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IN PRINT. ONLINE. IN STORE. FANZINE/AWAY TRAVEL/FAN SHOP: ALL @ ALSHQ OPPOSITE SOL. NO 1 INDEPENDENT FAN VENT SINCE 1989. NINE TIMES UK FANZINE OF THE YEAR

Following Sunderland AFC is easy. Being emotionally attached to them is a bloody nightmare. But then, we don’t need to tell you about that because you get it; you’re one of us. We know you’re one of us because you’re supposed to be doing something else now. Obviously, we don’t know what that something else is – we’re not psychic – but whether it’s working, shopping, cleaning, decorating or reinvig

orating that flailing relationship, the point is that you’re not doing it. You’re on here reading stuff about Sunderland, which means you’re all right by us. The world is littered with people like you and us, people whose day to day lives - the bits that happen in between watching the lads – are only made bearable by devoting as much of them as we can get away with talking about, thinking about, reading about and fantasising about a team that last won a major trophy in 1973. We’re all in it for the ride and not the destination, and we’re all on the same side, however tortuous that journey becomes. At the back end of the 1980s, football fanzines began to sweep the country and in 1989 we were presented with a new vehicle on which to enjoy some of this ride – A Love Supreme. ALS was a place we could all go to celebrate and commiserate being a Sunderland fan. Win, lose or draw, the pages of the fanzine became solace for many of us as we stumbled our way through our day to day lives, punctuated by the ups and downs of more match days than any of us care to remember. In the years since its inception, a stupidly ridiculous number of Sunderland fans have expressed their love for God’s own football team in their own way through its pages. Some of it was funny, some of it deadly serious, some of it critical, some of it complimentary, but all of it was heartfelt. Even the most biting, radical, critical stuff, written by fans at the depth of despair comes from the bottom of their heart, no matter how hard it is for many of us to swallow.

06/02/2025

WATSON HAPPY TO STAY

Kristjaan Speakman has rubbished claims that Tommy Watson “wanted to leave” Sunderland on deadline day. Let’s face it the lad is a massive Sunderland fan and his family watch him every week, why would he want to go to Brighton?

DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE
“I think it would be really unfair to suggest that the player wanted to leave. Tommy is like a number of young players that we’ve got, where they’re on the up, they’re highly-rated and ambitious, which we want them to be, and then they get presented with an opportunity. Ultimately, Tommy didn’t have a decision to make because there wasn’t an agreement between the clubs. If the clubs had agreed, he would have had a decision to make, and you could understand why he would choose to stay, but you could also understand why he might decide to leave. That would be based on his views. But we never got to that point, so it was never really an issue. I think Tommy is such a level-headed kid that it’s absolutely not a problem. He’s Sunderland through and through, but he’s also ambitious and wants to get promoted and play in the Premier League with Sunderland. I’ve spoken to him this morning and he’s the usual Tommy Watson – he wants to get back fit and wants to get back to the Stadium of Light, scoring goals.”

CONTRACT
“I don’t think it was a risk. Tommy’s got a year left on his contract. At the minute, he’s fully committed to what we’re doing, and there’ll obviously be ongoing conversations about whether he can extend that or whether there’s going to be a moment where a club is able to agree a fee with us. We’re just focused on the short term at the minute, trying to make sure that the team is as cohesive as possible. We have to try to navigate these remaining 16 games in the best possible way, and Tommy can have a massive impact on that for us.”

NO REPLACEMENT
“Over the last season, Tommy’s worked himself to be one of two wide-left options in our squad. There’s him and Romaine (Mundle), you can’t let one of those players leave without finding a suitable replacement. That’s part of our thinking. There’s a trading element within the business of football, which is, ‘If you’re going to trade this player, what other opportunities does that present for you as a club?’ We look at all those things within it, and that’s ultimately part of the decision-making process as to whether you an accept an offer or not, and whether at a specific moment, you think that offer is the right value to enable you to do something else, or whether you want to hold to a future window. We’re really comfortable from a club perspective, and I think the player is really comfortable too because he recognises how good an opportunity Sunderland is at the minute, and he’s fully committed.”

