It’s 6:30pm on a Friday night, and the glare of floodlights, as it always does, is drawing me on, lifting my spirit and filling my memory with glorious snapshots of past games. Tonight, though, I am not
heading into the Stadium of Light or Roker Park; it’s the Belle Vue Stadium, home to Consett AFC, that is my destination.
It is good to see so many kids and their parents buzzing around under the lights. It is a cracking community club that has something going on every night and weekend for all ages, shapes, and colours.
There is a gaggle of teenage girls heading into their training session, and I catch a bit of their conversation. The club had recently had some vile racist graffiti daubed on its equipment shed, which had been reported in the local media and garnered some attention on social media. The girls were discussing this with a maturity and awareness that would have made their parents proud and could only mark them as a credit to their club. It’s a good start to the night, but a sad fact that the bad news these days gets over-reported and often exacerbated, whilst the good news gets lost or forgotten. Well done, girls!
I do occasionally drop my Sunderland-mad grandson into his football training at Belle View, but tonight I am here for a very Sunderland AFC-related reason: the Consett Branch Race Night, a fundraiser for their chosen charity, Willow Burn Hospice.
It’s the first social gathering of the season for the branch and a good opportunity for me to gauge the view of some of the membership on the season so far, as well as enjoy the wit and wisdom of my fellow fans.
I join Geordie Herd and his wife and Joe Baker and his better half at a horse-owner/trainer table. No point in having stale sausage rolls and flat lager if you can have caviar and champagne, I think to myself!
We are straight into some discussion about George Kinnell, whose death was commemorated on 16th October 2021. George is one of a growing number of players of that era who were diagnosed with dementia. It’s clear that some are dying young, and others are having their senior years blighted with this condition. It is also a fact that an uneven proportion of footballers are being diagnosed. The game we love is a risky business for those who entertain us and whom we love to watch!
Kinnell has stirred some memories, and his second game for Sunderland gets an airing: it was a glorious 3-0 battering of the Mags at ‘St James’ Park in October 1966. The feared and respected giant Wyn Davies made a much-heralded debut for Newcastle, and Kinnell put him in his pocket in the tunnel walking out and let him out again as they left the pitch at the end of the game. What a glorious memory to start the night! I watched that game from the fence on the Leazes End with my Sunderland scarf on and cheered each goal like there was no tomorrow; it’s changed days in terms of segregation. Despite it being almost sixty years ago, the goals from Neil Martin (a blistering header), John ‘Solly’ O’Hare, and George ‘Bullet’ Mulhall remain vivid in my memory. This crew always gets me at this; I love it really!
We are back to current times, and general consensus at this table is that it has been a better start to the season than any of us could have predicted. The central defensive partnership of Omar Alderete and Nordi Mukiele are getting plaudits for the speed at which they have settled in. Something else which gets a mention (and becomes a bit of a theme on this night) is the way they seem to get the fans, despite being foreign lads with little or no previous experience of English football and crowds.
The branch has some club/branch memorabilia on sale, including bucket hats. I get a clip on the lug for telling Joe Baker I like those hats but would never wear one, as they make me look pale!
I grab a chat with the ‘Sisters’. The last time I saw them, they were on the bus to Wembley last season; it was 6am in the morning, and they were quaffing Mimosa and quality croissants in grand fashion. There is always a good bit of banter and laughter around this crew, and they are here for a good night but also to support Willow Burn Hospice, a local service providing vital care to the people of West Durham and beyond.
We discuss our chances against Wolves, and hopes are high, but nobody is underestimating the opposition, despite their difficulties this season. ‘Bambi’ is taking a bit of friendly banter and ribbing as she makes a point; there is nowhere to hide sometimes!
The Bus-elf is full on; the committee is at it all night, but he makes a bit of time to share his thoughts. He too is chuffed with our start to the season and even found positives in our defeat at Old Trafford, more specifically the second half. He is anticipating a tight game against Wolves but reckons Régis has the options in the squad and the craft in his head to negate any difficulties.
