Supporting Sunderland is an emotional rollercoaster — why do we do it to ourselves?
09/06/2024 01:00 AM
The tapestry of SAFC has more than a few rips in it, but there's something about this club that just gets us clinging on in the hope that one day, it will be our day.
Things are pretty good at Sunderland AFC at the moment. We've won our first four games of the season conceding just once, we had a busy final day of the transfer window bringing in four new players, and several of our better players have signed new contracts recently. The new kits and some good touches around the SoL and on club media have added to this sense of quiet positivity.
The pieces slowly fell into place over the summer, starting with a new head coach. From then, on and off the pitch, SAFC has felt like a more positive club to check in on. This has been rewarding after a short record of making bad decisions, leaving fans feeling like they aren't at the forefront.
I've tried to convince myself that I'm not arsed about the club at times, mainly when it's seemed as though the club didn't have any self-respect. The match against Leicester City at home last season had me thinking 'No, I'm not watching this, I just can't be bothered' to watch. In the end, I did, and it turned out to be one of the more dismal displays in an overall disheartening campaign.
From that first match back in the winter of 2003, an almost instant bug took hold. Watching, backing, and even just keeping tabs on Sunderland games becomes a big part of your life and it leaves you with a distinct inability never to want to turn your back on this football club.
I could have easily disengaged from that match (and plenty of others during the start of 2024) but at the same time, I'd never actually do so. Sunderland, like so many of us, is my club. SAFC is just there, and you just can't shake the bug no matter how frustrating it can be at times.
And I hate this club at times, but that makes me love them more. If this was a relationship between two people, every man and his dog would label it toxic. However it isn't, it is just an ongoing passionate annoyance towards a football club that never truly ends.
We put ourselves through the often rough times because, now and again, there's a glimmer of a good time. Whether it's a big win, a decent cup run, or, on occasion, a promotion, these moments make all of the crap worth it.
Football is an escape, it is just a game and is by no means the life-and-death situation that many fans lead themselves to believe. It is a way of taking your mind off anything that may get you down or stressed, and putting your hopes in eleven blokes kicking a bag of wind around.
When you deconstruct football, this is it in its most primitive form. Following Sunderland can feel stressful at times, and maybe we can use the stress of sport as an escape. After all, we can't do much about the goings on at our football club and could even take a weird comfort in being one of thousands in this same boat. If one stress is a break from the other, then there is a hope this will make it all a bit better.
Watching Sunderland is watching the lads in red and white play alongside friends and family. It's the shared passion of a club that has been the heartbeat of a city for almost 150 years, and one that constantly has us thinking 'We'll get it right, one day we will get it right'.
When that day comes, it will be one none of us will ever forget. It might even make up for the back-to-back relegations and being almost run into the ground by ownership, although some of those scars are deeper than others in the minds of certain supporters.
Football is as they say a funny old game, and Sunderland is no exception. It makes us laugh, cry, and most of the other emotions in between. For years, we were stuck with footballers who clearly couldn't be arsed and as a result, we had a lot of difficulty shifting. This isn't the case at the moment.
Last season couldn't have ended quicker for Sunderland. We fell over the finish line playing some dismal stuff with a coaching setup that was all over the place. Fans were worried that we'd be starting this season with basically the same squad that succumbed 2-0 to Sheffield Wednesday, but these lads have shown that all that was missing was good, direct coaching with clear game plans.
The current crop of players feels special. We know that eventually, they will move on (Jack Clarke being the latest example of this), but there's no doubt that under RLB there is a whole new level of togetherness. Being a footballer is a job at the end of the day, yet it feels like these lads are enjoying playing at the Stadium of Light.
The club is a constant to fans. Many other aspects of our lives have changed over the years, but Sunderland AFC is always there. It's not always in the best shape, but after a rough week, three points for the lads can make a bigger difference than most of us probably expect.
Sunderland winning matches has a positive impact on thousands of us, and after years of being a laughing stock on and off the pitch things might just be changing. Those who are the lifeblood of SAFC deserve this more than anyone else.
