Roker Report
Sunderland AFC's foremost blog and Podcast!
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Match Preview: Sunderland v Stade Rennais — Final Step Before The Real Thing
Saturday 15th August 2026 Sunderland v Stade Rennais – Friendly Stadium of Light Kick-Off: 15:00 Tickets & Match Coverage Tickets: Good luck! TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via safc.com. Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after […]
Haway The Podcast | NEW KIT + NEWS | Phil Bardsley EXCLUSIVE & Sunderland Ticketing Issues
What’s gaaaaarn on everyone?! It’s time for another catchup on the latest news in the world of Sunderland AFC, so stick yer earphones in and listen as Gav, Chris, Ant and Andrew chat over it all! On today’s show: All this and more! Get subscribed to Haway The Podcast so you never miss another episode […]
On This Day (14 August 2021) New Full Back Makes Debut As Sunderland Continue Winning Start To The Season
After a summer long pursuit for a left back, Sunderland had secured the signature of 21 year old Spurs youngster Dennis Cirkin – and just days after signing, he was thrown into the first team to make his debut, on this day five years ago. It had long looked like Sunderland would sign the Liverpool […]
Why Sunderland’s Quiet Transfer Window Might Actually Make Sense
For those who went into this week hoping to be greeted by a slew of transfer rumours and advancements, I’d imagine Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday marked yet more disappointing days. Over the last week or so, much has been made of Sunderland’s incoming transfer activity, or rather the lack thereof. As debate has ignited, […]
The Big Man Is Here… Welcome Back, Eli
When Eliezer Mayenda arrived on Wearside in the summer of 2023, it would’ve been nigh on impossible to predict the place he would earn in Sunderland folklore. Alongside this, we couldn’t have predicted that our final pre-season game against Stade Rennais would actually see Mayenda lining up for the opposition. That said, Saturday is a […]
2026/27 Pre-Season Predictions: Who’ll Be Sunderland’s Top Scorer?
Dean McDonald says… I can’t look past Brian Brobbey. Clearly our first-choice striker, he’ll likely play most Premier League as well as European games, and after a full pre-season and no injury worries, he should be fit and firing from the off. He got seven goals last season and didn’t start a match until November, […]
Haway The Podcast | FR. MARC LYDEN-SMITH | Sunderland, Faith & Football
Father Marc Lyden-Smith – who served as Sunderland AFC’s club chaplain for 14 years during the most tumultuous period in the club’s history – joins us on today’s show to chat about his long association with the club, and his new book ‘Faith and Football’, which is out right now! On today’s show: All this […]
Why Sunderland’s Pundit Predictions Are Getting Boringly Predictable
Football has far too many so-called pundits these days, and although we’re all entitled to an opinion, the ones that say Sunderland will struggle this season feel just a bit lazy. Last summer, we were tipped for an immediate return to the Championship because, as a newly promoted team, this is what generally is supposed […]
What Can Sunderland Fans Expect From VAR This Season?
For many, the World Cup will be an afterthought as we gear up towards an exciting new season of club football. Sunderland fans in particular have a lot to look forward to, with the lads having the additional pleasure of playing European football come September. However, the World Cup raised some interesting questions (for me […]
Sunderland’s Togetherness Can Carry Us Into Another Big Season
A year ago, Sunderland AFC was newly promoted, and there was a level of trepidation among our amazing fans. We had sold a few of our stars over time, such as Jack Clarke, Jobe Bellingham, Watson and Ross Stewart, at an amazing profit, which provided a platform for our summer 2025 recruitment spend. But would […]
On This Day (13 August 2005): Mick’s Luck Runs Out As Ex-Transfer Target Nets A Double
Back on this day 21 years ago, optimism was cautiously high. Mick McCarthy had done a sensational job getting the club promoted despite some pretty hefty financial constraints imposed upon him by Captain Bob, and despite those financial constraints continuing upon promotion, the hope – if not the belief – was that McCarthy could continue […]
Fan Letters: Sancho, Ticketing and Sunderland Memories
Dear Roker Report, I am now living in Florida and have lived in Canada and the USA for 52 years. But I was born and bred in the Liverpool area and still support Everton. Growing up, I became a fan of Sunderland because one of my uncles was a friend of Ivor Broadis, who played […]
Why It’s Great To Be A Mackem: Celebrating Our Proud Identity!