06/02/2025

TRANSFER WINDOW POST MORTEM

Now that the transfer window for us has closed, Regis Le Bris has had some time to reflect on everything that happened during that time, including deals that did or didn't materialise and the reasons for that.

IMPORTANT TO GET MINUTES
“There are many different topics. The first one is the players who left the club to find minutes, to find games. Five players were in those situations. Aaron [Connolly] was a permanent transfer and four others, Adil [Aouchiche], Abdoullah [Ba], Zac [Johnson] and Naz [Rusyn]. It was an important move for them to find game time and to play because when you are not involved in the main squad, it’s difficult to improve their level so it’s important for them, I think."

RETAINING OUR TALENTED LADS
“The second topic is about the retention of talents. It’s still important to remind ourselves that when we have very good players some interest can be around and we had this possibility to keep them with us. So they trust us, we trust them, the confidence is shared, so that’s good news."

RETURNING PLAYERS FEEL LIKE NEW SIGNINGS
“The third thing is the returns [from injury]. I said it before in the first part of the season, we had many injured players and I hope they will be available for the second half of the season. Salis [Abdul Samed] is an example. We will have five, six, seven players like that and we expect they will give something else for the team."

RECRUITMENT
“The final topic is the recruitment process. We recruited two players. Enzo [Le Fee], we can see he will suit our game plan, with our team, with the other players. His connection is getting better and he will get stronger. The last one is Jayden [Danns]. In the medical we found an underlying issue so we have to wait a little bit and hopefully in a couple of weeks we will see, I’m not sure of the time.”

JEWI COLLAPSED LOAN TO CHARLTON
“In this transfer window we still have this problem where in the last minutes, this happens, It’s still possible to find a club because some markets are still open. We will see.”

DODDS DEPARTURE
“Is it useful to bring in a new assistant or not? I’m not sure. We will see in the next seven to ten days. The players have grown and we want to give the possibility [in Dodds’ absence] to choose by themselves and I hope it will create new conditions for more responsibility.”

06/02/2025

PRE WATFORD INJURY UPDATE

Regis Le Bris has provided what has been one of our most positive injury updates this season, with the likes of Alan Browne, Romaine Mundle and Tommy Watson all coming closer to recovery. Le Bris also spoke on deadline day signing, Jayden Danns, and what the next steps in his recovery are.

JAYDEN DANNS
“We don't know at the moment with Jayden. We probably have to take it week by week. He's still a very young player and it's fair to say that we have to protect this player. So, we will work with Liverpool to find the right moment to bring him into the side.”

SQUAD REGAINING STRENGTH
“Browney is available now, he is taking part in full training. Romaine should be involved (in training) by the end of the week, probably. Tommy should be around by the end of next week. Jenson (Seelt) is ready to play, so we have many players available.”

The Danns news is a shame, and without a specific time frame we don't know when we can expect to see him in red and white. The return of Alan Browne mustn't be overshadowed by the pending return of Romaine Mundle and Tommy Watson either. Despite strengthening our midfield with Enzo Le Fee in the winter transfer window, and Salis Abdul Samed returning from injury, Browne's experience in this division as we approach the run in will be vital. Then of course Mundle and Watson returning soon is exciting as both players were in fine form before facing time on the sidelines.

All of this news provides RLB with somewhat of a headache in terms of putting a side out. If Mundle was put back into the starting 11, and Le Fee was moved into his natural role, then one of our key midfielders this season would have to drop to the bench. Although I'm sure our footballing scientist Regis will have this all thought out.

06/02/2025

DAN NEIL ON CAPTAINCY

Dan Neil was made our captain this season and he has taken to that role like a natural, which was actually the advice he was given by Michael Proctor in terms of this new role. He was instructed to just keep doing what he was doing prior to receiving the armband.

