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 remind all who set eyes on them of the heroes that once represented the Lads.
To say the least, such a sight always gets me firmly in the mood for a game.
I adore our club in all its aspects. I have a deep-seated reverence for the history of the red and white stripes and it makes me incredibly proud to think that our history is being celebrated to this extent.
For a kid who’s just starting out on their Sunderland-supporting journey and is only just beginning to understand how strong the love can be, I can only imagine how intrigued they may be by such sights, and if it piques their interest and establishes a strong bond early on, so much the better.
Of course, following promotion to the Premier League, the sprucing up of the concourses with better food and drink options and a transition from a cold, utilitarian feel to something that truly reflects our club’s heritage was probably a necessity. Additionally, when Jimmy Montgomery was immortalised as the West Stand was renamed in his honour, it felt like a fitting nod to the past with eyes firmly fixed on the future as we embarked on what everyone hopes will be a successful new chapter.
To say this theme of optimism has endured into 2025/2026 is probably something of an understatement, and after some excellent results at home already this season, Saturday’s full-blooded clash with Arsenal was quite simply the kind of fixture that our home stadium was built to stage when it was first opened way back in 1997.
During the intervening twenty eight years, it’s fair to say that false dawns and dashed hopes have become as integral a part of the stadium’s DNA as the memorial bricks that commemorate supporters’ loved ones, but ever since Dan Ballard’s winner against Coventry City, something has changed dramatically and something new is being tapped into.
Now we make our trips to the stadium on the banks of the Wear with genuine expectations of something special happening, and with a group of players as wholehearted and committed as this squad is comprised of, that’s hardly surprising .
Forget those godawful years of scratching around in the lower leagues, attempting to convince ourselves that the good days were just around the corner and trying to get ourselves excited for the visits of the likes of Oxford and Derby County, because the top flight is where it’s at and this is where we should always strive to be.
I’ve seen Motörhead five times in concert and I can honestly say that compared to the decibel levels we must’ve reached against the Gunners and the intensity with which everyone in red and white threw their full support behind the Lads for ninety-plus minutes, the sound of Lemmy snarling his way through Overkill was a Buddhist meditation session. It really was that loud.
Of course, there’s no consensus on exactly what makes an atmosphere but this season, I think it’s fair to say that the combination of the football we’re seeing and the results we’ve achieved at home and away, added to the efforts of This Is Wearside to create memorable tifo displays and the work undertaken by the club to strengthen the bond with the fans has yielded impressive results.
Witness the players geeing up the fans with every thundering tackle, Sunderland goal and exciting passage of play, and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
They want to make us proud and in return, we’ve put full faith in them to deliver. Even at 1-2 down against such a high-class opponent, belief never seemed to waver and even though the majority of these players are new to Wearside, the qualities of passion, intensity and togetherness are universal in football — something that was borne out on Saturday.
Periodically, the Stadium of Light has become the kind of place that Sir Bob Murray envisioned it could be when he moved the club from Roker Park during the summer of 1997.
Among others, the Peter Reid years of 1998 to 2001 were exciting, as was the Roy Keane era and the brief flirtation with Sam Allardyce, but if we can continue on our current path, what we’re currently experiencing has the potential to be just as memorable and just as transformational, given the footballing and commercial possibilities that are now at our fingertips.
Saturday was one of those evenings during which we might’ve remembered why we fell in love with football in the first place. A packed house, floodlights on, and two committed sides going at it from whistle to whistle. It was a joy to experience and there’ll doubtless be many more games in this vein to come under Régis Le Bris.
Heady days, indeed. Let’s enjoy them.
