Malcolm Dawson writes….I was in the environs of Darlington yesterday afternoon and pondered whether to hang about and take advantage of the cash turnstiles to get my first look at the revamped (work in progress) Sunderland AFC but decided that whilst my mobility is a lot better than it was this time last year, my knees are still not up to a couple of hours of standing, so I went home and defrosted the freezer. Try as I might I couldn’t find any reference to the use of the essential tools in the instruction manual, but aren’t you supposed to use a bread knife and 12lb lump hammer? The France/Belgium commentary played in the background and Pete Sixsmith‘s short and sweet texts brought me up to date on events at Blackwell Meadows, whilst I worked feverishly chipping and thawing and wondering why I have so many tortilla wraps, hidden away amongst the frozen prawns and mixed veg?
This morning Peter brings me and you a more detailed view of last night’s proceedings and here it is……
Order from the club by clicking the imageMalcolm Dawson, deputy editor, writes……..Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven appear to be men of their word. OK Charlie is a professional PR guru so we’d expect him to be good at his job, but so far the new owners are delivering:
* a new manager who seems to be developing a positive work ethic and has promised an entertaining style of football
* new signings within budget who are all speaking highly about Sunderland AFC and their delight at coming to Wearside
* players who do not wish to buy into the club’s future given short shrift with a promise that the club will not be taken for a ride by players and their agents
* the beginning of the replacement of the pink seats, an increasing involvement of the fans, an acknowledgement that supporters are the club and a repairing of that damaged relationship.
As this miserable season limps inexorably to its end, Pete Sixsmith (whose seven word verdict usually sums up every Sunderland performance) elected to give the long trip to Reading a miss and so today it falls to a super sub to come up with our immediate succinct post match summary. The first half was a tale of two penalty shouts. The Reading one given and converted and the Sunderland claim dismissed. But thanks to a stunning strike from Paddy McNair the scores were level again with almost all of the second period still to play. Then a goal from the most unlikely of sources as Lee Cattermole knocked one in ….with his head! But a one goal lead is rarely enough for the boys in red and white and so it proved. Despite a frantic finish at both ends it’s back to the bottom for the Black Cats.
Click on the photo and enter our prize Guess the Score competition – whoever you support
Malcolm Dawson writes……the last time I went to Wolves, if I remember rightly, Stephen Elliot equalised with about 10 minutes to go and it was the last time I was seriously worried for my personal safety at a football match.
I had arranged to go with a female friend of mine who had been born in the Black Country and claimed to be a Wolves fan, even though she was more into rugby and mixing with the hooray Henry types that sport attracted in rural Leicestershire. I should have known things were going to turn out awry, when I arrived to pick her up at mid-day to find a note (or by then it might have been a text) saying she had nipped out to the shops. The shops being Tesco and her weekly big shop, which of course all had to be unpacked first, then she insisted on a cup of coffee and a sandwich, all the time my fidgity unease becoming a virtual panic. Eventually we set off at around two but by the time we got near the ground, the designated away parking had all gone and I ended up having to leave the car some way away, near the centre of town. We made it just in time for kick off. Wolves led for most of the game then with minutes to go we scored.
As I left the ground in my red and white shirt I was spat at and called a Geordie b*****d! Of course the stock reply is “call me a b*****d but don’t call me a Geordie!” but it was then a more amenable home supporter advised me to remove my Sunderland top before venturing into the underpass that led to the car park. That was the last time I accompanied that particular lady to a game.
Now, in the latest part of his series in which he recalls his own first encounters with the grounds SAFC visit this season, Pete Sixsmith remembers Molineux from a year when The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde, The Mighty Quinn and Cinderella Rockerfeller were all topping the charts and the nation held its collective breath to see if Congratulations would see Cliff come back to the UK with the Eurovision trophy …
