Sunderland A.F.C.

As Salut! Sunderland hits two million, Kevin Maguire talks hope and passion

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Maguire of the Mirror: red and white through and through
Maguire of the Mirror: red and white through and through

Welcome to Salut! Sunderland en fête, on the day – or, at worst, the day before – it finally clocks up its two millionth visit. Cast your eyes to the right where you find the heading “The Salut! Sunderland Readership Count” and you will see the little figure beneath it. Fewer than 900 further visits to the site today and we’re there. If you happen to spot that you are the reader making that milestone visit, try to photograph or screengrab the vital statistic and send it to Monsieur Salut at salutsunderland@gmail.com. If I receive one such e-mail, and it appears genuine, a commemorative mug will be on its way (soon). If I receive two or more, I’ll know it can be fixed and all entries, sadly, may have to be disqualified unless I find a way of verifying the true winner. And don’t forget the Two Million Hits competition; closing date is June 30 (https://safc.blog/2013/06/salut-sunderlands-two-million-hit-party-even-newcastle-are-invited/)

Now read what the Daily Mirror, Sky, BBC and LBC journalist Kevin Maguire* has to say about a site devoted to his lifelong footballing passion …

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Bid for unique piece of Sunderland memorabilia. Or expect Mick McCarthy round to ask why not

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The famous top: bid for glory

This is not a competition as such but an auction. I thought we had a Sunderland top signed by the players then assembled under the command of Roy Keane but it turns out that it dates from the Mick McCarthy era (see the fascinating story of how it originated in the fifth comment below). Whether or not my use of “unique” is strictly correct, please bid generously …

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One Old Timer, there’s only one Old Timer

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Jake: this one's for Old Time SAFC

He probably wouldn’t expect it. But a special chant of that headline at the final game, versus Manchester United on Sunday, would be a grand gesture, especially if followed by prolonged applause. Just a thought …

When the number of views at a Ready to Go thread sweeps past 25,000, you know it is probably something out of the ordinary. In fact, two days on, I can say – having updated that figure several times – that it is now way past 60,000.

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New look for Sunderland, new look for Salut!

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Salut! Sunderland has news of its own to announce …

It seems somehow fitting that as the appointment of Martin O’Neill ushers in what we hope will be a successful new era for Sunderland AFC, Salut! Sunderland should also present its new face to the world. It should, with luck, make its blushing debut tomorrow (Tuesday Dec 6).

As a reader of newspapers since childhood, and as someone who has written for them for far too long (without ever once thinking of hacking anyone’s phone or bribing a cop), I have lost count of the times I have frowned or worse at redesigns.

Usually, as in the case of The Guardian, I end up approving; sometimes, with apologies to The Times, I do not. Brought up on the old Daily Herald, I would have been appalled had it gone tabloid. I was appalled enough that it developed into the old and later new Sun..

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Salut! Sunderland’s makeover: a plea for patience

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M Salut thanks the readers of this site for their angry, acerbic, amusing and appreciative comments received in recent days, weeks and months. There may be important SAFC news in the day or days to come and there may not; either way, that will inspire more comment.

But I do need a degree of patience and understanding from you all during the same period.

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Bruce’s Banter: West Brom disaster avoidance with ‘fighting spirit’

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Image: View from the Press Box

Yes it was a great fightback after a calamitous start. But two points were still dropped against a team we should expect to beat, maybe even comfortably, if our ability matches our ambition. The performance was much better in the end, but the results remain those of a candidate for relegation. But there were positives and Steve Bruce‘s post-match e-mail seizes on them …

Dear Colin,

Once we got back level I thought if there was one team that was going to win it, it would have been us.

When you get off to an horrendous start like that, you have to say well done to the lads for sticking with it and getting something.

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Calling West Brom and Bolton fans: your wit and wisdom needed

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Albion 5Image: Tony Hisgett


An appeal to WBA and Bolton supporters with something to say to Salut! Sunderland …

Five games into the season, six if you include Brighton in the Carling, we’ve done OK so far with “Who are You?” interviews. But time has been a problem and, believe me, time is needed in order to find suitable – by which you can sometimes read “any” – candidates.

Last season, we did quite well with West Bromwich Albion and Bolton Wanderers, two of the teams we face in the coming few games. Both clubs can, for whatever reason, be tricky in terms of getting someone to sign up to the Q&A.

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Isaac ‘Jack’ McGorian: echoes of Bardsley from the Roaring Twenties

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Isaac 'Jack' McGorian in 1939: captain, front row with ball between his knees, of Griqualand West Team in Kimberley vs England


SEE REVISED VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE AT THIS LINK

Not for nothing do we boast of going to the ends of the earth to find interesting snippets about Sunderland AFC. The story, for Salut! Sunderland‘s purposes, began in a coal-fired power station in the Transvaal.

Bill Richardson*, a Seaham lad who has not seen his home town or even country for a long, long time, works there. And this is what he wrote a month or two ago at the Blackcats list, an e-mail loop that brings together SAFC fans wherever they find themselves in the world:

I only found out at the weekend that one of the ladies I work with, father played for Sunderland 1926. His name was Jack McGorian.

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The Sunderland fanzine born of hope, with a suspiciously Newcastle look

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Among all that has been written about Sunderland AFC, there was once a fanzine called It’s The Hope I Can’t Stand. It was launched as the club moved from Roker Park to the Stadium of Light and was a publication destined for an exhilarating but short-lived life. There is no anniversary to speak of, no particular reason to look back on a bold publishing venture. But a discussion at the Blackcats e-mail list, which played a crucial part in the birth of ITHICS, prompted Salut! Sunderland to ask Nic Wiseman, the fanzine’s co-editor, to recall that heady time …

It was the end of the 1996-97 season, the Premier Passions season, the last season at Roker Park.

A group of Sunderland supporters bonded by being members of an e-mail list called Blackcats trooped out of the Fulwell End for the last time having seen the team dispatch Everton 3-0. It was a result that gave us hope of avoiding the drop and thus beginning life in our shiny new stadium in the Premiership rather than the Nationwide First Division, as the second tier was known then.

We had been in abysmal form and this win had given us a fighting chance. As we descended the steps into Association Terrace one of our number – I thought it was Mark Egan but others challenge my memory and tell me it was, in fact, Emma Nichol – spoke for all of us when she sighed: “I wouldn’t care if we were relegated already, it’s the hope I can’t stand.”

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