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Joe Cowan: 6/10 Had a couple of shots straight at him in the first half and was beaten twice after the break, no chance with the second and almost kept the back post header out that made it 3-2. Jenson Jones: 9/10 Had a really good game at right back and showed why he has […]
Sunderland became the latest side to be dumped out of the FA Cup by lower league opposition on Sunday, and it wasn’t fun. Still, there’s plenty to pore over, so joining us today for a chat and to offer his perspective on things is our old marra Tom White – Sky Sports presenter, and massive […]
Watching Arsenal in the FA Cup at Nigel Clough’s Mansfield Town on Saturday reminded me that the task we were due to take on the following day at Port Vale wasn’t going to be easy. It was fun to watch as a neutral, but just as Mansfield reached their peak levels of hope, Arteta sadistically […]
Chronic Disappointment First off, I can’t express just how gutted I was that we lost. Take the fact this was Port Vale out of the equation, because it could have been anyone for me – the fact we would have been just one game from a potential Wembley semi-final had we won the game was […]
Ciaran McKenna says… An opportunity missed We couldn’t have asked for a better chance to get into the quarter finals. After reaching forty points on Tuesday, the FA Cup became a very attractive prospect and we’ve properly buggered it up. Mentality and performance We sleepwalked to defeat there. There was no intensity, a lack of […]
Bugger. Yes, I’m annoyed, and if you’ve opened today’s edition of Matchday Musings in the hope that there would be any gloss applied in the wake of one of the most embarrassing and infuriating cup exits in recent times, you’ve sadly decided to read the wrong article. Why? Because as charitable as one can be […]
We all know that there’s never a dull year when it comes to following the Lads, but 1991–92 was about as ridiculous as it gets. We ended the previous season as gallant heroes who almost defied the odds to stay in the First Division, and fans and players bonded in an emotional finale at Maine […]
It was our first chance to reach the FA Cup quarter-final since 2015 as the Lads took on Port Vale and lost out to League One opposition again – so Brett & Jonny joined Chris to go through it all again to try and get right in our heads how that went wrong! On today’s […]
There’s a particular kind of pride that runs through Sunderland — the pride of a city shaped by industry, resilience and community; of people who know what it means to graft, to stand together and to believe in something bigger than themselves. That same pride is woven into the story of Sunderland Women, and on […]
Melker Ellborg: 5/10 Made a brilliant, improvised save after O’Nien’s crazy back pass and got his finger tips to the goal but couldn’t get enough on it to keep it out. Did have a couple of uncomfortable moments, one with a dodgy touch in the first half and then bringing down a striker after the […]
It’s not often we’re talking about the chance for Sunderland to go through to the quarter-final of the FA Cup – it’s been over a decade since we were last in this position! So, we gather to preview Sunderland’s trip to Port Vale in the fifth round of the cup! On today’s show… All this […]
Port Vale are currently bottom of League One, 10 points from safety – what would you say are the key factors behind this? Darren Moore being tactically poor and he didn’t know how to change things when needed. At one point, we had four wing-backs injured and he still didn’t change our shape. To add […]
For so long, the FA Cup has felt like a hindrance for Sunderland; a chance to play a weakened team at a half-empty Stadium of Light or to get knocked out at the first attempt. However, we now find ourselves in the last sixteen of the world’s oldest cup competition for the first time in […]
Martin Wanless predicts… Score prediction: Port Vale 0 Sunderland 3 Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Isidor This is a great opportunity for us, and one we need to take seriously – and I think we will. While we have plenty of injuries and suspensions, we can still name a strong team and with a quarter final place […]
Sunderland’s 1979/1980 promotion campaign was built largely on the back of some excellent home form, with the visit of Jock Wallace’s high-flying Leicester City proving to be another positive on the Roker record. Both teams were battling it out near the top of Division Two and would eventually go up at the end of the […]
After a brilliant win at Elland Road on Tuesday all but guaranteed safety, we can focus on the FA Cup – and this is a game I hope we take as seriously as possible. Despite Vale’s lowly league position they’ve picked up under their new manager, and this game absolutely falls into the ‘nothing to […]
Sunday 8th March 2026 Port Vale v Sunderland FA Cup Fifth Round Vale Park – Kick-Off: 13:30 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 […]
We’re back in FA Cup action this weekend and Sunderland head to take on Port Vale, who are currently sat bottom of League One. Joining us to tell us all about our opponents in the fifth round is Phil Bowers, who is the BBC Stoke match commentator for all Valiants games! All this and more! […]
Sunderland beat Leeds 1–0 midweek with what many called a depleted team. The trip to Elland Road was not without its dramas: a Leeds disallowed goal jangled the nerves somewhat before Habib Diarra struck from the spot to take Sunderland to the much-coveted 40-point mark. Yet the highlight of the story has to be Luke […]
The 1984/85 season was a very strange affair indeed. One where we reached our first Wembley final since that glorious day in 1973, but we also suffered relegation down to the ‘Canon Division 2’. The history books will show that despite beating our Milk Marketing Board League Cup rivals Norwich City 3–1 only a week […]
Vic Halom is one of those players from our 1973 FA Cup winning team that fans of the time still get misty-eyed about. Born in Swadlincote and raised in Burton-upon-Trent, he actually began and spent the first years of his professional career in London, starting as an apprentice at Charlton and making his league debut […]
As I detailed in a previous article, I am unusual in being an adopted Mackem who grew up in the Potteries and caught the Sunderland bug watching the Lads in a Fifth Round FA Cup tie at Stoke in 1976. Now, fifty years later, Sunderland are contesting their first Fifth Round tie in a decade […]
When rumours of an injury to Robin Roefs began to gather pace, ahead of Tuesday’s match against Leeds, I could almost hear the cries of disappointment from Wearside in my adopted home in Yorkshire. The calm, phlegmatic young Dutchman is arguably competing with Granit Xhaka, Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete as the most influential of […]
Joe Cowan: 7/10 Made one good save from a near post effort that he did well to tip over the bar but well protected tonight and most of his work was punching away corners, which he was very proactive with. No chance with the late consolation for Watford. Finlay Holcroft: 7/10 A solid display at […]
Following a productive trip down to Bournemouth, we scarcely had time to catch our breath before it was time for another away trip, this time in the opposite direction from the capital to Leeds. Last season’s late defeat at Elland Road was definitely one of the more scarring in recent times; I can’t listen to […]