BIG ROLE
“I've took it out of my mind now. I think you have to, if I keep dwelling on stuff like that and if I go into the game thinking about that, it's only going to be bad for me because I'm going to be thinking about a mistake that I've made in that game. We're going to treat it like any other game. We're going to go there and try and take three points from them.”

NOT THINKING ABOUT IT
“To be honest, I think I've probably done it by not thinking about it as much. Yeah, maybe. I think I spoke to Proc (Michael Proctor) about it and he said a good thing. He said we picked you to be captain because of what you do naturally."

KEY ADVICE
“So stop thinking about it. That was the one bit of advice that kind of got us back to not thinking about it. I just try to do things naturally. I'm not a massive shout-run baller. I look at the game in a different way. There's other lads on the team that do that. I've said in many interviews that it's not just about me being captain."

SQUAD FULL OF LEADERS
“We've got a really good leadership group and we've got lads that are growing into leaders every single week. And it's about all of us coming together and leading the team.”

05/02/2025

PITMATIC LINGO & THE HALF TIME BINGO
BY WINGATE POET STEPHEN W ATKINSON

A collection of Atkinson’s local poems, tongue in cheek limericks and a few local facts. It also contains some of his poems first published on the ALS site. So, come and join him for a pint and bit craic…

05/02/2025

OTD: CHARLIE "CANNONBALL" FLEMING DEBUT
On this day in 1955 Charlie Fleming played his first match for Sunderland in a 0-0 draw at Bloomfield Road. The Scottish forward was nicknamed “Cannonball” because of his impressive shooting ability.

Scoring 71 goals in just 122 appearances, Fleming is one of the most lethal strikers in Sunderland’s history. The Scotsman signed for £20,000 plus Tommy Wright from East Fife in 1955, at 27 years old. Whilst at East Fife, he was very succesful, winning two League Cups in 1949 and 1953, reaching a Scottish Cup final in 1950 and scoring 117 goals in 173 games. He scored his first goal for the club in an FA Cup draw away to Swansea, heading home Billy Bingham’s cross.

In another FA Cup tie, Fleming scored a hat trick. This was the first of his career, as well as the first of any Sunderland player post-war as Third Division side Norwich City were beaten 4-2. Despite Fleming’s goals, Sunderland were eventually relegated from the top flight for the first time since joining the Football League in 1890 in 1958.

“Cannonball” was phased out by new manager Alan Ball, scoring his last goal in red and white against Aston Villa. He then played his last match for the club against Everton, before joining Bath City in the Southern League where he scored 216 goals in 300 appearances. He played with Tony Book, who had also played alongside the likes of Francis Lee, Colin Bell and Rodney Marsh. However, Ball later claimed he had "never seen anyone time the ball as well as Fleming”. His goalscoring accolades at Bath make him their all time record goalscorer and the player who has scored the most league goals for the club in a single season (37). In 1964, Fleming briefly played in Canada for Toronto City as part of the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League. He left Bath in 1966 and retired from football after this.

On the international stage he earned one cap and scored two goals for Scotland. The sole cap came in a 3-1 win against Northern Ireland in the 1953/54 British Home Championship, the game also doubled as a qualifying match for the '54 World Cup too.

Charlie died in 1997 aged 70 years old, in his home country Scotland. There are only a select few players in Sunderland history with a more clinical goalscoring record than 'Cannonball Fleming', and certainly none in recent history.

05/02/2025

R.I.P. Wallace Potter.

Wallace sadly passed away on 27th January aged 89, he was a passionate Sunderland fan and has left behind a heartbroken family. Wallace's family are trying to arrange a minutes applause on the 89th minute of our match on Saturday, this would mean so much to his family...

05/02/2025

BORN ON THIS DAY: IVOR BROADIS
Born on this day in 1922 was former Sunderland forward Ivor Broadis. Until his death in 2019, Broadis was the oldest surviving England international footballer, and was also the first manager to transfer himself to another club!

