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Undid revision 974714433 by ChrisTheDude (talk)Of course it does, because those nicknames were applied to the fans as well.
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Sunderland held the seventh highest average home attendance out of the 20 clubs in the Premier League at the end of the [[2013–14 Premier League|2013–14]] season with an average of 41,089,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/attendance/_/league/eng.1/year/2011/barclays-premier-league?cc=5739 |title=Barclays Premier League Team Attendance Statistics – 2011–12 |website=ESPN |date=13 May 2012 |accessdate=19 April 2014}}</ref> and held the sixth highest average attendance in the [[2014–15 Premier League|2014–15]] season with an average of over 43,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/09/12/ten-highest-premier-league-attendances-for-201415-with-arsenal-2nd-liverpool-5th/5/|title=Ten Highest Premier League Attendances For 2014/15, With Arsenal 2nd & Liverpool 5th|website=CaughtOffside|last=Brus|first=Mark|accessdate=4 January 2016}}</ref> Sunderland fans often sell out allocations for away games: in the 2013–14 season, 9,000<ref name="BBC News Online 22 January 2014">{{cite news |last= McNulty |first= Phil |title= League Cup: Results| url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25740123| date= 22 January 2014| website= [[BBC News Online]] | accessdate= 16 October 2015 }}</ref>
Sunderland held the seventh highest average home attendance out of the 20 clubs in the Premier League at the end of the [[2013–14 Premier League|2013–14]] season with an average of 41,089,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/attendance/_/league/eng.1/year/2011/barclays-premier-league?cc=5739 |title=Barclays Premier League Team Attendance Statistics – 2011–12 |website=ESPN |date=13 May 2012 |accessdate=19 April 2014}}</ref> and held the sixth highest average attendance in the [[2014–15 Premier League|2014–15]] season with an average of over 43,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/09/12/ten-highest-premier-league-attendances-for-201415-with-arsenal-2nd-liverpool-5th/5/|title=Ten Highest Premier League Attendances For 2014/15, With Arsenal 2nd & Liverpool 5th|website=CaughtOffside|last=Brus|first=Mark|accessdate=4 January 2016}}</ref> Sunderland fans often sell out allocations for away games: in the 2013–14 season, 9,000<ref name="BBC News Online 22 January 2014">{{cite news |last= McNulty |first= Phil |title= League Cup: Results| url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25740123| date= 22 January 2014| website= [[BBC News Online]] | accessdate= 16 October 2015 }}</ref>

==Nicknames==
Sunderland's official nickname is 'The Black Cats'. The previous nickname, 'The Rokerites', was made obsolete after the club left [[Roker Park]] for the [[Stadium of Light]] in 1997.<ref name="nickname">{{cite web|url=http://www.safc.com/page/BlackCatsNickname|title=Black Cats Nickname|website=Sunderland A.F.C.|accessdate=19 September 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725202042/https://www.safc.com/page/BlackCatsNickname|archivedate=25 July 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> The new name was decided upon in a public vote in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ross|first=Ian|last2=Sills|first2=Adam|date=22 February 2000|title=Sunderland find new identity as The Black Cats|url=http://www.theguardian.com/football/2000/feb/22/newsstory.sport4|access-date=5 July 2020|website=The Guardian}}</ref> Despite the nickname being made official only relatively recently, the black cat has been used as an emblem of the club throughout most of its history. Photographs exist of players holding a black cat which made Roker Park its home in the 1900s and 1910s, and which was fed and watered by the football club.<ref>{{Cite web|date=19 August 2016|title=The Original Sunderland Black Cat|url=http://ryehillfootball.co.uk/stories/the-original-sunderland-black-cat/|access-date=5 July 2020|website=Ryehill Football}}</ref> The club's first official badge featured a black cat sitting prominently in its centre.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thebeautifulhistory.wordpress.com/clubs/sunderland/|title=Sunderland|date=28 May 2011|website=The Beautiful History|access-date=6 August 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>


