And right here on 606, with me, Robbie Garbage, we have now a brand new caller on Line One. Tarquin, which membership do you assist?
Hello, thanks for having me on. I’m an Arsenal fan for my sins.
Ever heard issues like this?
And subsequent on ‘Absolutely Pointless’, couple quantity two. Tell us one thing about yourselves.
Hello, I’m Sebastian, and I’m a Chelsea fan for my sins.
What’s this ‘for my sins’ enterprise? It implies excessive hardship and ache over the years, and completely no consciousness of what ache is.
They’ve probably by no means seen their membership relegated, and they’ve in all probability seen their membership win a serious trophy of their lifetime. Which sins are these? I’d need to spend years on group service and serving to outdated women throughout the street for the remainder of my life to atone for the ‘sin’ of being a Sunderland fan!
Of course, it’s all relative.
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Our fanbase was accused of the identical ‘entitled’ behaviour after we had been in League One, and with out which means to, some followers got here throughout as assuming we had been too good to be in League One.
Of course, the majority of us accepted that’s the place we deserved to be, given the manner the membership was being run, however deep down, all of us knew that Sunderland AFC was too huge a beast to be languishing in the third tier of English soccer.
I’ve by no means been one to suppose that my membership was any extra deserving than some other, so it actually annoys me when issues like ‘for my sins’ feedback pop up from established Premier League golf equipment’ followers.
Welcome to Anfield for the begin of the 2025/2026 season, as Liverpool tackle Bournemouth.
Well, no. It wasn’t the begin of the season, was it? That occurred two weeks earlier when the League One and League Two golf equipment kicked off.
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The media, in all its types, has an absolute obsession with the Premier League, with the different seventy two golf equipment and all the different pyramid groups an afterthought.
I hope I by no means flip into an ‘entitled’ fan; in fact, after saying that, it’s a pleasure to listen to and to examine all issues Sunderland, with a larger frequency than we’ve been used to over the final eight years, but it surely’s in remembering the place we’ve come from in latest instances that’ll maintain me grounded.
Last week, I used to be watching my stepson play a warm-up match for his U16 crew and a fellow dad noticed the Sunderland crest on my shirt (I ought to add that that is in a Worcestershire league), so we chatted about the play-off matches and our eventual promotion.
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Without desirous to bore him an excessive amount of, I politely requested him who he supported.
“Cheltenham Town”, got here the response. Well, in case you’ve ever fallen off a ladder or suffered a critical accident, you may need skilled that unusual phenomenon, the place time appears to decelerate and virtually offers your mind extra time to react and adapt to the scenario.
It appeared like fairly a number of seconds earlier than I conjured up a reply, however in actuality, it was in all probability virtually speedy. “Oh, right, Cheltenham. And how do you think they’ll do this season?”. I’d by no means had somebody reply “Cheltenham Town” to that query, however honest play to the man.
He’d been a season ticket holder for a few years, and his son was additionally now a season ticket holder. It was fascinating to talk about his crew, as they’re maybe the membership I affiliate most with the lowest level in our historical past: that wet, bleak, chilly Tuesday night three years in the past, at the Jonny Rocks Stadium, after we misplaced 2-1 in League One.
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I’ll always remember strolling throughout the automobile park after the recreation with my stepson and declaring the Sunderland bus to him. I glanced down for his response (three years later, I’m wanting as much as him!) and noticed that he was crying. I’ve by no means felt so responsible — what have I performed, opening the ‘supporting Sunderland path’ to him for the remainder of his life?
But this Cheltenham dad had surprisingly low expectations for his membership, and I requested if his ambition was maybe to see them play in the Championship at some point.
“Good grief, no! I’d be content if we could establish ourselves in League One and become a good, steady League One club. Our infrastructure and support just doesn’t lend itself to anything bigger”
It was a solution that was each trustworthy and made me respect being a Sunderland fan — the place our ambition at all times has been to get as excessive up as attainable in the high tier. The sky’s the restrict.
I feel this ‘entitlement’ lure wears thinner the older one will get, and the rollercoaster of supporting the Black Cats takes on extra rails and extra twists and turns as you journey via life, so after we beat Wycombe at Wembley after that Ross Stewart strike, I met my older brother beside the Bobby Moore statue after the recreation.
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I used to be with my stepson, and ‘big brother’ was sitting elsewhere. We embraced after we noticed one another; sheer reduction to be out of that terrible league. A purely instinctive response, and a recognition that this was one among the upward sections of the Sunderland rollercoaster in our timelines — or, relying in your view of rollercoasters, it might’ve been the begin of a brand new downward part, as that’s the place the pleasure is!
As we embraced and slapped one another’s backs, I used to be conscious that my stepson was pondering, “What’s the big deal? We’ve only beaten Wycombe bloody Wanderers!” He was nonetheless very younger, but it surely’s with lots of satisfaction that latest occasions have helped him to begin to construct the first ‘upward section’ of his personal rollercoaster.
So, again to the Premier League days, or extra precisely, high flight days.
The League One playoff match was a high day, as had been the wins over Coventry City and Sheffield United — days that received’t go away me.
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Of course I would like my membership to initially keep up — which, by the manner, I feel we would do with room to spare — however I refuse to develop into entitled. I refuse to kick off and criticise hurtfully, and I refuse to count on us to beat Burnley or Brentford et al. Of course, I hope we do, however there’s assist and damaging assist.
There’s nasty criticism and constructive criticism. There’s an consciousness of realizing that posting a response might unduly knock a participant’s confidence, or of being blind to the energy of social media. We have to get the Stadium of Light rocking each recreation — that’s our job.
Let’s see how far we are able to go together with this administration and possession. They’ve definitely solely constructed thrilling sections of the funfair to this point, and I for one will attempt very arduous to not really feel entitled. Ha’manner, me bonnie lads!