Broadis, who was born in Poplar, London, was posted to Crosby-On-Eden, Cumbria towards the end of World War Two. During the war, he featured for Tottenham Hotspur as an amateur. Tottenham is the reason he's known as Ivor, his legal name is actually Ivan but the club misread his name as Ivor and it became his alias. When Carlisle heard how close he was, they offered him the player-manager role despite Broadis being just 23. Of living so far up north, the forward said: "Until after the war I'd never been so far north in my life, I thought I'd need a dog team to get up here.”. A player-manager was a common role, but at 23 Broadis remains the youngest ever person to have the job.

In 1949, he became the first manager to transfer himself to another club when Sunderland paid £18,000 for his services. The Black Cats were known as the “Bank of England Club” at the time due to their huge spending power and influence in the transfer market.

Even after signing for Sunderland, Broadis lived in Carlisle and actually kept training with his former club, under new manager and future Liverpool legend Bill Shankly! Alongside Sunderland stars such as Len Shackleton, Dickie Davis, Willie Watson and Trevor Ford, Broadis scored 27 times in red and white in 84 games.

Broadis’ highest ever league finish came with Sunderland, who finished second in 1950. The forward was disappointed with the season though, claiming: "The sad thing about that Sunderland side was that we should have won the league in 1950. They played me at centre-forward against a relegated Man City with three or four games to go and we lost. We finished third in the end. We should have won the league that year, it would have made such a difference."

In 1951, after impressing on Wearside for several seasons, Broadis joined newly-promoted Manchester City. It was during his time in Manchester where the forward earned his first England cap, as well as writing his first newspaper column as he began the switch to becoming a journalist. He returned to the North East, signing for Newcastle United in 1953.

He earned 14 caps and scored eight goals for England between 1951 and 1954. Broadis enjoyed a goal against Scotland, netting a brace against the Tartan Army in the 1952/53 British Home Championship and scoring another time in the 53/54 edition of the same competition against our northern neighbours. The inside forward twice played in front of crowds in surplus of 130,000 at Hampden Park but the highlight of his international career would probably have to be when he became the first England national team player to score twice in one game at a World Cup, that came in 1954 in a 4-4 draw versus Belgium.

While at St James Park, Broadis won the 1955 FA Cup alongside the likes of Jackie Milburn and Len White, before returning to Carlisle for a second spell soon after. He eventually ended his career in Scotland, playing for Queen of the South until 1960. After retirement, he enjoyed a 45-year career as a sports journalist, and was awarded the Freedom of the City of Carlisle in 2018.

05/02/2025

BORN ON THIS DAY: PATRICK ROBERTS

Sunderland's 'Mini Messi' Patrick Roberts was born on this day in 1997. He has made 125 appearances for the lads and has really found a home on Wearside after being stuck in a plethora of loan spells across England and Europe prior to signing with us.

Roberts was a highly sought-after talent as a youngster, signing as a professional for Fulham at the young age of 17. 16 months after making his senior debut, the diminutive winger was snapped up by Manchester City for £12 million. At the time it was a massive fee for a player who had started just three games for Fulham, with 19 sub appearances.

Patrick’s City debut actually came against Sunderland, when they thrashed us 4-1 in the League Cup in September 2015. He came on a sub in that game for Jesus Navas. Four days later he made his Premier League debut, but his four minutes in a 4-1 loss at Spurs would be his only league appearance for Man City.

He was loaned out to Celtic on an 18-month deal. And after a successful spell (which included scoring a Champions League goal against his parent club) the loan was extended by another year. This was followed by brief loans with Girona, Norwich, Boro, Derby and Troyes which takes us all the way up to 2022, when he finally left City permanently. He joined Sunderland on a free in January, initially on a short-term contract until the end of the season.

