Roker Park – The Ground That Lives Forever
3 May 2020 marks the anniversary of the last league game at Roker Park, played on 3 May 1997. Although this was the last league game, v Everton; a Northern Intermediate game was played at the ground between Sunderland and Middlesbrough 4 days later. Of course The Farewell To Roker…
The Strange Tale Of Ian Davison, SAFC Fan; Freedom Fighter?
PLO Perhaps the strangest story ever told about a Sunderland fan, or indeed any football fan, was that of South Tyneside born Iain Davison who joined the Palestine Liberation Organisation, was convicted of murdering three Israelis that he reckoned were Mossad agents, spent time in a Cypriot jail and ended…
Johnny Campbell, The Twice World Club Championship Winner
Johnny Middleton Campbell Sunderland AFC 1889 to 1897 Born: 19 February 1869, Edinburgh, Scotland Died: 8 June 1906. Newcastle upon Tyne, England Campbell (back and centre) with his family, in a specially commissioned colourised photograph. Born at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, the illegitimate son to Jane Middleton; daughter of…
Sunderland AFC, World Club Champions; 125 Years On
As I write this article it is Sunday, 26 April 2020 and tomorrow it will be 125 years since Sunderland AFC became the football world club champions with the defeat of Hearts at Tynecastle in Edinburgh. The match report from that game appears elesewhere on the Ryehill Football website. Given…
Sunderland AFC & Sevilla
In administering the Ryehill Football website I sometimes receive emails from other football fans around the world. On 9 April I received the following email from Jose Ramon, a supporter of Sevilla in Spain: I am a fan of Sevilla FC, I have seen the Netflix documentary, Til I die,…
Sunderland AFC’s First League Champions 1891/92
Sunderland AFC's First League Champions 1891/92 “William, tell me what my boys were like today?” “Well”, I said to him, “what is the moon like on a bright and clear night?” “Oh, it’s a beautiful sight”. “Then”, I said to him, “the Sunderland team today was just like a full…
The Art Of Sunderland AFC aka Sunderland Til I Die
In the run up to Sunderland AFC's Netflix debut; Sunderland Til I Die, due for airing on 14 December 2018, Ryehill Football thought that we'd take a look at another sample of The Art Of Sunderland AFC. Those who frequent the site may recall that we had a first instalment of…
Sunderland AFC And The 1951 Festival Of Britain
In 1951 towns and cities across Britain still bore the devastating scars of the Second World War which had ended only six years earlier. After more than a decade of rationing, austerity and making-do, gloomy post-war Britain needed a lift. The government’s antidote was ‘The Festival of Britain’, a national…
On Tour With The Lads: Millwall 1979
Millwall 0 v 1 Sunderland AFC The Den, Bermondsey, London, 3 March 1979 Having witnessed by firat Sunderland AFC game in October 1971, a 2 v 2 draw with Luton Town, my first away game with The Lads was towards the end of 1976 and a trip to Middlesbrough. Undoubtedly…
Sunderland AFC 0 v 0 Stoke City FC, 4 September 2018, Checkatrade Trophy
What started out as a fairly mundane game ended up as an enjoyable evening as Sunderland did what they rarely seem to do, win a penalty shootout, this time 4 v 2 following a 0 v 0 draw after 90 minutes against Stoke City's under 21 side, featuring an evergreen…