Fan Letters: Sunderland fan Eddie thinks we should be allowed to watch training - here’s why

Dear Roker Report,

I’d just finished catching up on all of your fantastic recent Podcasts.... and then this morning noticed that an interview with Kieran Richardson had gone out! Nice!

This is particularly poignant for me as Kieran was my favourite player when he was here, and my son’s favourite player. He named our dog ‘Rico’ after Kieran, and at the age of 9 Rico is still going strong (though he does tend to eat anything in sight and doesn’t understand that roads are made for cars and not animals... but I digress).

My son, who is now 16, listens to all of your Podcasts too and they usually accompany us while making the drive up from Hampshire to home games. Pass on my thanks to Graham and Connor who present them, they do a fine job.

Just wanted to say thanks for being so good to us supporters, they’re great especially for exiled fans who often have a gap to fill when it comes to meaningful football talk (everyone down here supports Southampton and Pompey)!

Keep the faith and keep the Podcasts coming,

Thomas Boyd

Ed’s Note [Gav]: Thanks very much Thomas for taking the time to write to us, it really is appreciated. I spend hours every week responding to fans like you who have nice things to say about what we do - I know the lads that host the shows appreciate it too.

Keep an eye out for what is to come over the next few months - we’ve got some really interesting guests and shows lined up.

Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Hello fellow supporters,

Could I ask/suggest for a number of fans to be given the opportunity to watch the players train, allowing them a chance to be more involved in the club as per new owners’ suggestions? Maybe school groups as well?

Although I am a season card holder, will the club be giving schools the opportunity to purchase tickets for games for £10.00 for specific games as they were previous seasons?

Maybe a loyalty/reward scheme for fans who have followed the club to every away game during the season - publicity around this?

Just a few thoughts. HAWAY THE LADS!

Eddie

Ed’s Note [Gav]: Quite a bit to tackle here, so I’ll start from the top! In terms of watching the players train, I think that legally the club had a few issues in the past and that is probably why the Academy isn’t as accessible for supporters. I’m sure the new owners know that this is something fans would like, though, and I reckon we can expect to see more ‘open training’ type events during school holidays and so on so that kids can go along to the Stadium of Light to watch their favourite players get put through their paces.

On ticketing - I couldn’t say what the club have planned for the future, but the marketing ploys and schemes you saw in the past (such as cheaper tickets for schools) came under a different regime. The club’s managing director, Tony Davidson, is on Twitter - maybe you should fire him a message.

Re: an away fan loyalty scheme - I suppose you could argue that with a black cats point and seeing the team win regularly, the fans are already being rewarded! Maybe if we go up, the club can do something nice to say thanks to everyone for being so committed, but I’m really not sure what they’d do.

Sunderland AFC via Getty Images