It took Roberts a little while to get up to speed, due to his inactive loan spell at Troyes. He scored his first goal in red and white in a 2-0 victory over Crewe Alexandra, when he linked up with new signing Jack Clarke and got the finish. That partnership struck again at Hillsborough, and Roberts scored the winning goal to send the Lads to Wembley. If it wasn’t for that we might still be in League One as we speak. Roberts played in the play off final, and Sunderland won promotion to the Championship.

Similarly to the season prior, it took Roberts a little while to get a proper run of games at the start of 2022/23, with Alex Neil favouring the 3-4-1-2 formation. However, Roberts got an opportunity against Reading and he scored a brace in Sunderland’s 3-0 win at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. The former Fulham man formed a really good partnership with Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo, with the duo becoming regulars on Tony Mowbray’s team sheet. They both drifted to the right hand side and doubled up on the opposition’s left back. They are both very technically gifted players, so full backs were often left confused on who to mark. It was a very effective partnership, and won the Lads plenty of points as we reached the playoffs. We wouldn't have got to the playoffs if it hadn't been for Patrick. Many people remember the joys of that Preston away game on the final day of the season but we wouldn't have had that opportunity if Roberts didn't produce some magic in the game prior against Watford. We were losing 2-1 at home to the Hornets, in additional time, with our playoff hopes fading with every passing second, until Paddy stepped up and curled in an absolute beauty in the 95th minute.

There were some worries that teams would be tempted to come in for Roberts in the summer before the 23/24 season began, but thankfully we managed to keep a hold of him, and then we gave him a new contract in November 2023, keeping at the club until 2026 with the option of a further year. The winger seemed to struggle to adapt without his attacking partner Diallo and registered just two assists in 32 matches across the season. His main competitor for game time, Abdoullah Ba, actually registered more goals and assists (three goals, four assists) and played more games. Injuries certainly played a role in this though, as he suffered a calf injury and thigh injury within a couple months of each other at the start of 2024.

This season, he's massively improved and has already more than tripled his goal contributions with a decent chunk of the season left. The highlight, at the time of writing, would have to be his last minute equaliser at home to Bristol City which allowed us to maintain our unbeaten record at the Stadium of Light. Roberts did have a moment to forget though at Sheffield United away, missing a penalty with the score at 0-0 and that seems to have led to him being taken off of penalties.

04/02/2025

My name is Peter van der Wijst and I live in Oss, in the south of the Netherlands. Together with a friend of mine I am making a book about the shirt of TOP Oss, a football club that plays at the second level in the Netherlands (same as the Championship in England). TOP was founded in 1928. The story goes that the shirt of TOP is based on that of Sunderland. A board member of TOP was on a business trip in England and saw the shirt of Sunderland. He liked it so much that he wanted TOP to play in a red and white striped shirt also. TOP still plays in this beautiful shirt. My question now is why Sunderland AFC plays in a red and white striped shirt. Why these colours in particular? Does anyone of you know that? Then I will include that information in the book. Many thanks in advance!
Greetings,
Peter van der Wijst
the Netherlands

04/02/2025

📸 Photographer is headed to Japan later this month and noticed the Hull game is on at a reasonable hour over there.He’s looking for any fans in the Osaka or Kyoto areas. He would love to hear their stories and maybe do a little photo series on them/their experience of football from afar.

Drop us, or him, a DM if you’re able to help out 🙏🏻

04/02/2025

JAYDEN DANNS: THIS IS ANFIELD

Matt from has given us the lowdown on what to expect from our latest recruit, following Jayden Danns' deadline day arrival.

So, Jayden Danns to Sunderland. Happy with that?
Yeah, I like it a lot. I always think young players are better heading out on loan to a club in a positive mood than one where they're struggling and need the youngster to perform, creating too much pressure.

Of course, it does also mean he might not get as much playing time but the different environment and regular squad inclusion will be worth a lot in terms of experience.

What do Liverpool fans think of Danns?
We like him a lot! His interview after scoring in the FA Cup, in front of The Kop, against Southampton certainly endeared him to the wider fanbase who didn't know about him beforehand.

