Midweek. Sunderland (proper) haven’t a game for a week and a half, but Pete Sixsmith found banter, nosh and an entertaining game as the Reserves took on Man City at Hetton. The Blues won, but didn’t do all of the shining …

A damp Tuesday meant the local games on offer were perused very carefully for grounds with plenty of cover to shelter from the pouring rain.

However, by 5pm, the evening was dry, the temperature chilly but not unpleasant and the Sixsmith limo pointed in the direction of Eppleton CW and the Barclays Premier Reserve League clash: Sunderland versus Manchester City.
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Time to wrap up the Club versus Country series. OK, Colin Randall was as excited as any kid when England beat Germany to win the 1966 World Cup. He’d be lying if he said no international achievement had given him pleasure, and no failure had caused disappointment, in the years that have passed since then. But the fact remains that for him – as for so many of the rival fans who answer the question when put by Salut! Sunderland – club, in his case Sunderland, comes first every time. Could the following description of the blight of hooliganism which affected the sport for so many years be part of the reason why? …

I wish I had a completely satisfactory answer to the question of why every Sunderland game matters so much while no England match matters in the same way. Believe it or not, I actually envy the Scots, Irish and Welsh fans who so fervently support their national sides.

Fans of other countries show impressive national loyalty, too. I remember finding myself among a trainload of Dutch fans on their way from the central station in Amsterdam to a Euro 2000 game. The carriage was a sea of orange and seemed to be rocking. It was impossible not to be struck by the depth of devotion. Despite being an ordinarily patriotic Englishman, I simply cannot summon the same emotional attachment.

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