==Politics==
==Politics==

Revision as of 11:48, 25 August 2020

Sunderland A.F.C. have one of the oldest fan bases in England, starting from its creation in 1879. In 2019 it was reported that despite being in League One, Sunderland's average gates were higher than those of such teams as Lyon, Napoli, Roma, Valencia, Juventus, and Porto.[1]

There are over 70 branches of official Supporters' Clubs in England and around the world, including North America, which started in 2013;[2][3] Scotland;[4] South Africa;[5] Germany;[6] a united Danish and Irish Supporters Branch;[7] a separate Dublin supporters club;[8] Australia;[9] United Arab Emirates;[10] Switzerland;[11] and even North Korea.[12]

The club had an official quarterly magazine, called the Legion of Light, which season ticket holders received at no cost.[13] It was discontinued in January 2017. One of the club's current fanzines is A Love Supreme.[14] Others in the past have been It's The Hope I Can't Stand, It's An Easy One For Norman/It's An Easy One For Given, Sex and Chocolate, Wise Men Say and The Roker Roar (later The Wearside Roar).[15] In recent years, blogging sites such as Roker Report have been popular.[16]

Demographics

Support is drawn from across the North East, in particular County Durham,[17] and beyond. The club has many supporter branches across the world, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Cambodia, and Greece.[18]

Sunderland held the seventh highest average home attendance out of the 20 clubs in the Premier League at the end of the 2013–14 season with an average of 41,089,[19] and held the sixth highest average attendance in the 2014–15 season with an average of over 43,000.[20] Sunderland fans often sell out allocations for away games: in the 2013–14 season, 9,000[21]

Nicknames

Sunderland's official nickname is 'The Black Cats'. The previous nickname, 'The Rokerites', was made obsolete after the club left Roker Park for the Stadium of Light in 1997.[22] The new name was decided upon in a public vote in 2000.[23] Despite the nickname being made official only relatively recently, the black cat has been used as an emblem of the club throughout most of its history. Photographs exist of players holding a black cat which made Roker Park its home in the 1900s and 1910s, and which was fed and watered by the football club.[24] The club's first official badge featured a black cat sitting prominently in its centre.[25]

Politics

According to YouGov statistics, supporters of Sunderland predominantly lean to the political left,[26] and often sing "The Red Flag" during games.[27]

The appointment of Paolo Di Canio, who was accused of being a fascist,[28][29] as manager in 2013 prompted fan protests and the immediate resignation of club Vice Chairman David Miliband due to Di Canio's "past political statements".[30] It also met opposition from the Durham Miners' Association,[28] which threatened to remove one of its mining banners from Sunderland's Stadium of Light, which is built on the former site of the Wearmouth Colliery, as a symbol of its anger over the appointment.[31][32]

Songs

A song heard in every match is one to the chorus of "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley, with "Sunderland" being sang repeatedly after "but I can't help falling in love with you."[33] [34]

During Gus Poyet's tenure, Sunderland fans started singing "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream.[35] [36] Supporters of Sunderland launched a campaign to get the song back into the chart, to coincide with their team's Capital One Cup Final on 2 March 2014 at Wembley Stadium. On 3 March 2014, the song re entered in the UK Dance Chart at #19.[37][38][39]

Also, Sunderland supporters often sing "The Red Flag" during games.[40]

Two of the most famous chants by Sunderland supporters are "I'm Sunderland till I die..." and "We're by far the greatest team, the World has ever seen" - with the former being chosen as the title of the Netflix show Sunderland 'Til I Die.[41][42] [43] [44] One of the oldest Sunderland chants is "Ha'way the lads..." which was sang at Sunderland games as far back as the 1960s.[45]