We also spoke to his Under-18s coach, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, and he also pointed to his "infectious personalty" so that will certainly be something you will notice. He's a good lad who trains hard and everyone likes. It goes a long way in football.

What’s his story so far?
A pretty cool one. Some of your older followers will likely remember his dad, Neil, and he seems to have helped keep his son very grounded and on the right track.

Danns has been at the LFC academy since a very young age and first appeared for the U18s when he was 16, in 2021/22. He was still with the U18s at the start of last season so his rise has been quick, absolutely prolific at U18s level, and his first training with the Liverpool first team was only last January.

Without a back injury last summer I expect he would be further along in his progress, either having been loaned already - Plymouth were linked with him - or been involved more around Liverpool's U21s and first team.

What are his strengths and weaknesses? What type of player is he?
His strength, I'd say, is his instinct in front of goal. Look at how he took his chance against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup last month, plenty of players miss those. Quite a few regular academy watchers have likened him in terms of style of play to Harry Kane.

Do you think he’ll be able to cope with the rigours of the Championship?
It's a tough league, for sure, but he's mentally a strong lad and physically capable too, good at holding the ball up. He had a tough outing in the Champions League against PSV last week but at the same time, that showed he's ready to play first-team football, it's not like he was completely unable to contribute at that elite level. It’s been reported that Liverpool were originally against sending him away on loan, clearly liking what he offers.

Do fans see him as a potential number 9 for Liverpool or is it too early to tell?
It would be nice, but it's always too early. He certainly seems to have all the attributes both as a player as a person. Like any young player, you need opportunity, whether that's someone leaving a club or an injury. Perhaps that arrives this summer if this loan period goals well.

Finally, can you give us a prediction of how you think he’ll get on in the Championship?
A tough one! I always think a loan needs a really positive start, so getting playing time and a goal early would certainly help matters! I expect he'll do well; nothing too incredible but certainly holding his own and contributing positively. If he gets the chances, both in terms of playing time and in front of goal, he'll take them.

04/02/2025

It was a successful trip to Boro for Fynley, who went down on the ALS bus and came back with Riggy’s shirt. It was also his flag which Rigg paraded around the ground!

Apparently he’s the most popular kid in school today 😉

04/02/2025

Good luck at Wycombe, Doddsy. I hope their fans give you free bobble hats like we did...

04/02/2025

Our tartan scarves have been out of stock for a little while but we got them back in yesterday. People have been asking for them so here they are 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

04/02/2025

We made a little video about our Fanshop which is opposite the SOL. Open Monday to Friday 9-5 and matchdays. Pop in and say hi…

04/02/2025

DEADLINE DAY ROUNDUP

Deadline day has been and gone, with some low-key exits and just the one player, Jayden Danns from Liverpool, being announced a day late. Overall the main focus of the window became about trying to keep our star players rather than brining in major reinforcements. A nice position to be in! Here’s a recap of Monday’s transfer events.

BA EXIT
Just after midnight, Sunderland confirmed the loan exit of Abdoullah Ba. The 21-year-old has joined French second division side USL Dunkerque until the end of the season. He played a prominent role in last season, and actually registered more goal contributions than Patrick Roberts with three league goals and four assists, but has not been a part of Regis Le Bris’ plans at all this campaign. He’s not played a single minute of Championship football and needs to find regular game time elsewhere.

Kristjaan Speakman said: “After playing regularly throughout his first two seasons at the Club, first-team opportunities have been limited for Abdoullah this season. We hope this move will be a platform for him to earn regular playing time before he returns to Sunderland at the end of the campaign. We wish him well and look forward to reviewing his progress throughout the next few months.”

JEWISON BENNETTE
Another player who has struggled to break into the Sunderland first team is Jewison Bennette. There was some confusion on Monday regarding a potential loan move which would have taken the Costa Rica international to Charlton, on loan. The late deal was even announced by Sky Sports, but the move did not go through in time. Therefore, Bennette will remain a Sunderland player for the rest of the season and most likely return to the U21s.

