Sunderland A.F.C

Swansea City v SAFC Who are You?: ‘we love an in-form Ki’

by
Unanimity: from the Facebook page of a previous Swansea interviewee, Jim White
Unanimity: we never tire of using this photo of Swansea fans, taken at a Wembley playoff, originally found on Jim White’s Facebook page

Jim White*, vice-chairman of the Swans Trust and the man behind www.scfc2.co.uk and https://twitter.com/swansinfo, is one of Salut! Sunderland‘s established friends. This is not his first visit to the Who are You? chair. But his thoughts are always fresh and always appreciated, even when – as now – he foresees the worst for us. Ahead of Swansea v Sunderland, Jim detects similarities between our clubs and is happy to declare a soft spot for SAFC. There’s some kiss and tell, too: he reveals why Mrs White No 1 is no longer Mrs White. And you can come back tomorrow to see what our own Pete Sixsmith told Jim’s site …

Read more

Swansea v SAFC Guess the Score: and two competitions produced one winner

by
Jake: 'anything Oxford can do ....'
Jake: ‘anything Oxford can do ….’

Monsieur Salut writes: this is indeed the Swansea City v Sunderland AFC Guess the Score. From this game onwards, temporarily at least, we revert to ‘for fun only’. We will still come up with competitions whenever sponsors appear on the scene and it goes without saying that any reader who knows a potential candidate/business should get in touch. And in the meantime, have a go anyway …

We asked you to Guess the Score in the Arsenal FA Cup match, with a prize at stake for the last time unless and until a new sponsor comes along to replace Personalised Football Gifts, who depart with our thanks for generous past support (see https://safc.blog/2016/01/the-salut-sunderland-3m-hits-competition-nearly-there/).

And before that we asked you to let us know what we are doing well, what we could do better and what we shouldn’t be doing at all at Salut! Sunderland. To mark last week’s milestone – the three millionth hit since the site was launched eight years ago – we persuaded another supplier, Classic Football Shirts, to come up with a prize for the best response.

We have a winner to announce. And without trace of a fix, the same reader has won both prizes.

Read more

One of our own. How good was Jordan Pickford at Arsenal?

by

Goalkeeping is trade that packs the odd surprise.

When Arsenal beat us 3-1 in the Premier League on December 5, the man of the match was not Ozil or any of Wenger’s other stars but Petr Cech, testament to the importance of his saves in stopping Sunderland gaining a point from the game.

And despite conceding three goals in the FA Cup tie on Saturday, our own Jordan Pickford was the best player on the pitch, ahead of the excellent Hector Bellerin and, though he played only from the 67th minute, the game-changing Aaron Ramsey.

Read more

Willkommen bet Jan: Sixer tells Kirchhoff he’s welcome – and needed – at SAFC

by

It wasn’t signed, sealed and announced as Pete Sixsmith succumbed to the editor’s pressure and wrote his customary piece welcoming an ostensibly smart and necessary new signing. It is now (see the official announcement at safc.com)*. We don’t often get to bring in players from one of the best two or three teams in Europe so it feels quite a special moment in Sunderland history …

Read more

This Sunderland fan and ex-player (nearly) thinks relegation might be OK

by

Forget the idiotic media-fuelled and possibly media-created spat between Big Sam and some manager-come-lately on Merseyside. Either the whole thing is a nonsense or one or two men need to grow up if an honest disagreement about fitness is to be seen by either as a row. This is a piece of more significance for Sunderland supporters. David Preece, Sunderland-born, a SAFC fan and on our books until he embarked on a career elsewhere, can write as well as keep goal (he’s currently player/goalkeeping coach at Lincoln City but see that wonderful bit of action in the clip).

His well-argued article for the Sunderland Echo can be seen in full at this link. We reproduce extracts with the Echo’s kind consent …


And this is the posting that took Salut! Sunderland past the milestone of 3 million hits …

Read more

The Salut! Sunderland 3m hits competition. Nearly there

by
Help Salut! Sunderland: visit this site and, if you like what you see, buy
Help Salut! Sunderland by visiting the Classic Football Shirts at http://bit.ly/1ZNPCJA

As one door closes, another opens. Personalised Football Gifts, the Weardale-based supplier of fine mugs to winners of our regular Guess the Score competition, has decided the time has come to end the arrangement. Quite simply, not enough readers followed links to their site so it is hardly a decision we can quarrel with. A winner of this week’s Arsenal v SAFC competition will still receive a mug. As a mark of appreciation of their sponsorship over the past couple of years, we have offered to keep the company’s ad on the site until the end of the season. Thanks to Ian, Hazel, Helen and, until his departure from the company, Alan, for all their support … and now let’s move on with Classic Football Shirts

Read more

Sixer’s Arsenal Who are You?: ‘sorry dad, sorry uncle, I’m a Gooner’

by
Jake: 'should I be booking my flight from Spain for the final?'
Jake: ‘if we beat them 3-2 away in a cup match under Howard Wilkinson, surely we can …’

The allegiance of our second Arsenal ‘Who are You?’ interviewee of the season is the product of boyhood rebellion. With a name like Sixsmith, you’d naturally expect him to grow up Sunderland through and through. But Andy Sixsmith*, sports presenter for Made in Tyne and Wear TV, is not made of the same stuff as Uncle Pete, Uncle Phil or his old dad, Michael (not to mention a maternal Mag). Peering into a crystal ball as a lad, he clearly saw it coming and wanted nowt to do with our chronic misery. Uncle Pete nominated him for this slot so let’s see what he makes of the questions …

A slimline Sixer
A slimline Sixer

Read more

Arsenal v Sunderland Guess the Score: a quick return to the library

by
Jake: 'should I be booking my flight from Spain for the final?'
Jake: ‘should I be booking my flight from Spain for the final?’

Salut! Sunderland is in an irrational hurry to reach that third millionth hit. It will happen sooner or later but posting Guess the Score early in the week will hasten progress towards the milestone. Don’t forget there’s another competition, arising from our little statistical celebration, and that carries a prize worth £50 at https://safc.blog/2016/01/a-mighty-thank-you-as-salut-sunderland-reaches-three-million/. Now guess the score in Saturday’s FA Cup third round game at the Emirates …

Read more

Ambrose Fogarty RIP: ‘a perfect fit’ for Sunderland, Hartlepool and Ireland

by
With thanks to Charlie Buchan
With thanks to the excellent Charlie Buchan’s Football Monthly website for permission previously granted to reproduce its images

Monsieur Salut writes: Pete Sixsmith remembers a player who figured in his youth and mine as we made our way every other Saturday to Roker Park. Despite having to slog for a regular place against gifted stars of the age, ‘Amby’ Fogarty was a good player who served our club, other clubs and his country well …


They don’t make players with names like that anymore. Ambrose Gerald Fogarty, born in Dublin in 1933, just before Hitler came to power in Germany, has died at the ripe old age of 82.

Read more