As the football season meanders towards its final stages, a popular topic for media discussion is the season’s biggest shocks; Ipswich’s promotion push, Aston Villa’s Champions League charge, Luton’s survival bid, etc. But the biggest surprise of 23/24 has to be Sky Sports failing to select Sunderland’s trip to Birmingham for live broadcast, a fixture with enough narratives to have Andy Townsend and co frothing at the mouth.
A popular manager out for revenge on his old club after what many argue was an unfair dismissal. And, in the other direction, a local academy product returning to his old stomping ground for the first time.
Obviously, I didn’t actually want Sky getting their grubby hands on this one as they’d inevitably shift it to the 12-noon Sunday slot, but it’s surprising all the same.
It was a typical rollercoaster week in the build-up, starting off with the encouraging win over Plymouth, leading into an emotional trip down memory lane with season three of Sunderland ‘Til I Die, before we were all brought crashing back to Earth with the limp midweek defeat at Huddersfield. Thankfully I skipped attending or watching that one in favour of a Valentine’s Day dinner with the other half, which had the twin benefit of earning credit in the bank with her while also sparing me from what was by all accounts another infuriatingly tepid display from The Lads on the road.
We set off bright and early on a mild but drizzly February morning to Euston, by far London’s least aesthetic station which seems to have been under renovation since 1996. On the positive side, the line from the capital to Birmingham is actually one of the less exasperating routes on the British Rail network, being reasonably priced with efficient travel times. After a quick cooked breakfast to line the stomach, we met with the usual suspects from the London Branch.
Opening the customary train beers, we discussed the imminent reunion with our former leader in the dugout. Mowbray would obviously be getting a good reception for the great work he did, and for generally being a sound bloke. I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when we heard Pritchard was ruled out, for obvious reasons. From a Sunderland point of view, the Beale era was alternating between mildly encouraging and depressingly anaemic on a weekly basis. We desperately need to turn our pathetic away form around if we’re even to get into the conversation for the top six.
On arrival into the Second City, we settled into the Wellington for some pre-match sharpeners. Maybe it’s a deliberate attempt to capitalise on the Peaky Blinders hype, but so many Birmingham boozers seem to cultivate the same vibe as The Garrison; traditional and authentic, with an ever so slightly menacing undertone.
My only previous trip to St Andrew’s saw us lose to homeless Coventry City in League One, during their stint as squatters there before Covid halted the season.
Surely today couldn’t be as depressing as that…
Navigating through Digbeth and the sea of flat cap-clad locals, we took our seats and watched on as Sunderland attacked the far end. The first half was a decent display, and Clarke – possibly inspired by his catchy new chant – gave us the lead after capitalising on an error from the home side. Any hope of a first away win in what feels like forever were dashed in the second half, however, and the club headed towards yet another crossroads with a change of Head Coach on the cards.
The home fans were quick to rub our noses in it on the walk back to the city centre, seemingly thinking that the decision to sack Mowbray was made as a collective by our fanbase and not by Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman. To make matters worse, the heavens opened, and we spent an hour waiting to get in touch with our AirBNB host to check into our digs for the night.
Another away trip to add to the list of “character-building experiences”, then. We could be facing that rarest of beasts; a mid-table finish for Sunderland, without a fight for promotion or a relegation battle. A few years ago, that would’ve seemed appealing, but in the context of the club’s recent progression it feels like a significant step backwards.
After the Swansea game we face a daunting run of fixtures, with Beale out on his ear and Dodds at the wheel once again. As always seems to be the case with SAFC, a fascinating few weeks lie ahead.
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