CADEN KELLY
Caden Kelly has extended his loan stay with Darlington FC until the end of the 2024-25 season. The 21-year-old initially joined the Quakers in October and has made 18 appearances, scoring three times. The midfielder will now see out the remainder of the campaign with the National League North side.

Academy Manager Robin Nicholls said: "As Caden continues to find his pathway in football, it is great that Darlington wants to keep him until the end of the season. Senior minutes with Darlo will continue to provide him with a different challenge to the PL2; a competition he has played in for several seasons now. We hope it is a positive second half of the campaign for both Caden and Darlington."

NATHAN BISHOP
Bishop has found a new loan home until the end of the season. He began the campaign with high-flying Wycombe Wanderers but has now joined Cambridge United at the bottom of League One. Some commenters on our social media have pointed out that Mike Dodds is set to join Wycombe, and perhaps Bishop’s exit is linked to Dodds’ arrival, however it’s more likely simply because the keeper only made two league appearances for the Chairboys. He has struggled with injuries too, in the first half of the season.

TOMMY WATSON
Don’t worry, Tommy is staying! This saga was one which dragged through deadline day but ultimately never materialised, despite Brighton’s best efforts. Reports on Monday morning claimed that the Seagulls had offered £8.5m up front plus add-ons, but the Black Cats didn’t want to let the winger go without a replacement lined up. They supposedly asked for Simon Adingra on loan in exchange, but this was always going to be an ambitious option for a player who has made 16 Premier League appearances this season.

Rumours then suggested that, after Brighton tabled a much-improved offer for Watson, the 18-year-old actually began travelling down to Brighton for a medical. Fabrizio Romano reported that £13 million was the total package offered to the Black Cats. However, with Sunderland unable to find a replacement so late in the window, the deal collapsed. Kasey McAteer of Leicester City was touted as one replacement but, again, this was always an unlikely move so late on deadline day. It is understood that Sunderland had always planned on retaining the teenager in the event that no replacement could be brought in. Brighton eventually gave up the chase, although it is worth noting Watson only has 18 months left on his current contract.

JAYDEN DANNS
Finally, onto Sunderland’s single incoming in the latter part of the window. It became clear on Monday morning that we were in for the Liverpool striker and soon become frontrunners to land his loan signature. The paperwork was completed before the 11pm deadline but with all the chaos of the Boro game yesterday, Sunderland’s media team were understandably a bit busy but the deal was officially confirmed today. He’s rated highly at Liverpool and looks to be a good prospect – however, the club actually found a back injury in his medical which means he requires a rest period, and he’ll be doing rehab at Liverpool’s training centre.

04/02/2025

JAYDEN DANNS: WHO ARE YOU?

With the reports of us signing Liverpool youngster, Jayden Danns, we spoke to one of the lads at for a closer look at the forward.

With the recent news of us bringing in youngster Jayden Danns, are you happy with him joining Sunderland, as he was linked with other Championship clubs such as Blackburn and Hull?
I'm really pleased he's going to Sunderland for a few reasons. First of all there is a great track record of loan players doing well there, some of whom are now performing at a very high level. I also think it is important, especially for an attacking loan, for the player to go to a club competing at the top of the table, so they are seeing plenty of the ball and there are plenty of opportunities to be involved from an attacking point of view. But finally Danns is a player who seems to thrive on a vibrant crowd and the big stage. So far all of his Liverpool goals have come at Anfield and at the Kop end too. So I think he'll love playing at the Stadium of Light.

Obviously Danns is really young (19), something we’re accustomed to at Sunderland. But for Danns he’s competing with the likes of Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo so would you say a loan is the best option for his career at this stage?
Yeah it's 100% the right move. He has shown his quality but he needs to be playing regular "real" football now. We currently have no injuries so there are six attacking players ahead of him who are full internationals and all expecting minutes. So it is hard to see how he gets games at Liverpool currently, aside from maybe in the FA Cup. Especially as we are challenging for the title.

