Fan Letters: “Its time for the true Sunderland fans to stop whining and get behind the players”

Dear Roker Report,

I now live in Australia and have done so for the past 45 years.

I have supported Sunderland since attending my first live match - it was a Wednesday game and we beat Norwich city 7-1. Roker Park was absolutely packed.

My point is that if you are a true supporter you never ever give up. I agree that it’s time for Ellis Short to go but until he does we are stuck.

Its time for the true fans to stop whining and get behind the players. We saw the effect that the crowd can have on Saturday against Middlesbrough - I wonder what the score would have been if they were silent?

The Stadium of Light holds 47000 - about 12000 of that are genuine true die-hard fans.

The rest should be ashamed of how they treat this club.

Neil Hamilton

Ed’s note: It’s alright pontificating about how fans should be supporting the team when you are thousands of miles away and don’t have to suffer turning up to the Stadium of Light most weeks. People that have bought their season cards for years and have seen absolutely nothing but a lack of care from the top to the bottom are right not to be happy with the situation we find ourselves in.

The crowd were behind the team on Saturday because for the first time in ages the players showed they gave a sh*t and the crowd, in turn, responded. It’s not difficult to see why things haven’t gone to plan at the Stadium of Light and it certainly isn’t because of the supporters, who are some of the loyalest in the land.

Dear Roker Report,

I’m a season ticket holder at the Stadium of Light and like everyone else that follows Sunderland I am sick of Ellis Short and the way the club is ran - hence why I signed the petition.

I’ve seen recently the Fan Letters about fan-led takeovers and whilst I think it’s good idea, realistically I can’t see fans managing to pay off the £110m debt.

I also don’t think it’s the right idea for the longevity of the club. A fan led takeover may help in the short term, but when and if we return to the Premier League or if we stay in the championship and want a push for promotion, the financial needs to do so isn’t going to be there from the fans.

Unfortunately we just don’t have the following that other clubs who are fan-owned have.

My idea to put forward to you - and obviously as long as you agree - would be to try and get the fans to reduce the debt, ideally half of it, which I think is a much more realistic goal.

If this is achieved then with any new potential owner coming in, I feel that we would have a right to have a part ownership in the club, like they do in Germany where many clubs are half owned by fans.

We need someone with a genuine amount of money behind them to propel the club away from where we are, and I think with somebody like that and working alongside the fans then it means the club can be ran how we want the club to be ran, or at least have a say in what goes on behind the scenes.

Even if we can’t get the agreement to get part ownership it would make the club a lot more appealing to buy to a new owner.

Gareth Clarkson

Ed’s note: There’s been loads of chatter about fan ownership in recent days but for each argument or proposal to work they’d need some seriously wealthy Sunderland fans backing them for it to work. It’s certainly not impossible, but it’s difficult. Imagine a fan-led Sunderland though, with Sunderland supporters on the board having a say in big decisions? Fantastic.

Sunderland AFC via Getty Images