Rivalries

Traditionally, Sunderland's main rivals are Newcastle United, with whom they contest the Tyne–Wear derby. The club shared a rivalry with the now defunct Sunderland Albion in the 1880s and 1890s, a breakaway club formed by Sunderland's founder James Allan.[46] In recent seasons the club has also developed a minor rivalry with Portsmouth, mainly stemming from the clubs meeting each other 5 times in the 18/19 season.[47] Conversely, sections of fans share a mutual friendship with Dutch club Feyenoord; this was developed after Wearside shipbuilders found jobs in Rotterdam during the 1970s and 80s.[48] The club also has good relations with Norwich City, matches between the two clubs being known as the Friendship Trophy, following good rapport in the 1985 Milk Cup final.[49]

Hooliganism

Main article: Seaburn Casuals

The most famous hooligan firm is the Seaburn Casuals, named after the Seaburn area near Roker Park stadium, even though early hooligan firms of Sunderland fans appeared as far back as the 1970s and the 1980s, like the Vauxies (named after the Vaux Breweries), who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[50]

At the end of the 1999–2000 and the 2002–03 seasons, Sunderland topped the hooliganism table in the Premier League with 223 and 154 fan arrests, respectively.[51][52] According to official data released by the Football Banning Order Authority, Sunderland's fanbase was named third most dangerous in English football in 2013–14, and in particular, a group called The Sunderland Youth Firm was noted in the context of its clashes with West Ham United fans.[53]

Before the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 26 Seaburn Casuals hooligans were arrested in a police raid after a military-issue smoke bomb was let out at a local pub after a fight with bouncers. By the end of the operation, over 60 were facing charges. Some of the Seaburn Casuals hooligans picked up in the raid were also involved with neo-Nazi groups like Combat 18. The operation failed when judge ruled CCTV footage from the pub inadmissible.[50]

In March 2002, the Seaburn Casuals fought with hooligans from the Newcastle Gremlins in a pre-arranged clash near the North Shields Ferry terminal, in what was described as "some of the worst football related fighting ever witnessed in the United Kingdom".[54] The leaders of the Gremlins and Casuals were both jailed for four years for conspiracy, with 28 others jailed for various terms, based on evidence gained after police examined the messages sent by mobile phone between the gang members on the day.[55]

Notable supporters

Below is a list of well-known people who are known Sunderland supporters:

