Fletcher enjoying home comforts in North-East 8:00am Thursday 30th August 2012 in Sport By Paul Fraser, Chief Football Writer WHEN Sunderland fans think about their new signing returning north to be closer to his family in the North-East then it is safe to assume the name of Steven Fletcher does not automatically spring to mind. While Adam Johnson's return to the region has brought him closer to his Easington roots, the towering Scottish frame of Fletcher also holds similar feelings. He's already had his tea cooked by his mum, Mary. The £12m striker was born in Shrewsbury, spent much of his early days in British army bases in Germany and England, before his Scouse father, Kenny, died when he was ten. After that he moved north of the border to South Lanarkshire, where his footballing talent resulted in him being spotted by Hibernian. From there a Scotland international and multi-million pound footballer emerged. Impressive spells further south with Burnley and Wolves followed after leaving Easter Road three years ago and in a nice twist of fate he has moved up to the North-East, where his mum and step-father have been living in recent times. "My mum and step-dad, Martin, live in Durham, having those two here has really helped me settle in. It's nice to come home, she's trying to get my room ready at hers! I've told her I'm getting my own place," said the 25-year-old. "My mum can come and clean my house if she wants. She's already made me my tea since I've been up here. When the game was cancelled with Reading on Saturday I went straight back up to mum's for tea. It was great. "It's helped me to settle in and was one of the reasons I was looking forward to the move. They came to watch me against Morecambe, you'll be seeing them all the time. I moved around a lot as a kid, in a way it's a feeling of coming home." His step-father has been telling Fletcher what his new club means to the area and that has increased the excitement after signing a four-year contract. "I want to get settled here, it's a massive club," said Fletcher, given a great reception when he made his debut against Morecambe on Tuesday. "My step-dad is a big Sunderland fan, my mum's a Rangers fan. Mum moved down here when I was 16, because Martin is from here. He likes to think he's given me the big history lesson about Sunderland FC, but I'm not sure!" Fletcher was brought up a Liverpool supporter, admiring the goalscoring talents of Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen. His game is something different to both. Martin O'Neill, the Sunderland manager, has invested heavily in him because he thinks he can provide the team with the aerial strength to bring others in to play. In scoring 22 goals in two seasons for Wolves, eight prior to that with Burnley, however, Fletcher feels he is under-valued as a goalscorer. Fletcher said: "I'm not just a target-man, I like to think I can play a little bit, not just with the head even though I've scored a few goals with it." Having joined at the same time as Johnson, his first taste of playing with the former Manchester City winger has left him hungry for more. Johnson teed up both goals for James McClean against Morecambe in the Capital One Cup. "I'm going to be in a team that creates plenty of chances, that's for sure," he said. Chances and goals are what Sunderland need and O'Neill hopes the additions will help the Black Cats push up towards a top ten finish. That would be a far cry from Fletcher's spells with Burnley and Wolves, where he has endured two relegations and a fight against the drop in his three years in the Premier League. "When I spoke to Martin I realised it's a very ambitious club, you can see that from the signings they've made," said Fletcher. "The price-tag doesn't really bother me, my family make sure they keep my feet on the ground. "I can't see this club struggling, we won't be fighting against relegation, we want to be pushing on and hopefully getting that top-half finish. "I need to put the two relegations to one side and make sure it never happens again. It makes you even hungrier as a footballer."
http://www.journallive.co.uk/safc/safc-news/2012/08/30/61634-31725086/ Lovely interview this and nice to see. Don't tell the Geordies about his step-dad though cos they'll no doubt find a quote on some nufcblog site that says he's a mag!!
Everyone at sometime has been a mag! Didnt you know that? They are the biggest club on the planet and everyone loves them.
Everyone at sometime has been a mag! Didnt you know that? They are the biggest club on the planet and everyone loves them.
What an enjoyable read, we cannot underestimate how much having family around will help the lad settle in. Good craic on the 'she can come and clean the gaff' bit, seems that a genuinely sound lad to me, look forward to him scoring goals for us. Remember under Reid, he would pull the plug on a player if he though they were 'the wrong sort', seems MON has the same philosophy, with better backing. Great times.
Hmmm... So someone else has posted this before me - can a mod link the 2 please!! (My fletcher's step dad one and this one) - cheers
Seems like a decent down to earth lad and with Jimmy Mac and Johnson, plus Larsson providing quality balls into him i can only see him succeeding and becoming a hero of ours. The lad will score goals for sure.
Great thread, after years of travelling around the world the lad seems happy with his lot. Hopefully with his family being settled in the area he can spend the best years of his career with Sunderland and become one of the greats