I am back at the Sisters’ table, and the lads are telling me a tale about their recent trip to Old Trafford. They bumped into Fabio Borini amongst the away fans in the ground and enjoyed a bit of craic with him. We agreed he was fantastic in that first period with us in 2013/14. He scored eleven goals as well as making a right nuisance of himself with opposition defences. His four goals in the last five games of that season went a long way to ensuring Poyet’s rescue act was memorably ensured. His four goals in our intoxicating run to Wembley that year and his sensational opener at Wembley to take the lead and silence Pep’s perennial winners (for a short while at least) got a good going over; another good memory to help the champagne go down easier! The lads tell me he has just recently signed for Salford City at the age of thirty-four.
The ‘On this Week’ team’s two horses are running. Super Mel Rools the Skies and Toddo the Great were named after two of my favourite-ever players. As good as they were footballers, their names failed to inspire our two donkeys, who are reported to be still meandering the track, grazing as they go!
The night continues apace, and it’s time for the raffle. There is some humour even in this sometimes laborious task as the branch president takes us on an entertaining description of his latest gizmo, a device for drawing the raffle numbers and shortening the process. The pelters are well taken, and in vindication of the president, his gizmo rattled through the task.
I join the brain trust for a craic. We are quickly into the likely defensive formation. Arthur Masuaku has endured a difficult start at left-back. The DR Congo international has shown flashes moving forward from his defensive berth but was particularly exposed at Old Trafford in the first half. The ‘trust’ are not completely blaming him for this, as he often appeared to have Amad and Mbeumo charging at him down that wing. It might be the right moment to withdraw him and move Hume to the left, with Mukiele to right-back, bringing Dan Ballard back into the centre of defence. Lutsharel Geertruida has looked good in his cameos; he too might be an option if Régis does not want to disturb the centre of his defence too much.
We agree Noah Sadiki has been a revelation so far this season and will be a big miss if absent for the Wolves game. It does, though, create opportunities for Rigg and Dan Neil, maybe, as well as Le Fée to come into the midfield. Chemsdine Talbi’s appearances on our left-hand side get a favourable airing, as does the colossal impact of Granit Xhaka on our season thus far. That brains trust always gives me something to mull over, and as usual, the little snippet as I am about to depart has me smiling. I had noticed on Facebook some photos of Union Jack stickers with ‘Consett SAFC’ appearing from all over the planet. One of the trust hands me some stickers and asks me to spread the news and joy as I go on my holidays to Jamaica. I can’t say who it was, as confidentiality is called for, but if you want quality driving lessons, he is your lad!
I am back at the ‘owners’ table’, where the champagne and caviar have been flowing. One of the ‘owners’ tells me a tale of two of her horses.
She had paid a small fortune for these two thoroughbreds, a grey and a jet-black, neither of whom looked like even coming close to placing, never mind winning, in their first five races. In exasperation, the owner and trainer were threatening the glue factory!
The two horses are anxiously discussing the glue factory threat and their loss of form when an old sheepdog joins them in the paddock.
The wise old collie eloquently advises the grey to try wearing blinkers, as he has noticed him becoming distracted with what is occurring either side of him in the latter stage of races. The dog then addresses the black’s difficulties and advises him to hold his place at the back of the pack until the last furlong or so, as he has noticed that in trying to stay with the leaders for the duration of the contest, the black is running his phenomenal finishing speed out of his legs. At that, the collie skips off to round some sheep up. The two horses watch him go in stunned silence; the grey then turns to the black and says… “Bugger me, a talking dog!”
Some themes have emerged about our season so far as the night has progressed.
We have made a better start to the season than many of us had envisaged.
The number of new players have settled quickly to their task and have bonded with each other and seem to get where the fans are coming from.
We clearly have options in every position now and a head coach who is able to manoeuvre and manipulate these options to good effect.
There are good things happening off the pitch, behind the scenes, and as supporters, we generally have some confidence in how the club is being run.
There is a very healthy relationship developing between the fans, management, owner, and players that undoubtedly is helping to drive the club forward.
The night is drawing to a close with a last-race auction, which sees a lot of friendly banter between tables as the big spenders open their piggy banks. It’s all good fun and for a great cause, and it strikes me it has been a win-win occasion, with some great craic about the Lads as well as some good banter and a good effort for the fund (I find out the next day as I am boarding the bus to the game that £2,500 was raised for Willow Burn Hospice).
I wind my way home, fortified by caviar and champagne and warmed by the welcome and company of my fellow fans. It has not always been easy being a Sunderland fan, but life is good at the moment, and nights like this help.
Enjoy the next stage of the season, folks.
