Sunderland: A Tale of Two Journeys
Come on. Admit it. When you saw the fixture list for this season, this was the one you were looking for; Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. And you might as well also admit after the last two games, you thought today would be a walk in the park, writes Richard Godson.
I did. How wrong was I?
This trip had been planned for months. My son Jonny was going to use his journey home to Aberdeen after spending the new year in Lincolnshire as an opportunity to take in one more game and I was going along for the ride before catching the train home. Diesel; down to him. Tickets; my shout.
After a hearty breakfast, cooked by my own fair hand we set out right on schedule at 9.30, calling at Grantham to position my car for the return trip. Hitting the A1 a shade after 10 o’clock our next destination was South Hylton at the south western end of the Tyne and Wear Metro. We therefore had 3 hours to chew the fat with our conversation switching from Michael Appleton’s likely team selection (we called Shackell for Bolger and Payne for O’Connor) to the test match which we listened to as we travelled. We agreed Talk Sport’s coverage is not a patch on Test Match Special on the BBC. We also cursed Jonny’s old school mate, Stuart Broad, for bowling a no ball when he had seemingly got Van der Dussen out cheaply.
I also learned I had inadvertently misled you in my Peterborough report the other day. Jonny’s first visit to Sinny Bank with his Dad (me, in case you haven’t been following) was actually for a game against Blackpool, abandoned after 70 minutes or so when we were leading 3 – 0 due to a pitch invasion. Anyone remember? Jonny does but clearly, I hadn’t. Apparently we watched from the Stacey West end that day. As he told me this, I asked him if he had been afraid as he was only 6 years old at the time. ‘Oh no’ he said, ‘I assumed this was what happened every time and wondered if I’d be allowed to run on as well, but you said we were going home!’
We also debated whether the club should move to a new ground or redevelop Sincil Bank. The new ground would be on the wrong side of town for me so I favour the redevelopment option, if it is an option.
By the time we were in North Yorkshire we were both ready for a coffee and decided to stop at Wetherby services. We weren’t the only ones with that idea, the main concourse resembling the fan zone without Trevor Swinburne and the Former Players Association, such was the throng of red and white shirts, scarves and hats, not to mention a smattering of the limited edition, Lincolnshire flag themed third shirts to be worn by the team today. Two Costa coffees to go later and we were northbound again. Leeming Bar, Catterick, Scotch Corner and before long we were turning off the A1 and heading for South Hylton and the Metro. This in turn delivered us to St Peter’s station just across the Wear and a handy 5 minute walk from the stadium where we arrived just in time to see the team bus arrive and deposit the players right outside the front door.
My impression of the stadium? Well it’s big! And decent enough; impressive, in fact. The concourses are a damned sight better than what was offered to us at St Andrews, Birmingham which resembled a bunker with a bar. Here, it had a much warmer and more welcoming feel with fast service at the bar. We’ll gloss over the steak and ale pie that turned out to be a chicken Balti. As over 3,200 visiting fans will attest, we were way up in the Gods as they say and far enough from the action, that I cursed myself for not taking a pair of binoculars. We were in the singing section and it was loud. I have little voice left, but hey, it’ll recover. As for the Roker Roar of legend, clearly they left it behind in Roker from what we could hear of the home fans. More like the Monkwearmouth mumble now. If I was being super critical, we couldn’t see the score board but today perhaps that was just as well. Also, the roof stretched so far forward, there was no sky to be seen and I had to assume that by the time the second half began that it was dark outside. Back at the Bank we are not only much closer to the action, we are also in touch with the elements. The roof might as well have covered the entire pitch, so insulated were we from our surroundings.
My impression of the game? Well it was over as a contest inside half an hour as Sunderland took the chances Coventry didn’t the other side of Christmas. On the day they were far the better side and deserved their win, no two ways about it. Tyler Walker turned in a Harry Anderson drive to give the travelling faithful something to cheer about in the final quarter but the result was never in doubt. Let’s just say we had an off day. From what little we saw of Zak Elbouzedi, I’d say he has great potential and I look forward to seeing him have a longer spell on the pitch. Neither Jonny nor I could pick a man of the match though.
And so, after a fond farewell with my son who headed back to South Hylton to continue his drive north, it was initially north to Newcastle on the Metro for me. Newcastle Station has a magnificent bar, right at the top of the escalator that brings you up from the Metro station below. I can recommend it, not so much for its beer, Theakstons and Worthingtons, as for its incredibly beautiful Victorian tiled interior. I had met 2 gentlemen on the Metro, one a season ticket holder in Co-op lower 7 and his friend, a Grimsby Town supporter who remarked that every Lincoln song seemed to be about hating Grimsby. I wonder why. Once we had introduced ourselves, it transpired that although we didn’t know each other, we had quite a lot of friends in common so we were able to spend a very pleasant hour in the bar until it was time for me to find and catch my train back to Grantham. Two uneventful hours later, I was walking out of Grantham station when I bumped into my old secretary, about to board a train to Nottingham for a no doubt very late night out; this at 8.30 and she was only just setting out!
Oh to be young free and single again! Actually, no thanks. Been there, done that. A bit like the Stadium of Light.
It was a game of if’s, but if John Akinde hadnt spent a couple of seconds thinking what foot to put the ball in the back of the net from a inch perfect cross for him we maybe could have clawed it back..roll on Saturday.
Richard, I was puzzled by your son’s memory of his first game being an abandoned match against Blackpool. I wonder if he was perhaps recalling the game against Blackpool on 2nd May 1992 (the last game of that season). The ground was packed with Blackpool supporters and they invaded the pitch twice – just before and immediately after the final whistle. But the game was played to a finish and City won 2-0 with both goals being penalties scored by Matt Carmichael.
I recall that game, one of the first games I ever went to without parental supervision.
Gary, big fan of your work so take this comment in the friendly spirit it’s meant in, but I feel that you quite regularly defend Akinde when he deserves some criticism (and I’m someone who always tried to defend John when people were being unfair about him last season). To only write, ‘Big John coming on and giving them something to think about in attack’ and to not even mention the big chance he missed, is a bit odd. If you’re going to call out Bolger, Shackell and Vickers for their mistakes then Akinde deserves some heat too.