Not sure how many of you get the Football Echo but I just had to share this with you. Us older one's will remember it well. Another development at the SOL is the installation of the new screens to replace the old scoreboards, which have given 15 years of service. This too is a welcome addition, not least because the supporters at home games can find out things at the same time as the "supporters" who watch games in the pub. My only problem was having to squint to see the clock. Still, it's all a far cry from what was on offer at Roker Park in the olden days. If that was state of the art, then what a state art must have been in. There was none of your 3D plasma CAD graphics in there; just a bloke sitting inside the scoreboard ramming wooden numbers into a steel channel with the back of his elbow, while trying not to spill the can of Norseman Lager in his other hand. A typical half-time conversation would be: "What game are the Mags on the back of your programme?" "D" "Gettin' beat 2-1. Gerrin!" "No hang on, they're E." "Aaaah. Playin' a draw. ****!" Eventually, the club did acquire an electronic scoreboard, which was erected at the back of the Roker End. They had moved into the 20th century - but not its latter half. It was a lump of junk, rumoured to have been bought second-hand from a railway station somewhere in the Soviet Union. In my recollection, it only worked for a season or so before standing idle for about a decade. Even in it's prime, it didn't have a clock and only supplied entirely superfluous information, such as the score - which we all knew anyway - and the availability of pies. After a home defeat to Walsall, there was somehow no succour to be gleaned from the scoreboard, even when it presented sensational information, such as; "John MacPhail drives a Mazda". And as for urging the lads on with the missve "Attack, Attack, Attack!" - this was a waste of electricity if Marco wasn't playing. That's what we all miss about football in the 1980's. Bugger all. Good old Tony, I love his column. .
Ha ha. I remember being in awe that they'd fixed it once (1994 ish..) only for the half time scores to tip it back over the edge. Heritage mate, can't whack it.
Some of the best mate, despite us being ****e from my birth in 1980 till we left the place! Always thought the 'Welcome To Sunderland' from the Fulwell should have been placed on a stand.
