Sunderland

The pride of England, Ghana and Sunderland – and a dodgy French strip

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Asamoah by addick-tedKevin

… in which we praise the Sunderland men who graced the Wembley turf last night and introduce you to a new team strip to end arguments over our own …

Before anything else, Salut! Sunderland salutes all the SAFC players who represented their countries in the England v Ghana friendly last night. In particular, bravo Asamoah Gyan for an equaliser to cap what was, by all accounts, an excellent game and Danny Welbeck for making his first England appearance.

At this distance – M Salut is in France – you have to rely on the reports of others.

One Sunderland supporter with Wembley tickets wondered what the England fans in the family enclosure made of his celebration of Gyan’s goal. Another sent a celebratory e-mail: “Gerrin … more of that on Saturday please.”

A third, thinking also of a certain Mr Carroll, added: “Can’t say I’ve enjoyed an England goal less and cheered the opposition scoring more than tonight. Can we have that every week please Gyan!”

While all this was going on, our own Pete Sixsmith sent a text telling me Fraizer Campbell had also scored – on his return from injury in a 1-1 draw for the Reserves v WBA. There’ll be more on that, I imagine, from Pete himself a little later, but Campbell’s recovery and confidence-boosting goal can only be good for the club.

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The West Ham rip-off: to boycott or not to boycott

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Tickets can now be bought for the last two away games – but be prepared to pass by the mortgage broker on your way to paying for the West Ham United match on Sunday May 22.

The appalling rip-off merchants who have charge of West Ham have decided that Sunderland supporters should be mugged for £46 apiece for the dubious honour of a seat at Upton Park/Boleyn/pre-Olympic Plaza.

By contrast, the ticket part of the trip to Bolton on May 7 would knock you back only £20 or £28.

Instead of merely fulminating to no great effect about Sullivan and Gold, or Sullivan’s Gold, some SAFC supporters are already talking of voting their feet, that is by putting their feet nowhere near West Ham on what should otherwise be – for us – a carefree final day of an eventful but unmenacing season.

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Danny Welbeck’s England chance is Sunderland’s glory, not Manchester United’s

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Image: addick-tedKevin


A Sunderland supporter has commented elsewhere today on his unease at having three first-team players in action for Ghana tonight, with an important Premier game coming up, against a seriously below strength England.

“Is it just me, or should we be worried that we have three of our lads playing against a bunch of England B players hoping to make a name for
themselves and actually trying?” was his question, and I knew exactly what he meant.

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Soapbox: hopping mad for proper football in Coalville and beyond

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A long weekend of international football, starting with France’s disgraced World Cup flops – or some of them – being welcomed back by Laurent Blanc and continuing with perfunctory success for England, holds no joy for Pete Sixsmith. So off he went on the sort of mission he regards as heavenly, others might consider grounds for having him certified …

It’s 7.15 on a Friday night. After a busy week at work and a bout of unpleasantness with rumbling gall stones, I am parking the car next to a small football ground in a South Yorkshire village called Kinsley.

Situated between the liquorice fields of Pontefract and the (former) coalfields of Barnsley, this is not the most prepossessing of places. It’s only a spit and a throw away from Grimethorpe, immortalised as Grimley in Brassed Off and, like many similar towns, it seems to be made up of boarded up pubs, kebab shops and places selling anything and everything for 99p.

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Anyone for free match tickets – and the new home top?

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The jury is out on the Sunderland home shirt for next season.

For the lads at Tombola, the kit sponsors, it’s just the job with a “snazzy new black V-neck”. Others, whose views have been voiced at the usual places, have been less complimentary, from “yep it’s a dog” to the stern, fatherly: “I think it’s overfussy and, well, awful quite frankly. I got my son the current one. No chance with this. Looks dated already.”

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Steve Bruce, racism and journalism for the hard-of-thinking

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Image: The View from the Press Box

There are times when I rise up and defend my confrères in the press, and times when they make me despair. Today’s headlines about Steve Bruce being caught “in another race storm” make it a day for despair.

Getting on for 12 years ago, I saw Sunderland beat Watford 3-2 away in the first of Peter Reid’s seventh top seasons. SuperKev grabbed two of the goals, one of them having taken a massive deflection, and Gavin McCann the other.

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The Mackem diaspora (5): draft-dodging, apartheid and gazumped by Bob Stokoe

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Tony Roffe's photo: Jake's adaptation
Tony Roffe’s photo: Jake’s adaptation

When Salut! Sunderland‘s mini-series on the Mackem Diaspora* reached instalment number four, that seemed to be about that. But it would be criminal not to offer this priceless late account of a life that began in London and moved to Australia, Singapore and South Africa before family roots on Wearside were re-established. Andy Nichol gets instalment number five all to himself ….

Andy Nichol is a man of many wise words and has inhabited a very wide world.

He provides cogent analysis of most of the footballing issues important to Sunderland supporters but seen only by those sensible enough to have signed up to the Blackcats e-mail list.

He has chaired the London supporters’ club branch, edited its magazine and devoted so much of his life to following Sunderland AFC that Niall Quinn should seriously consider putting up his statue alongside Bob Stokoe’s. Especially since, as you shall see, the Stokoe heritage is in serious debt to the Nichol one.

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Danny Welbeck’s cracking goal for the England Under 21s

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Image: addick-tedKevin

One goal apiece for Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson in tonight’s 4-0 thrashing by England Under 21s of Denmark in Viborg. There are clips of both Danny’s excellent strike and Jordan’s impressive individualistic goal and, for as long they last, we have them …

This a treat. We all know how good Danny Welbeck is. His superb display at Chelsea spoke volumes for his talents. His control and shot deserved to clinch an improbable winner at the Emirates. And we’ve seen how well he can perform at Under 21 international level. Prepare to see it again.

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Soapbox: from Arsenal to Yeovil, can we stand being made to sit?

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To stand or not to stand. That’s the ‘question posed by Pete Sixsmith and countless other supporters. Manchester United fans complain about their Stadium of Light allocation being cut because of persistent refusal to sit; our own away support routinely stands at a number of grounds. It’s almost hit and miss as to whether stewards take action. Now, though, the tide may be turning …

The debate has moved on: there are now real moves to reintroduce standing at Premier League grounds. My faith in top level football, although not restored, is less hostile than it was.

We all know why standing was banned. A combination of Sheffield Wednesday’s indolence, South Yorkshire Police’s serious logistical failures and Sheffield City Council’s inability to carry out rudimentary inspections, led to the tragedy at Hillsborough 22 years ago.

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