August 12 marks ‘Mackem Day’, a celebration of our deep and storied heritage, and this year marks the tenth anniversary of the day when it was founded in August 2016 by A Love Supreme. So, why’s it so great to be a Mackem and why are we so proud of our identity? Is it the […]
Haway The Podcast | NATIONAL MACKEM DAY | Jeff Brown on Sunderland’s Summer & Sheepfolds
Happy National Mackem Day! If you get on quick today there might be the odd ticket left for tonight’s free, all-ticket celebration at Sheepfolds! So to build us up to the festivities tonight’s host, Jeff Brown joins us to tell us all about it and talk some footy! On today’s show: All this and more! […]
Why Wilson Isidor Could Be Sunderland’s European Wildcard
Wilson Isidor was signed during a summer where Sunderland needed a clinical striker. Initially signing on loan, there was sheer joy at some of the goals he scored during the Championship promotion season, with some of them being stunning. After promotion was achieved, I remember there being more than a few other fans who said […]
Chris Rigg: A Homegrown Talent Shining Brightly
Following a particularly drab Manchester derby in April 2025, a visibly frustrated Gary Neville took it upon himself to bemoan what he termed the “robotic” nature of football and the game itself during his post-match analysis, even going as far as to apologise for a lack of enthusiasm during his Sky Sports commentary. Pep Guardiola […]
2026/27 Pre-Season Predictions: Which Sunderland Youngsters Could Shine?
Ben McKevitt says… The obvious answer is Chris Rigg and it’s the answer I’m going to echo here. Honestly, I had some doubts over Rigg for the first two thirds of the last season. It looked like the jump to the Premier League was (understandably) perhaps a bit too big for him at such a […]
On This Day (12th Aug 1967): A 3-3 Thriller — Sunderland’s Pre-Season Promise
The season gone (1966/67) had been disappointing, to say the least. With a squad that looked capable, Ian McColl’s team had spent most of the season looking nervously at the relegation places and finished in seventeenth position. A thrilling fifth-round FA Cup contest against Leeds that required three games to sort a winner gave an […]
Haway The Podcast | NEWS ROUNDUP | Ticketing, Transfer Latest & Memories of Ba!
Before we start looking ahead to our final pre-season we thought we’d catch up on the latest news by recording on the day when transfer news keeps being updated by the hour! Anyway, Andrew, Jonny & Ian joined Chris to discuss the latest… On today’s show: All this and more! Get subscribed to Haway The […]
Goodbye, Patto: A Sunderland Lad Who Got Us Back
There are times when a player leaves your football club and you immediately think to the future and the replacement signings. Then there are those whose departure makes you stop and look back. More often than not, we find ourselves doing the latter at Sunderland these days, and Anthony Patterson definitely falls into that category. […]
On This Day (11 August 1999): 1950s Sunderland Hotshot Dickie Davis Passes Away
Richard ‘Dickie’ Davis, born 22 January 1922 in Birmingham, died on this day 11 August 1999. Davis, a forward who played for Sunderland and Darlington, turned out for the Lads on 144 occasions between 1946 and 1954. A prolific scorer during his time on Wearside, he scored seventy-three times – a strike rate of just […]
Sunderland Are Well-Placed To Kick On Once Again
As the transfer window closed last season and we all marvelled at the fact that we’re now a club captained by Granit Xhaka, with hugely experienced players of the calibre of Reinildo, Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete, and exciting young prospects of the potential of Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki and Chemsdine Talbi all wearing our […]
Clearing The Decks: Views On Sunderland’s Summer Revamp
Calum Mills says… The loss of ‘vibesman’ Leo Hjelde is a bit sad. No darting run away from the front post means no Dan Ballard header and that trip to Wembley! He had a few bright sparks in red and white — particularly his debut away to Middlesbrough — but other than that, he was […]
Lens Away: A European Taste of What’s to Come
In any other year, a mid-August trip across the channel to face a club like Lens would be one of the high points of the off-season, particularly when the bulk of pre-season has been spent in the United States, a huge financial commitment for any fan. This is a very different pre-season, however, where finances […]
Haway The Podcast | HAWAY THE Q&A | Promoted Clubs, Membership Schemes & More
Welcome to today’s pod, and we’re delving into some of the questions we didn’t get the chance to answer last week! 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. Ready to have an AI that can tackle real work? […]
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