Roker Report
Sunderland AFC's foremost blog and Podcast!
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On This Day (14 Nov 1964): Press Bannings & A New Manager Appointed… Finally
After securing Sunderland’s return to the top flight at the sixth time of asking, Alan Brown promptly left the club in the summer of 1964 – apparently due to a dispute about his club house. Whatever the circumstances that saw Brown depart to Sheffield Wednesday, the board took their time to appoint his replacement. A […]
Fan Letters: “Hopefully We’ve All Seen The Final False Dawn!”
Want to have your say on all things Sunderland? Drop us a line and we’ll publish your views! [email protected] Dear Roker Report, At seventy five years of age and with my first Sunderland match being in January 1961, aged ten years old, I’ve seen many false dawns. The 1960’s team promised so much but managerial […]
Put Some Respect On Sunderland’s Name
Prior to Saturday’s game, Arsenal were being built up as a mountain that nobody, not even Sunderland, were capable of climbing. Having conceded only three goals in all competitions all season, riding high at the top of the division, it was seen as a bridge too far to imagine that Régis Le Bris and his […]
On This Day (13th Nov 1982): Atkins Rescues Late Point For Sluggish Sunderland!
If you were looking for swashbuckling, successful football, then going to watch Alan Durban’s Sunderland in November 1982 was not the place to be. To be fair to Durban, the manager had a serious job on his hands changing the fortunes of a team that wasn’t far from relegation in Division One the previous season. […]
Haway The Podcast | CHIT-CHAT | We Talk All Things Sunderland with Keith Downie!
We all love an international break to reflect on how good the Lads are doing at the moment – so we sat down with Sky Sports north-east reporter Keith Downie for a catch up on everything that’s happened since we last talked! All of this and much more – get subscribed to you don’t miss […]
How Highly Can Sunderland Aim This Season?
From the moment we sealed promotion, our aim has been to focus on survival and consolidation, yet after eleven games, we’re fourth, so is it time to start dreaming bigger? We’re heading into the November international break — our third in the space of eleven games — and it’s not come as a welcome relief. […]
Talking Tactics: Sunderland Go To War Against Arsenal!
Sunderland were able to remain unbeaten during their recent home double-header. Facing Everton and Arsenal within the space of a week and following some courageous efforts, we managed to scrape through with two additional points on the board. On Saturday Night Football, Régis Le Bris proved his worth by overseeing a tactically astute performance, putting […]
At Sunderland, The Team Is More Important Than The Individual
Last night, I had the pleasure of spending an evening with Sir Geoff Hurst. Not personally, of course, but as part of his final after dinner-type chat tour, and it was great to see him in good health and very much alive — if not actually kicking any more! He regaled us with some great […]
From “Reidy’s Kings” To Le Bris’ Princes!
Last weekend’s late show against Arsenal took me back to a classic encounter with the Gunners at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland opened the 2000/2001 season with a 1-0 home win against Arsene Wenger’s high flyers thanks to a Niall Quinn header in a game which also saw visiting skipper Patrick Vieira dismissed after retaliating […]
Andy’s Player Ratings: Sunderland u21 7-1 Bilbao B – Black Cats Run Riot At The SoL
Blondy Nna Noukeu: 7/10 Was a spectator for most of the match but did impress the few times the ball came his way. Tipped one header over the bar with an acrobatic save and looked to spring counter attacks with long balls. Jenson Jones: 6/10 Defended well down the right and went close to scoring […]
HAWAY THE PODCAST | Q&A (Part 2) | AFCON, Upcoming Suspensions & Transfer Talk
Good morning Sunderland supporters, and welcome to today’s Q&A pod. Martin, Andrew and Ant are here to answer your questions once again! On today’s agenda: All this and more besides! If you have a question you’d like answered, email [email protected].
‘Til the End — An embodiment of Sunderland’s Culture on the Pitch
Kevin Ball was the first man to lead out a Sunderland side at the Stadium of Light. He is a modern-day legend, adored for his style of play, work rate, and just how much he “got it”. When he played, the passion and love for the club exuded from him. He was followed in a […]
Brian Brobbey Is On The Right Track At Sunderland
When we signed him from Ajax late in the summer transfer window, I remember feeling a mixture of intrigue, excitement and optimism as Brian Brobbey became the latest young prospect to join the Régis Le Bris-led revolution on Wearside. A name I was vaguely familiar with and once touted as an up-and-coming star in Amsterdam, […]
Fan Letters: Passion, Pride, Wearside!
