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Roker Report

Sunderland AFC's foremost blog and Podcast!

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Haway The Podcast | REACTION | Leeds 0-1 Sunderland | WHAT A WIN!

Sunderland winning away never gets boring! Join Gav, Martin and Brett as they react to a brilliant defensive performance from the Lads under the lights at Elland Road! On today’s show: All this and more! Get subscribed to Haway The Podcast so you never miss another episode of our free daily show. Want to get […]

Haway The Podcast | MATCHDAY PREVIEW | Leeds v SAFC | Will We Hit 40 Points?

Sunderland head to Elland Road tonight chasing that magical forty point mark – but there aren’t many tougher tests than a night game at Leeds, so will we overcome the odds and reach our goal or, at least, take a point? Join Gav, Chris and Jonny as they look forward to the game! On today’s […]

Starting XI: Is This How Sunderland Will Line Up At Elland Road Tonight?

After a controversial outing for an injury hit squad at Dean Court on Saturday, it seemed as if we’d come through unscathed. At least, that’s what Regis Le Bris told a depleted press corp at the regular pre match gathering. However, last night, news was leaked to some fella on X that Robin Roefs is […]

On This Day (3rd March 1934) Newcastle Second Best At Roker Park

Appointed in 1928, Sunderland secretary manager Johnny Cochrane would eventually take the club to new heights in the following decade, yet building a team that would win the biggest prizes in England was always going to be a slow and steady process. It wasn’t until finishing runners-up in 1934-35 that his side really looked like […]

Match Preview: Leeds v Sunderland — The Lads Take On Leeds Under The Lights!

Tuesday 3rd March 2026 Leeds United v Sunderland – Premier League Elland Road – Kick-Off: 19:30 Tickets & Match Coverage Tickets: Tickets are sold out. TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via TNT Sports. Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online) Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of […]

Score Predictions: Can Sunderland Conquer Elland Road?

Martin Wanless predicts… Score prediction: Leeds 1 Sunderland 1 Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Enzo Le Fée I’m looking forward to this one and no doubt the players will be, too. Leeds have come into some good form over the past few months but still need a win or two to remove any relegation fears completely — […]

Why Sunderland Have So Much To Be Positive About After Difficult Run

After Sunderland’s 3-1 defeat to Fulham, our second home loss of the season, there were murmurings of concern and a growing fear that our campaign might fizzle out quicker than we had all hoped. That result marked our third successive defeat, and we had conceded three goals in four of our previous seven games. However, […]

Fan Focus: What’s The Secret Behind Leeds United’s Magic Form?

Leeds are currently on a brilliant of just three defeats in 15 Premier League matches – what do you think are the key factors behind that huge uplift? At half time at the Etihad we changed our formation to 3-5-2 and since then we have used variants of that including 3-4-2-1 (with two 10s). That […]

Lasses Spotlight: Sunderland Women On The Global Stage!

International windows have a way of stretching players far beyond the boundaries of club football — and it’s no different for Sunderland Women. As February turns to March, eight players have departed Wearside to represent their countries across Europe, Oceania and on the youth international stage. From the heat of Honiara to the familiar roar […]

Haway The Podcast | OPPO PREVIEW | Leeds YouTuber Conor McGilligan On LUFC v SAFC

Elland Road under the lights – this is all set up to be another tasty affair between Leeds United and Sunderland, so we’re joined once again by our old mate Conor McGilligan from the OneLeeds YouTube channel and Podcast so he can fill in the blanks and tell us all about our next opponents! On […]

View From The Away End: Sunderland Halt The Slide

After what has felt like a long, blissful period of Sunderland AFC being reasonably competent and not inflicting extended misery on its supporters – stretching all the way back to the play-off first leg – it was important that we put a halt to this recent slump before it develops into a more concerning downturn […]

Editorial: Xhaka’s Sunderland Return Sparks Hope At Leeds

As much as I’d like to sit and vent my spleen about Jarred Gillett and VAR, I think that’s been done enough times already since Saturday’s game. If you want to hear what I had to say about all that nonsense, you can listen to me on Sunday’s podcast where I was joined by Martin […]

Our Writers React To Dan Ballard’s Sunderland Contract Extension!

Gav says… I think this is a huge sign of how the club’s ambitions are viewed internally. If he’d wanted to leave us in the summer (and to be fair, he still could, but signing a new deal is a pretty good sign that he’s happy), he’d have been able to pick his next destination […]

Fan Letters: “Sunderland Were Robbed By Inept Officials”

Want to have your say on all things Sunderland? Drop us a line and we’ll publish your views! [email protected] Dear Roker Report, Jarred Gillett: what a farcical performance yet again from a sub-standard referee and the bollocks you call VAR. Yet again, Sunderland have been robbed by inept officials and VAR. Hang your heads in […]

An Abrasive Sunderland Team Can Be A Successful One

If Sunderland’s players walked off the Vitality Stadium pitch with a sense of righteous indignation bordering on fury after Saturday’s contentious draw with Bournemouth, they would’ve been well within their rights. Excellent value for at least a draw and perhaps even a victory against Andoni Iraola’s men, it took a ludicrous refereeing display from our […]

On This Day (2nd March 1991): A Whole Season Summed Up In One Game!

It might have been bloody infuriating at times, but we couldn’t help being bloody proud of the Lads in our relegation scrap during 1990-91. It may have been down to how we were promoted, or the fact that two years earlier we’d just got ourselves out of the Third Division for the first time, or […]

On This Day (1st March 1957): A County Durham Professional Is Born

Graeme Hedley is best known as a long-term servant at Middlesbrough, but the Black Hall lad did once get a brief outing for Sunderland too – and on his 69th birthday Roker Report looks back on a varied employment career that did then bring him back to the city. Starting at Ayresome Park in 1975, […]

Talking Points: Sunderland And Bournemouth Share The Spoils At The Vitality

Sunderland stifled by bizarre officiating Anywhere else on the pitch, shoving your opponent in the back results in a foul — so how was it possible for a Bournemouth defender to shove Enzo Le Fée in the back inside the penalty area and get away with it in the first five minutes? It’s particularly frustrating, […]

2 Up, 2 Down: Sunderland Eke Out A Point Amid A Refereeing Disasterclass

Ciaran McKenna says… A good away point I would’ve taken a point before the game, given our form and heavy injury list, and coming up against a Bournemouth team that was unbeaten in seven. I thought we played really well in periods of the game and defended terrifically throughout. We definitely earned the point and […]

Matchday Musings: Honours Even As Gillett Shafts Sunderland Again

When trying to sum a game of this nature up — an affair during which an injury-wracked Sunderland performed with the kind of purpose, attacking intent and wholehearted approach that harked back to our displays in gritty encounters during AFCON — it’s tempting to use words such as “pride”, “passion” and “togetherness” as the Lads […]

Lasses Spotlight — Brianna Westrup: Sunderland’s Defensive Kingpin

There’s a particular sense of calm that settles over a team when the right defender steps back into the heart of the backline. It’s not dramatic and it’s not loud, but it’s something steadier, something that spreads quietly through the pitch until everyone around her begins to breathe differently. That’s what’s happened at Sunderland since […]

Refereeing Farce: Gillett & VAR Let Sunderland Down

I’ve never really commented on refereeing standards as well as VAR. I’ve never felt the need to. In the space of 65 minutes at the Vitality Stadium that stance has changed. We know that every club will find themselves on the wrong end of decisions, particularly the ones which are up for debate. When things […]