Roker Report
Sunderland AFC's foremost blog and Podcast!
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On This Day (6th May 1967): A Neil Martin Masterclass At Roker Park
Despite a fighting draw in our last game at Roker Park against the Busby Babes, we came into this match sixteenth in our third top-tier season since promotion in 1963/64. It had been a season with Ian McColl at the helm that had flattered to deceive, with the jury still out on the Baxter plan […]
Dan Ballard’s Dismissal Highlighted The Need For A Rule Change
The dismissal of Dan Ballard in the 24th minute of Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Wolves brought up a huge point for debate. In the immediate aftermath of the game, there were a fair number of our fans who, despite having not seen the footage of the incident at the point, seemed to be of the […]
Replace Régis Le Bris? “Not For Me, Clive”
Establishing yourself as a successful Sunderland head coach/manager is not, never has been and never will be merely a question of possessing the appropriate level of tactical nous, efficient use of overlapping full backs or of making substitutions at the right time. Those attributes help, of course, but in my opinion, the question of personality […]
Haway The Podcast | FA CUP 1973 | Kelvin’s Story Of The Greatest Cup Final
Welcome to a special episode of Haway The Podcast as we celebrate the 53rd Anniversary of the FA Cup win in 1973. We’ve dug through our archives and found Kelvin’s recollections of the game – a memorable day! Sit back and enjoy our master storyteller recounting his efforts to get to Wembley – and how […]
View From The Away End: Wolverhampton, Via The Watering Holes Of Birmingham
Still reeling from the shocking, humiliating and generally bizarre thumping at the hands of Nottingham Forest, it was time to face our third consecutive Midlands side in the shape of already-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers. That home loss had felt completely incongruent with the mood around the city before kick-off. The streets had been filled with red […]
What Will The Future Hold For Dennis Cirkin?
Ciaran McKenna says… I’ll be gutted if Cirkin leaves — largely because I love the lad but also because he’s a talented footballer that hasn’t really had the rub of the green, but if you take sentiment out of the situation, you see why he doesn’t look likely to get an extension. For one, his […]
“Thanks, Granit”
It’s perhaps a mark of the sheer impact made by Granit Xhaka during his time at Sunderland that despite arguably not being at his absolute game-changing best in recent weeks, he still exudes enough in the way of sheer aura to leave nobody in any doubt of his influence, his standing and perhaps most importantly, […]
15 Things You Might’nt Know About Sunderland’s 1973 FA Cup Final Win!
Want to impress your mates in the beer garden as you raise a glass to the 53rd anniversary of our famous FA Cup win? Look no further… 1. At 5’4”, Bobby Kerr is the smallest captain to ever lift the FA Cup. 2. He did lift it, and promptly dropped it as he descended the […]
Haway The Podcast | ROKER REWIND | Pt 1 | How Close Was Don Revie To Being Sunderland Boss?
Welcome to Haway The Podcast, and today we delve into Don Revie’s time at Sunderland – with the aim of finding out just how close he was to becoming Sunderland manager! In today’s show, Martin and Kelvin look at: We’ll be back next week with Part 2 of the Don Revie and Sunderland story, but […]
Editorial: Stick With The Lads ‘Til The End… Cos You Just Never Know What Might Happen
Sunderland’s mathematical safety in the Premier League was confirmed with the point at Wolves on Saturday afternoon, yet the potential we’ve seen from what this team can achieve when they put their minds to it has had me lusting for even more recently — and that’s left me in a rather strange position as I […]
Fan Letters: Hairstyle Queries, A Call For One Last Push And A Need For Louder Questions!
Dear Roker Report, Lads, we need you. Last few times we’ve needed a push you’ve driven it. Three huge games, Europe dream faint but alive. Need a fans push/shout/rally for our last three games. Let’s have the SoL bouncing like Coventry, like the Visitors and like so many others for the last two home games. […]
Mission Accomplished! Wolves Point Mathematically Seals Safety
Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Wolves may not have been ‘first on Match of the Day’ material, but it did ensure we’d be kicking off in August as a Premier League club. In the summer, survival was the main aim, with anything more being a bonus. With 35 games played, we haven’t been lower than 13th […]
A Goal Achieved Amid A Season Of Success For Sunderland
Strange feeling, this. For the last time we were able to celebrate Sunderland guaranteeing another season of Premier League football as a newly-promoted club, you’d have to go way back to the 2007/2008 campaign as Roy Keane and Niall Quinn’s magic carpet ride climbed to an even higher altitude (or so it seemed at the […]
On This Day (4th May 2024): Want A Reminder To See How Far We’ve Come In Just Two Years?!