Want to have your say on all things Sunderland? Drop us a line and we’ll publish your views! [email protected] Dear Roker Report, Well, well, well! It’s finally dawning on the football world what we’ve all been saying since we could walk and talk: that the Sunderland fans are absolutely the best in football. Fair play […]
On This Day (12th Nov 1980): An Autumn Cracker as the Lads Try to Push On
They had one of the division’s best keepers in Joe Corrigan, some exciting young talent in Ray Ranson, Paul Power, Nicky Reid and Dave Bennett (Gary Bennett’s brother), as well as experienced skilled operators in Tommy Booth, Tommy Hutchison and Gerry Gow. John Bond had also staked his reputation on a young exciting forward called […]
HAWAY THE PODCAST | Q&A (Part One) | Dan Ballard, Sunderland’s Ceiling & More!
Good morning Sunderland supporters, and welcome to today’s Q&A pod. Martin, Andrew and Ant are here to answer your questions! On today’s agenda: All this and more in today’s pod. If you’ve sent in a question and it’s not been answered, we’ll be back tomorrow with part 2! If you have a question you’d like […]
On This Day (11 Nov 1955): Russian Around Town Before A Big Game!
During the 1950s, floodlit games added a dash of glamour to the footballing schedule, with the high-profile visit of Moscow Dynamo in 1955 proving to be one of the most intriguing games staged in Sunderland that decade. The match itself, played on Monday 14 November, saw the Lads fall to a narrow defeat against their […]
Who Starts In A Fully Fit Sunderland Defence?
Alex Charlton says… This has to be the toughest choice for Régis Le Bris because collectively, I think defence is our strongest position in terms of depth — which is funny considering how concerned I was about it during the summer. Of course, it depends on what formation we play. Against the stronger teams, a […]
Sunderland’s Late Drama: From Defeat to Delirium
You could feel something crackling through the air long before the first notes of the Last Post rang out pre-match. Something, almost inevitably, was brewing. And it came to pass: once again in the dying embers of the game, the Stadium of Light was sent into a higher plane. In one swift tangle of blue, […]
The Boy From Ballymena Is Going To Be Vital For Sunderland
On Saturday, the performance of one Northern Ireland international deservedly earned the headlines and plaudits, as Dan Ballard scored our opener, provided an assist for the equaliser, blocked a likely winner for the opposition, and delivered a Man-of-the-Match performance. What may have gone under the radar was the part his international compatriot played in nullifying […]
Haway The Podcast | 10-16 Nov | ON THIS WEEK | The Genius Of Stan Cummins
Good morning and welcome to your regular dose of SAFC history fuelled by hazy memories and reliable record books! No Chris this week, so Martin, Andrew and Kelvin took a look at some big – and not so big – events in the history of Sunderland that happened on this week. On today’s agenda… All […]
To All “Sunderland Sceptics”: Have We Played Anyone Now?
This season, Sunderland love a late goal and Brian Brobbey’s 94th-minute finish on Saturday was just the latest in a catalogue dating back to the playoffs in May. This one was special because it helped us come from behind against one of the best teams in the country to get a point that we never […]
The Stadium Of Light Has Awoken…And How!
When I walk through the turnstiles at the North West Corner on matchdays, I’m greeted — as we all are — by the sight of the red and white-clad concourse and a pair of beautifully-painted murals of two all-time Sunderland icons — Leonard Francis Shackleton and Kevin Phillips, whose likenesses proudly adorn the walls and […]
On This Day (10th Nov 2007): Keane Rues Luck In First Derby As Sunderland Boss!
The summer of 2007 heralded the next step of the magic carpet ride, and it potentially came quicker than the new owners and chairman Niall Quinn had expected. Roy Keane entered the scene with the club sitting bottom of the Championship and once the burners were put on full following the January transfer window we […]
What A Time To Be Alive
By Michael Conroy I have supported Sunderland for 39 years, and the majority of those 39 years have drifted from mediocre to horrific. Of course, there has been the odd moment to keep me clicking through the turnstile; the hope of nothing else. The Phillips and Quinn era was undoubtedly a high point, where everything […]
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