On A River Where They Used To Build The Boats
The second series of Sunderland Til I Die arrived on Netflix last week. As a Sunderland fan, watching it was a strange experience, particularly as I was probably more heavily involved in the 2018/19 season than any other season in recent history in terms of attending matches.
The first series, documenting Sunderland's calamitous collapse through the second tier of English football, had a stronger connection with the fans. This time round the focus switches predominantly to new owner Stewart Donald and his chief executive Charlie Methven, as they and new manager Jack Ross look to plot a route out of League One. Methven has become the subject of a lot of social media attention since series two was released, an Old Etonian who perhaps inevitably ends up rubbing people up the wrong way. It is probably true to say his brusque and uncompromising style was unlikely to win many friends, but his assessments of the negative culture among the backroom staff at the club appeared accurate. The fans have since turned on both Donald and Methven with a certain amount of justification, although both men deserve credit for putting Sunderland back on an even financial keel. Breaking the modern day record for an attendance in the third tier with 46,039 fans at the Boxing Day match with Bradford was also an achievement worthy of note.
I felt a certain amount of sympathy with Donald, a man who has made his millions in insurance and seems out of his depth taking on the challenge of one of Britain's biggest and most dysfunctional football clubs. The episode of the series focusing on transfer deadline day in January 2019 (when the team desperately needed a striker) is particularly difficult to watch. Ignoring the council of his advisors and his manager, he puts in an obscenely high bid at the 11th hour for Wigan's Will Grigg, a player with a strong track record of scoring goals in League One. He has at the time of writing scored 5 goals in 35 matches and proved to be one of the most costly flops of recent years. Typical Sunderland, but many of us would have taken the same gamble.
The narrative sets up certain heroes and villains of the piece. You're unlikely to find a Sunderland fan with anything positive to say about Josh Maja, scoring 15 goals in 24 games for the club before abdicating responsibility for his future to his agent. Said agent then receives a million pound payday negotiating Maja's transfer to Bordeaux, leaving Sunderland high and dry at a crucial time of the season. It's yet another thoroughly depressing tale of the influence of agents in the modern game. Luke O'Nien is deserving of much more positive notices, coming across extremely well on camera as he discusses his struggles and his desire to improve as a player. By all accounts, he's a hugely popular figure among the club's staff and fans.
The final two episodes centre on two trips to Wembley in as many months, firstly to play Portsmouth in the final of the EFL Trophy. Having taken the lead and dominated the first half, Sunderland lost impetus and let their opponents back in the game, ultimately resulting in disappointment on penalties. Frustrating, but it would prove merely to be the tip of the agony iceberg. The season ends at the League One Play Off Final in May, playing Charlton in a rematch of the 1998 Division One Play Off Final. Charlton won the match on penalties after a 4-4 draw in what was considered to be one of the finest games ever played at the national stadium.
As the producers of the series have said, if you had scripted that it would have seemed fanciful. The match then proceeds in quite possibly the most emotionally devastating way possible. One of the worst days of my life as a football fan, if not the worst. It was classic Sunderland. 'Why is it never us that's celebrating?' one fan tearfully enquires, encapsulating how we all felt at full time. Why does it matter so much? Former striker Niall Quinn once said 'I learned my trade at Arsenal, became a footballer at Manchester City, but Sunderland got under my skin'. It has got under my skin too.
There's a lot of nonsense spoken in football about which teams have the best support. All I know is that the Sunderland fans travelling hundreds of miles to support their team 20+ times a season are up there with the very best fans in the country. Donald is quite correct when he notes that they deserve more than 600 mile round trips to Wembley to watch their team lose.
On the production side, it would be remiss of me not to flag up the excellent opening sequence, soundtracked by the superb 'Shipyards' by The Lake Poets, one of my favourite songs of recent years. Sunderland Til I Die is excellent television that I would thoroughly recommend to anyone. I also never want to watch it again.
The first series, documenting Sunderland's calamitous collapse through the second tier of English football, had a stronger connection with the fans. This time round the focus switches predominantly to new owner Stewart Donald and his chief executive Charlie Methven, as they and new manager Jack Ross look to plot a route out of League One. Methven has become the subject of a lot of social media attention since series two was released, an Old Etonian who perhaps inevitably ends up rubbing people up the wrong way. It is probably true to say his brusque and uncompromising style was unlikely to win many friends, but his assessments of the negative culture among the backroom staff at the club appeared accurate. The fans have since turned on both Donald and Methven with a certain amount of justification, although both men deserve credit for putting Sunderland back on an even financial keel. Breaking the modern day record for an attendance in the third tier with 46,039 fans at the Boxing Day match with Bradford was also an achievement worthy of note.
I felt a certain amount of sympathy with Donald, a man who has made his millions in insurance and seems out of his depth taking on the challenge of one of Britain's biggest and most dysfunctional football clubs. The episode of the series focusing on transfer deadline day in January 2019 (when the team desperately needed a striker) is particularly difficult to watch. Ignoring the council of his advisors and his manager, he puts in an obscenely high bid at the 11th hour for Wigan's Will Grigg, a player with a strong track record of scoring goals in League One. He has at the time of writing scored 5 goals in 35 matches and proved to be one of the most costly flops of recent years. Typical Sunderland, but many of us would have taken the same gamble.
The narrative sets up certain heroes and villains of the piece. You're unlikely to find a Sunderland fan with anything positive to say about Josh Maja, scoring 15 goals in 24 games for the club before abdicating responsibility for his future to his agent. Said agent then receives a million pound payday negotiating Maja's transfer to Bordeaux, leaving Sunderland high and dry at a crucial time of the season. It's yet another thoroughly depressing tale of the influence of agents in the modern game. Luke O'Nien is deserving of much more positive notices, coming across extremely well on camera as he discusses his struggles and his desire to improve as a player. By all accounts, he's a hugely popular figure among the club's staff and fans.
The final two episodes centre on two trips to Wembley in as many months, firstly to play Portsmouth in the final of the EFL Trophy. Having taken the lead and dominated the first half, Sunderland lost impetus and let their opponents back in the game, ultimately resulting in disappointment on penalties. Frustrating, but it would prove merely to be the tip of the agony iceberg. The season ends at the League One Play Off Final in May, playing Charlton in a rematch of the 1998 Division One Play Off Final. Charlton won the match on penalties after a 4-4 draw in what was considered to be one of the finest games ever played at the national stadium.
As the producers of the series have said, if you had scripted that it would have seemed fanciful. The match then proceeds in quite possibly the most emotionally devastating way possible. One of the worst days of my life as a football fan, if not the worst. It was classic Sunderland. 'Why is it never us that's celebrating?' one fan tearfully enquires, encapsulating how we all felt at full time. Why does it matter so much? Former striker Niall Quinn once said 'I learned my trade at Arsenal, became a footballer at Manchester City, but Sunderland got under my skin'. It has got under my skin too.
There's a lot of nonsense spoken in football about which teams have the best support. All I know is that the Sunderland fans travelling hundreds of miles to support their team 20+ times a season are up there with the very best fans in the country. Donald is quite correct when he notes that they deserve more than 600 mile round trips to Wembley to watch their team lose.
On the production side, it would be remiss of me not to flag up the excellent opening sequence, soundtracked by the superb 'Shipyards' by The Lake Poets, one of my favourite songs of recent years. Sunderland Til I Die is excellent television that I would thoroughly recommend to anyone. I also never want to watch it again.
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