Just over a week ago, I received the email to confirm that the stone our family bought in memory of our Gran had been laid in the “Shackleton” area of Legends’ Way.
I’ve written previously about how Gran and the grandfather I never met did their courting at Roker Park between the First and Second World Wars, and how she still devotedly followed the team from across the water when she and some of my family emigrated to the USA.
The club helpfully provided directions for us to assist us in finding our
stone, and this was something I actually expected. One of my colleagues at work in York has a daughter who works for Sunderland AFC and her current role includes mapping all the stones being installed so people can find theirs.
It was only three months ago that fan David Bambrough finished his “Wall of Fame” project to catalogue and map all 33,672 memorial wall bricks installed around the Stadium of Light in order to help those who they are important to to locate them. However, there won’t be a need for a thoughtful and dedicated fan to spend five weeks of their life to do this for Legends’ Way — the club has it in hand!
It’s this level of detail and understanding of the importance that this special club has in the lives of supporters that shows Sunderland’s hierarchy is genuinely invested in doing things properly.
Will they get everything right? Of course not.
There have been mistakes and missteps along the way and there always will be. But it’s sometimes easy to forget or to take for granted, that we’re very fortunate to have the ownership that we have.
That understanding of heritage and immense attention to detail was never more apparent than when the 26/27 home kit was launched this week, for the 90th anniversary season of Sunderland’s 1937 FA Cup victory.
With Granit Xhaka channelling his inner Raich Carter, with his collar up in the launch photoshoot, hummel have produced something absolutely exceptional!
With the retro styling, the nod to the 1937 badge shape on the chest, the cup-winning team names inside the collar, and the 1937 crest on the rear, hummel and the club have absolutely knocked it out of the park with this home shirt!
It hasn’t just been well-received by Sunderland supporters — across social media, other club’s fans and numerous football accounts have been praising our new kit, and deservedly so.
With Europa League football rapidly approaching, hopefully this will be a new glorious era in our storied club’s history, and the Lads will absolutely look the part!
