Beasts series on Sunderland kits past and present. But Salut! Sunderland proceeded to lose or at least overlook his affectionate reminiscences on a special away strip from his youth. The search party has now reported back and we can make amends. What we cannot do is direct you to our friends at Classic Football Shirts to buy the shirt; they have 300,000 in stock but the SAFC range starts in 1981. And the YouTube clip below is in black and white …

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Beauties and beasts: (6) the loneliness of the long distance Sunderland supporter

Wrinkly Pete gets shirty at the idea he should wear shirts
Wrinkly Pete gets shirty at the idea he should wear shirts

See the whole Beauty and Beasts series, presenting supporters’ thoughts on the succession of SAFC shirts over the years, at https://safc.blog/category/beauties-and-beasts/. And if you fancy a browse through the Classic Football Shirts Sunderland range, take a look at http://bit.ly/1ZNPCJA#sthash.P10KFjhR.dpuf. Our deal is that anything readers buy also helps the site with running costs …

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Beauties and beasts: (5) a defence of the pin-striped indefensible

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From Classic Football Shirts: check out the range at http://bit.ly/1ZNPCJA

Is it not almost a prerequisite of Sunderland AFC support to regard the shirt you see above as a hideous aberration, a shameless departure from proud tradition to make the passing of the steam locomotive seem a mere detail of transport history? It is not. The shirt has, or had, its champions, as Monsieur Salut has been discovering. We hear all too little from the wise and witty folk who inhabit the Blackcats e-mail list. Here, in the latest from our Beauties and Beasts series, Andy Potts*, a Mackem in Moscow exile, puts that right with a valiant defence of the pin-striped SAFC home top from 1981-83 …

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