We’ve done these ‘On This Day’ for around five or six years now, and there are just days where there is an obvious pick to write about, but all of us who contribute to these pieces try to pick out the more obscure game/event from the day, rather than the obvious one if we can. […]
Haway The Podcast | Sunday Supplement | James Copley On Hair Styles, Red Cards And Safety
Welcome to Haway The Podcast for our Sunday Supplement show, in which Chris and Martin are joined by The Sunderland Echo’s James Copley to discuss all of the drama from Molineux. 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. […]
Talking Points: Wolves vs Sunderland – Hair Pull, Red Card And VAR!
The Red Card In a relatively drab and uneventful 90 minutes, the glaring talking point is the moment the entire match turned on its head: Dan Ballard’s red card in the 24th minute. It was a red card by the letter of the law, that’s pretty hard to dispute. The problem, however, is the law […]
Matchday Musings: VAR & The Officials… Incompetence Again!
Most of us are told not to pull hair as children, but we are never taught to caveat that with “But what if I’m focusing completely on the ball, ref?” How many playground fights would have been pardoned? How many children have been falsely disciplined, forever tarnished as a dirty hair-puller? Dan Ballard’s sending off […]
2 Up, 2 Down: Safety Secured As Sunderland Draw With Wolves
Ciaran McKenna says… Sunderland make their point Playing with ten men for seventy minutes isn’t easy and can close a skill gap considerably, but the Lads had to dig in and they did just that. I and many others had this fixture down as a great opportunity to get three points but in retrospect, a […]
On This Day (3rd May 1919): Sunderland Roll Back The Years To Take Cup
Football authorities in England took a lot of criticism following the outbreak of Word War I for not suspending the fixture lists sooner than they did, with the full 1914-15 campaign being completed as normal. Conversely, when the conflict was over, it was understandable that things would take a while to get back to normal […]
Haway The Podcast | REACTION | Wolves 1-1 SAFC | Should Ballard Have Been Sent Off?
Sunderland played most of the game with ten men but only escaped from Wolverhampton with a point in a game that we probably would have won had all been equal… join Gav, Bomber and Mike as they give their reaction to the result and performance at full time! All this and more! Get subscribed to […]
Andy’s Player Ratings: Wolves 1-1 Sunderland – Ballard Off In Stalemate
Robin Roefs: 7/10 Made some decent but expected saves throughout, with a strong palm out and a tip over, both after the break being highlights. Made a great first time pass to Isidor which probably should have resulted in a one-on-one. Nordi Mukiele: 8/10 Put us deservedly ahead with a far post header from Xhaka’s […]
Haway The Podcast | MATCHDAY PREVIEW | Wolves v SAFC | Will We See A Reaction From The Lads?
We’ve only lost three successive games once this season and we’ve never had to bounce back from a drubbing at home – so Gav, Bomber & Ant join Chris to preview today’s game at Wolves to see if we see a reaction! On today’s show… All this and more! Get subscribed to Haway The Podcast […]
Starting XI: Is This The Sunderland Side To Take On Wolves?
Our last outing was by far the worst of the season, and while we can be thankful we’ve not had as many of those days as we might have expected in August, we need to show everyone that display last Friday was absolutely a one-off. Team wise, I don’t know what Le Bris will do. […]
Score Predictions: Can Sunderland See Off Wolves?
Martin Wanless predicts… Score prediction: Wolves 1 Sunderland 1 Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Enzo Le Fée After last week’s disaster show, we’ll go back to basics today, with a solid defensive display and looking to capitalise on any opportunity to counter attack. Wolves are a strange side as they’ve rarely looked as bad as their league […]
Match Preview: Wolves v Sunderland — Let’s Put Last Week Behind Us!
Saturday 2nd May 2026 Wolverhampton Wanderers v Sunderland – Premier League Stadium of Light – Kick-Off: 15:00 Tickets & Match Coverage Tickets: Tickets are sold out. TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is unavailable. Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online) Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game […]
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