Evening, genuinely that is a very moving post. Remember however, we were singing it together. Always here.
Years back, I was listening to an away match on the radio. It absolutely chucked it down at half time and the commentators were complaining about the weather. They said the home fans had all disappeared under the stands, but all you could hear from our lot was everyone singing loudly Why Does it Always Rain on Me by Travis. I always think of how mad our fans are when I hear that song.
The thread title says songs...but does just music count? If so,I would mention Z-Cars theme. In the early 60's this was the music the Lads came out to......I don't know if Everton hijacked it from us or the other way round.....but, hearing that theme music brings back vivid childhood memories of Stan Anderson, and then Charlie Hurley, leading them out....wearing white shorts at that time. A lot of coverage last weekend at Everton's new stadium,hearing that tune again...made the hair stand up even now after more than 60 years!
“All Yorkshiremen are twats” was the usual greeting song I got from F W’s bus when picked up nr Donny about 2am on a Friday night/Sat morning in the early 70’s. I hear the tune now & again but no idea what it is ♂️
Getting on that bus, for the first time, was like a descent into another world ... ... I saw more fights on there than I did in the whole of the 70's and 80's. I'm surprised Panorama didn't make it into a series. It was worse when we were going to somewhere evil and only managed a minibus. There'd be 12 seats with 16 passengers slewing down the A1 and I'd get picked up at Blyth only to find my 'seat' was leaning against a leaky plastic drum of diesel that one of the lunatics had pinched from work. Frankie would always have a pub picked out that was full of local nutcases, like Rugby Welfare, and there'd be an 11pm stand off while we tried to get back on the bus. One of the most insane songs/chants consisted of only one word that first appeared at Stoke City. The entire terrace was crammed with Sunderland who'd start sitting down en masse and go completely silent. After a long pause someone would give the signal and five thousand Sunderland would jump up shouting 'BOOOGIE' and start dancing like they were in a silent disco The home supporters would wonder WTF was going on and even the players would look round as if there'd been an explosion ... ... days that would be impossible to recreate but we were there mate, great memories.
As you say, so many stories, every away was another one. Home games were the same for Shef & me tbh, sharing trains with other fans who’d been to Boro or wherever ( rarely any been to RP). Stoke - Boooooooggggiiiieeee
Always and forever, mate. That sense of belonging and family is impossible to explain to people who don't understand. I've got an American ex girlfriend who I met at Uni who was a big Chicago Cubs fan and used to go on about how passionate they are as fans. They do have a reputation as some of the most passionate American sports fans. I took her to a match against Grimsby in the 98/99 season, we won 3-1 and she was blown away by it. Being hugged by random people when we scored, the chants (she had to have Niall Quinn's disco pants explained to her), shocked at us calling the England captain illegitimate and insinuating he had an unhealthy interest in children as well as wondering what a ****er was, let alone a ****ers hat. It was nothing like she expected (sadly, the reputation of English hooligans at the time made her think there'd be fights all over the place) and really enjoyed it, but she didn't really understand just what it is, other than getting the sense of camaraderie and tribalism. And we all know is much, much more.
Evening mate, another very good post and I'm sure many on here will relate. Our youngest (now 15 and starting to look like a man mountain) has had his season ticket since our first season in L1. Ask anyone around us in The North Stand and there are several MLFs seek him out to celebrate and fist bump before and after the game. They don't know his name but we have a match family/unit and I know in a couple of years when he wants to get to away games he will be looked after. Not many fans across the country can say that and I feel very privileged and proud to say I can.
I’m like you Monty when it comes to a Sunderland song in that there isn’t a specific song that I could think of or that I could identify as being one that reminds me of Sunderland other than the obvious Wise Men Say. If you want a really tenuous hanging by a thread link though here’s one. Two months after Mrs K and I got married in 1993 we got a cat. It was me who wanted one but Mrs K decided that the cat was to be female and black (tenuous link). So, Emily came into our lives. She had only lived with us for about four months when she didn’t come back home one night. For three days we were out searching for her. On the third day we got back home and found her under our car, feeling sorry for herself and limping badly. The vet said it would cost a lot of money to fix her and we could consider euthanising her. Despite not having much spare cash at the time we were both besotted with her that we paid just north of £700 to get her repaired. We had another 11 years with her. In 2004 she again went out but this time never came back. Turns out she had been run over and killed. I was at work when Mrs K rang me up and told me that our postman had seen her on the side of the road. I have said before on here that I’m not an emotional man. I kept it in until I got to my car in the car park when I broke down. I sat in the car and just bawled my eyes out for a good ten minutes before I composed myself and drove home. Here’s the song bit. Work to home was around a 20 minute drive. I don’t remember the first 10 minutes or so, I was driving in a daze, not great especially being a cop. The first song I remember on the radio on the drive back was Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones. Every time I hear that song I instantly start thinking of Emily again and I start to well up a little bit. That’s the story of Emily. The little black furball that came into our lives and completely hijacked us both.
