Pete Sixsmith is a member of the 92 Club and if you take in all the non league, lower league, overseas grounds and empty stadiums he’s visited, is probably a member of the 7,092 club. Today he takes us back to a time when loon pants, platform shoes, tank tops and kipper ties were the […]
Millwall vs SAFC Guess the Score: Lions tamed or Lions rampant?

What will our leaky defence do next? Your guess is as good as mine but it could win you a prize, albeit only a mug. Guess the Score is early again this week as Monsieur Salut is braving the Siberian chill to drive to what should be sunnier climes except that its snowing there as […]
Sixer’s Middlesbrough Soapbox: fighting spirit, last minute equaliser. Better than nowt?

Malcolm Dawson writes…….well the Men and Women’s curling both proved to be a huge but not unexpected disappointment. I am becoming a bit fatalistic now in my sports watching and rarely expect those I want to do well to come up with the goods anymore. In my continuing refusal to actually spend any money following […]
Sixer’s sevens: Middlesbrough take one point. Do our players get another?

We were 1-0 up when I started setting this up, just after half time. By the time I’d got the page ready for Pete Sixsmith we were 1-2 down, with the second being a Grant Leadbitter penalty. Could we overcome being struck by the curse of the former player? Yes and no. Yes because we scored […]
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Team: Middlesbrough FC

John McCormick writes: I’d really have to think hard about whether or not I’ve seen us play ‘Boro at Roker. Away, yes – I’ve been to Ayresome Park – but I have no recollection of any game against them at home. I wouldn’t have been at the 1961 game Pete describes below, being only 10 […]
Sunderland’s decline under Short ‘more Accrington Stanley than Leeds’

Monsieur Salut says: when I said Salut! Sunderland had perhaps been too kind to Ellis Short in the past, I should have made it clear there has been no collectively unanimous view. Malcolm Dawson, the deputy editor, has been much more critical. His comment deserves to be read as a self-contained piece … (more…)
A Daughter Speaks: how Wigan and Rochdale restored the FA Cup’s shine

Amid all Sunderland’s more pressing problems, it seems almost incidental to reflect on how old you now have to be to have any dependable first-hand memory of May 5 1973: Porterfield’s goal, Monty’s double save, Stokoe’s sprint and our cup. Never forget that the London branch of the SAFC Supporters’ Association voted years ago to […]
SAFC vs Middlesbrough Who are You?: ‘Coleman’s great but what a mountain to climb’

Monsieur Salut writes: having used up virtually the entire Boro-supporting side of my family (my sister has lived there throughout her adult life, for some years just around the corner from Ayresome Park), I scoured Twitter for a fresh pair of eyes. There I found Chris Blackwood*, a York-based lifelong Boro fan. He readily agree to […]
Post-Bolton thoughts: as Brian Clough said…

By now you’ll have read Pete Sixsmith’s report from Bolton. I can’t find fault with it and there’s no point in my writing something similar, not that I could. It has been almost six months since I saw Sunderland play live, during which time they have changed manager and a host of players. Instant recognition of […]
Beyond belief: the football club owner who has never spoken to his manager
Welcome to the strange world of Ellis Short, reluctant and reclusive football boss. In the past, Salut! Sunderland may have been too kind to the SAFC owner, accepting that he had put lots of his own money into the club only to be let down in horrific fashion by managers, executives and players. But now […]