Sunderland

The Mackem diaspora (4): home and away

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On the train back home

And so the series ambles to a halt with a final collection of stories, this time from those who put down roots away from the North East but – with one exception – not overseas. Sunderland supporters who live or have lived the world over have contributed, via the excellent Blackcats e-mail loop and reproduced here, some fascinating accounts of how they ended up where they are, how they maintain their passion for SAFC and much more besides. I may slot additional potted memoirs into any of the four instalments or even add a fifth if necessary. Thanks to all who have given permission for their thoughts to be shared with Salut! Sunderland readers …

Check out also:

* Part one: from Murton to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

* Part two: born in Newcastle, supporting Sunderland

* Part three: ladies stockings, REM and other exotica

* The Blackcats Google map

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Who are You? Mick Quinn’s divided Liverpool and Newcastle loyalties

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Salut! Sunderland casts its net far and wide in search of interesting candidates for the Who are You? series. For today’s return to Premier action – Sunderland v Liverpool – we found Mick Quinn, who grew up on the Kop but had to play his football at downtrodden stadiums in places like Newcastle and Portsmouth. Mick has fully recovered from such adversity and now works for TalkSport, covering football and horseracing. And he was a cracking interviewee. The full Q&A can be seen here but , for those in a hurry who missed it first time round, one or two extracts follow …

Salut! Sunderland In the end, was it right – for Liverpool too – that Torres went?

Yes, I think so. Don’t get me wrong: he is a top quality striker who on the top of his game is the best in the world for me. Just look at some of the goals he has scored. And I have never changed my opinion on that. But for one reason or another, and there were those three ops in 18 months, he was sulking like a big kid because he felt he’d been promised quite a bit by Hodgson on the players he’d bring in but then didn’t. But we’ve brought in two quality strikers so that is a good bit of business in the end.

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The Mackem diaspora (3): ladies’ stockings, REM and other exotica

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Three down and, as things stand, one to go. My first thought about the “Mackem diaspora” thread started by Jeremy Robson at the Blackcats list was that it was a fabulous idea, and stories like these reinforce that view. The choice of images will become clear as you read on. And the reminiscences of Sunderland supporters taking part in the exercise speak for themselves …

See parts one or two by clicking on:

* From Murton to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

* Born in Newcastle, supporting Sunderland

* And the the Google world map initiated by Neil Chandler has now clocked 3,600+ hits. Join it here

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The Mackem diaspora (2): born in Newcastle, supporting Sunderland

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Bare necessities


Where are the Mackem wild geese, and what are the stories of their lives away from the North East? It is a fascinating subject – for those of us who care – and since Jeremy Robson got it going again, it’s not touched ground. Look at the Google map – 3,300+ hits last time I looked – and you’ll see that whether exiles read Salut! Sunderland, ALS, Ready To Go , Roker Report or anything else, their thoughts are never too far from home …


For the first part of this mini-series, please go to this link: The Mackem diaspora (1): from Murton to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

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Soapbox: why I stopped loving Liverpool

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Pete Sixsmith, one the of the best things happen to football writing in a generation (or six), reaches – I won’t say celebrates – a milestone birthday today. No prizes are being offered for guessing which one. He marks the occasion with some heartfelt words on how the magneticism of Liverpool, for him, rubbed off …

Growing up in the 60s, there was only one place boys wanted to be and that was on the banks of the Mersey.

As a regular reader of NME, Record Mirror, Melody Maker and Disc & Music Echo, I knew all about the Mersey Sound – The Beatles, The Undertakers, The Big 3, Rory Storm and The Hurricanes et al and I desperately wanted to be at the Cavern, rubbing shoulders with Gerry Marsden and thighs with Cilla Black.

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The Mackem diaspora (1): from Murton to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

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Read these stories – and the further ones that will follow – of Sunderland fans spread around the world, add your own and also take a look at the new Blackcats Google map that shows who is where …

Whenever we bemoan the fact that some footballers, or – as Mr Roy Keane may have observed – their Wags, refuse to move to Sunderland because of where it is, some of us feel a tinge of guilt.

I am talking about people who moved away from the North East for reasons of work, love or duty.

How many of them are truly likely to return? It’s 38 years since M Salut left County Durham and he feels no less attached to “home” than he did when he left. But would he, could he, go back?

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SAFC v Liverpool: boy from Kop who proudly wore Newcastle No 9

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‘I’m the real Mighty Quinn’

The star in our Who Are You? hot seat ahead of the sell-out Sunderland v Liverpool clash on Sunday is Mick Quinn, interviewed by phone and text messages. Growing up in Liverpool, this Quinny supported the Reds from the Kop, but had to travel far afield to make a career as a burly, aggressive centre forward. Now a radio presenter with TalkSport, he says his passion is deeper than ever, though three years on Tyneside also left him with lasting affection for Newcastle United …

Salut! Sunderland: Roy Hodgson has gone, Torres too. But is it fair to assume Sunderland will be facing a totally different challenge from Liverpool than when we nearly beat them at Anfield?

Completey different. Everything looks more positive with Kenny putting a smile back on everyone’s faces. Before they were pretty downcast for one reason or another, with players looking as if they were not enjoying it. But they look a completely changed side now.

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Soapbox on captains courageous: so who leads England out against Wales?

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The question is posed by Pete Sixsmith. who detects a subtle difference between your John Terrys and your Kevin Balls …

The big talking point on Sport on 5 last night was the England captaincy.

Mark Pougatch, David Pleat and Mike Ingham had a sustained and intense discussion about who should wear the captains armband against Wales and Ghana next week, what with Rio being injured, Stevie G being out and would JT get it back. Interesting? Not really

One startling revelation that came out was that Terry was “upset” when the armband was passed around during the multi-substitutions against Denmark and it never reached him, poor diddums.

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