What type of striker is Danns, is he a pure finisher or does he contribute more to building up play?
He's a big guy so he can play as a target man and bring other people into play. He'd be fine up front on his own as long as he had players around him. It’s in front of goal where he comes alive though.

Can he play in any other positions up top, or is he an out and out striker?
I've only seen him play as a 9 and my instinct is he'd struggle a bit out wide. He's not slow by any means but he's not lightning quick. I guess you could use him as an out-ball out there but I would imagine the idea is to play him predominantly through the middle.

Last season saw Danns breakthrough for Liverpool, scoring twice against Southampton in the Fa Cup, as well as featuring in the League Cup final victory against Chelsea last February. Is it fair to say there are high hopes for Danns?
Yes there are high hopes for him. He seems a mature lad as well as a talented one and I think his dad being a footballer helps in that it looks like the work rate needed has been installed in him. So whilst he has work to do and areas to develop like all young players, you back him to do it. He also looks like one of those players who gets better the higher the level. I think he thinks he belongs on the big stage, which is important if you want to make it at Liverpool. Some players shrink but the best ones grow and he has done that so far.

Do you think he’ll cope with the physicality of the Championship?
I think he'll learn to. Like I've said he's a big guy, so that helps. But he started a Champions League game last week and PSV were very physical with him and you could tell it was a level he wasn't quite used to. He didn't get much from the ref either, but he'll probably get even less in the Championship! But he did pretty well with it. He certainly didn't hide, and one of our goals came from some good work with his back to goal. So yes it is something he will have to adapt to, but the lad he is I back him to do it.

What are your expectations for Danns whilst he’s on loan at Wearside?
In short I expect him to score goals. There are some loans where it's clearly a shop window so Liverpool (or whoever) can get a decent fee from a Championship club and there are some where it's about development for the player to potentially play for Liverpool and I think this is the latter. I think he will approach it in the right way. You don't need to worry about a lad from Liverpool turning up and thinking he is too good for the level. He'll be hungry to succeed. I really hope he does.

Address

ALS, 1 Hodgson's Buildings, Stadium Way
Sunderland
SR51BT

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Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 3pm
	5pm - 6pm

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Videos

We made a little video about our Fanshop which is opposite the SOL. Open Monday to Friday 9-5 and matchdays. Pop in and say hi…

Today we had an emergency bleed control kit installed on the side of ALS, courtesy of the fantastic Connor Brown Trust It is one of many that are placed in and around Sunderland. These can and have saved lives so when we were asked if we’d like one on the side of the shop next to the Stadium Of Light we were happy to oblige.

Last chance to buy THE MACKEM CEWKBEWK before Xmas. We close at 5pm

Thanks to Jill Scott for showing support for The MACKEM CEWKBEWK, which is available from the ALS shop or online. We’ve already raised £20,000 for the Soup Kitchen from sales of the book, let’s keep it going…

Thanks to FRANKIE and The Lake Poets for showing support for The MACKEM CEWKBEWK, which is available from the ALS shop or online. All the proceeds from the book will go to the Soup Kitchen, which provides hot meals and more four times a week to Wearside’s most in need.

Thanks to Wilson Isidor for showing his support for The MACKEM CEWKBEWK, which is available from the ALS shop or online. All the proceeds from the book will go to the Soup Kitchen, which provides hot meals and more four times a week to Wearside’s most in need.

We are open today until 3 so you can pop in for some Xmas goodies 🎄#SAFC

Thanks to Nick Barnes for showing his support for The MACKEM CEWKBEWK, which is available from the ALS shop or online. All the proceeds from the book will go to the Soup Kitchen, which provides hot meals and more four times a week to Wearside’s most in need.

Sunderland 2 Stoke 1

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