Forget the Premier League... Sunderland & their super fans are lighting up thejoy Division
Inevitably, the game against Reading, despite being preceded by a promising away win at Burton Albion, did not produce a victory.
After all, the Stadium of Light locals had not seen a triumph on their own patch in almost 12 months.
Going into that 3-1 reverse to Reading, Sunderland were on a run of 20 home league matches that ended in either a defeat or a draw – 12 of the former, eight of the latter.
The Reading loss took the run to 21 – 22 in all competitions when you factor in a goalless FA Cup tie with Burnley – but it was ended one day short of a calendar year when Sunderland scraped past Fulham with a single goal on December 16. Admirably, the crowd that day was just shy of 26,000.
Every club likes to think their supporters are the most loyal but Sunderland’s take some beating.
With the preening Champions League showing its wares on television and in bitterly cold, soaking wet weather, Sunderland’s game against Barnsley this week attracted 28,514 people.
With an average attendance in excess of 30,000 this season, that was actually the lowest crowd of the campaign but still a phenomenal number for third-tier football.
They were rewarded with an attractive 4-2 win that has Sunderland within four points of leaders Portsmouth.
On Boxing Day, Bradford City will be the visitors and one of the new directors, Charlie Methven, has said he is hopeful the attendance will be in excess of 40,000.
For a THIRD DIVISION game, just think about that.
The last time that happened was in 1979 when 49,309 fans saw the Boxing Day Massacre at Hillsborough when Wednesday hammered United 4-0 in their first meeting in eight years.
Methven insists any extra revenue from a bumper attendance will be put towards a transfer fund for manager Jack Ross.
There you have it – loyal fans
£350,000 Rolls Royce. Why? Why do they do it? Miraculously, people for whom a footballer’s weekly wage takes years to earn do not resent the obscene largesse enjoyed by their idols.
But they would be right to resent them flaunting it. remaining the lifeblood of a football club. And loyal fans being rewarded by seeing their team enjoying football again, winning games.
They have won five league matches at the Stadium of Light in nine attempts this season.
Previously, they had won five league matches at the Stadium of Light in 44 attempts. Relegation, from either the Premier League or the Championship, does not have to be the club-killing ogre it is so often painted as.
The Sunderland fanzine, A Love Supreme, has produced a T-shirt based on Joy Division’s seminal debut album.
It simply says: 3RD DIVISION, UNKNOWN PLEASURES.
Those of you of a certain age will remember the album cover it replicates. Obviously, the
SIGNING off Channel Four’s coverage of the 2018 Formula One season, frontman Steve Jones said: ‘‘Who knows what will happen in 2019?”
Indeed. Who knows? But here’s a wild stab. The best of the two drivers in the best make of car will win over half of the races and turn the world championship into a procession. Oh, and he will be from Monaco. ultimate goal for the new ownership is to climb back up the pyramid and eventually duke it out with the superpowers again.
But a sensible, wellresearched, managerial appointment and the clearing out of some very expensive charlatans has given these fantastic supporters their team back.
Of course, it is not just Sunderland who enjoy such a committed, sizeable, local fanbase in League One.
First-placed Portsmouth have an average attendance of more than 18,000, with the figure for bottom-placed Bradford more than 16,000.
But as a light on how football thrives outside the Premier League, even outside the Championship and away from those jokers who want a Premier League Two, few shine brighter than Sunderland.
ONE of the reasons Neymar left Barcelona for Paris was that he wanted to become the main man – not just a superb sidekick of Lionel Messi. But he will always suffer in comparison with Messi because his acting, injuryfeigning and theatrics will always cloud any judgement. And the disheartening thing is that he does not seem to care.
“I LIKE him. He starts talking ability, his wins and his Champions Leagues, but if I’d got that, I’d shove it up people as well.”
In a quote that says as much about the speaker as the subject, Jose Mourinho gets the backing of Neil Warnock.
All he needs.
Meanwhile, Mourinho himself, 24 hours after his bottlethrowing, was at a place named the Bulgari Hotel, launching a new watch by one of his many blue-chip sponsors, Hublot.
Priced around the £20,000 mark, the model promoted by Jose in his beloved Knightsbridge will be known as The Special One. Presumably, it tells you the time and how good you are.