I was born and bred in Ryhope, emigrated to Silksworth twenty odd years ago before settling in my current abode in Hall Farm...Funnily enough I have never had any problem with my affiliation to SAFC..
The first football top I saw after I moved down to Hampshire was a Boro one, I was gobsmacked. You see the odd SAFC top being worn but in the main its Pompey, Soton, Man U, Chelsea, L'pool & Arsenal. I know a couple of Newcastle fans, they're the not-really-into-football sort, and their reasons are that they liked the football they played in the 90s. Glory supporters without the glory, the mind boggles. I once saw this beauty being worn round Portsmouth please log in to view this image , brought back a few memories. The reaction I tend to get in the main is, respectful pity. Most people couldn't find Sunderland on map yet supporting them somehow holds some value to most from down here.
not in yorkshire where there is mostly leeds fans but when i go home the people i know dont have a clue who they are
Sunderland and Portsmouth were linked I think (in the 1950s / 1960s) through newspaper publishing industry, plus at the time Sunderland was quite a major port and seafaring town. The towns had a lot in common. On the trivia side, when SAFC were relegated in 1958 for the very first time ever, they went down with Portsmouth. Sunderland won the last game of the season (at Pompey) and finished level on points with the mags. We went down on goal average. (not difference) That would have been something eh, if both sets of stripes had gone down together.
Most of the locals here follow the C,A,L,M (Chelsea, Arsenal etc) teams, but they follow the EPL rather than other Euro leagues, and amusingly accept my allegiance! Good fun. gave a shirt to a fella....and he wears it. Met a Singaporean Indian when working in B/desh a couple of years ago, he a Leeds fan. Plenty to talk about there....1973.