Athletes

Business

Comedians

Film

Music

Politicians

Television personalities

Writers and journalists

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/how-sunderland-harnessing-fanbase-bigger-16120708
  2. ^ Rayner, Stuart (16 January 2019). "Charlie Methven on how Sunderland plan to chase the American dream without copying past mistakes". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Meet The Branches: Chatting with the Sunderland North American Supporters Association (NASA)!". Roker Report. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Meet The Branches: "Och Aye!" - It's the newly formed Scottish Sunderland Supporters Branch!". Roker Report. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Meet The Branches: Say 'Sawubona' to the South African Sunderland supporters branch!". Roker Report. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  6. ^ Falk, Graham (21 March 2019). "Meet The Branches: How FIFA12 & Netflix convinced this fan to start a German Sunderland branch!". Roker Report. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Meet The Branches: Finding out about the intriguing Danish & Irish Sunderland supporters branch!". Roker Report. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Meet The Branches: Sunderland's Dublin Supporters Branch - Flying the flag on the Emerald Isle!". Roker Report. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Meet the branches: Introducing the brand new Sydney Sunderland supporters group!". Roker Report. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Meet The Branches: UAE Sunderland Supporters Branch — following the lads from 4500 miles away!". Roker Report. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Mackems Abroad: Meet The Swiss Branch". Roker Report. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  12. ^ Pilnick, Brent (4 March 2019). "Sunderland's North Korea fan club: Supporter aims to build fan base". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Magazine — Legion of Light". Sunderland A.F.C. Archived from the original on 23 August 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
  14. ^ "A Love Supreme — The Independent Sunderland Football Club Fanzine". ALS Publications. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  15. ^ "History of Fanzines". ALS Publications. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  16. ^ https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2018/4/25/17279412/roker-report-shortlisted-as-a-finalist-in-football-blogging-awards-we-need-your-votes
  17. ^ Edwards, Luke (20 December 2014). "Newcastle vs Sunderland: Why is the Tyne-Wear derby such a big deal?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Supporter Branches". Sunderland A.F.C. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  19. ^ "Barclays Premier League Team Attendance Statistics – 2011–12". ESPN. 13 May 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  20. ^ Brus, Mark. "Ten Highest Premier League Attendances For 2014/15, With Arsenal 2nd & Liverpool 5th". CaughtOffside. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  21. ^ McNulty, Phil (22 January 2014). "League Cup: Results". BBC News Online. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  22. ^ "Black Cats Nickname". Sunderland A.F.C. Archived from the original on 25 July 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  23. ^ Ross, Ian; Sills, Adam (22 February 2000). "Sunderland find new identity as The Black Cats". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  24. ^ "The Original Sunderland Black Cat". Ryehill Football. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  25. ^ "Sunderland". The Beautiful History. 28 May 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  26. ^ Campbell, Paul (18 November 2014). "Are you an average fan? Find out with YouGov's Premier League profiles". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  27. ^ Tim Rich (9 May 2015). "Everton vs Sunderland match report: Danny Graham and Jermain Defoe fire Black Cats closer to Premier League safety". The Independent. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  28. ^ a b "Miners' Di Canio protest 'will only end with Sunderland campaign support'". BBC News. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  29. ^ "Miners join opposition to Paolo Di Canio's appointment at Sunderland". The Independent. London. 2 April 2013.
  30. ^ "Di Canio: David Miliband quits Sunderland role". BBC News. 1 April 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  31. ^ Daunt, Joe. "Durham Miners' Association: Our Issues With Di Canio At Sunderland Now Resolved". Sky Tyne and Wear. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  32. ^ Taylor, Matthew (2 April 2013). "Sunderland miners demand return of banner after Paolo Di Canio's arrival". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  33. ^ https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-afc-player-chants-memorable-11043723
  34. ^ https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/may/13/match.sport10
  35. ^ https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-afc-player-chants-memorable-11043723
  36. ^ https://www.espn.com.au/soccer/team/sunderland/366/blog/post/1814638/null
  37. ^ "Campaign to get 1990s Sunderland anthem Things Can Only Get Better to No1". Sunderland Echo. 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  38. ^ David Boyle (2014-01-12). "Adam Johnson puts stunning Sunderland in D:Ream-land | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  39. ^ WeAreWearside (2014-02-26). "Dare to D:Ream - Interview with Band Member Al Mackenzie On SAFC Campaign". wearewearside.com. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  40. ^ Tim Rich (9 May 2015). "Everton vs Sunderland match report: Danny Graham and Jermain Defoe fire Black Cats closer to Premier League safety". The Independent. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  41. ^ https://deadline.com/2020/03/netflix-premiere-for-season-two-sunderland-til-i-die-1202874038/
  42. ^ https://sunderlandmagazine.com/bid-to-get-sunderland-till-i-die-tune-to-christmas-number-1-93982/
  43. ^ https://www.sunderland.ac.uk/more/news/story/graduates-bid-to-get-sunderland-til-i-die-theme-shipyards-to-top-of-charts-833
  44. ^ https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/sunderland-til-i-die-season-2
  45. ^ https://www.safc.com/news/club-news/2018/october/haway-the-lads
  46. ^ Days, p. 19.
  47. ^ Tighe, Sean (16 May 2019). "Sunderland vs Portsmouth: A story of red cards, penalties and a simmering rivalry". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  48. ^ Lawley, Charles (2 August 2013). "7 Friendships Between Football Clubs". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  49. ^ Moore, Nick (15 April 2016). "What the heck is the Friendship Trophy? Football's oddest closed cup competitions". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  50. ^ a b Hooligans 2: The M-Z of Britain's Football Hooligan Gangs By Andy Nicholls, Nick Lowles, published in 2005 by Milo books
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