ALS: SAFC Fanzine

26/10/2025

We win together, we lose together… ❤️

26/10/2025

DOUBTERS SILENCED
BY JACK DODDS

Sunderland’s historic start to our first Premier League season since 2017 has been doubted, discredited and undermined by one constant comment, you haven’t played anyone yet. The triumph over Chelsea, however, has shut down that narrative and proved that this team is a one that can go on to do special things this season, no less than not get relegated with a record-breaking low number, go the entire season win-less, be battered by one of the Premier League giants or, most recently, suffer a 10-0 defeat away at St James in December, as was confidently claimed by Dylan the South Shields Mag on Talk Sport.

To say that we were given a generous run of fixtures to start our season is a fair assessment. We avoided any of the ‘big six’ for our opening six fixtures, started the season with three games against fellow sides backed by the bookies to be relegated, and have been fortunate to play sides at what we could describe as ‘a good time to play them’, such as beating Forest whilst under Ange Postecoglu’s watch, sandwiched between two colossal European fixtures.

On the contrary, some of our team’s greatest achievements so far this season have been unfairly dismissed as not good enough to prove ourselves to our peers, competitors and those assessing our performances in the media.

Crystal Palace had not lost for fourteen consecutive matches (in all competitions) before we travelled to Selhurst Park, including triumphs over Manchester City and Liverpool, to both the FA cup and FA Community Shield. We travelled to Selhurst Park without any fear, battled hard and came away with a point and a clean sheet. Two weeks later, the current Premier League champions went (off the back of spending £400 million plus pounds) and suffered a 2-1 defeat.

Eight days later, a ten-men Sunderland came from behind against Aston Villa to rescue a point, and could have gone on to win the game. The Villans, who reached the quarter finals of the Champions League last season, then went on to win their next not three, not four, but five consecutive games, including victories away in Europe and against Spurs.

Losing away to Man United was really disappointing. Despite being, in my view, still the biggest club in the world, they didn’t have to do anything special to beat us on what was an off-day all-round. Our first opportunity to silence the haters was squandered, which only put much larger emphasis on getting a result away to the blues.

As the game crept toward the ninetieth minute and added time, nerves grew as we slowly got closer to gaining a massive point, which, not only adds to our tally, but completely silences the claim that we haven’t done it against anyone of note, which (as explained above) was a claim without any real substance anyway. Regardless, a draw at Stamford Bridge is a good result for anyone in this league, whether a team’s aim to be to simply stay up, challenge for Europe or win the title.

Despite that, the lads played without fear and consistently threatened the Club World Cup Champions in the latter stages of the game, showing that we were not inferior, that we were there to compete, and that we, too, wanted to win the game. Eventually, we got what we deserved, and in the best way possible. An old fashioned yet cunning long-ball from Lutsharel Geertruida found Brian Brobbey, who used his physique and frame to his advantage to hold the ball whilst waiting for the run of Chemsdine Talbi, before the Moroccan calmly converted his opportunity, right in front of the away end, sending it into a red and white frenzy, before seeing out another historic win away at The Bridge (a ground where we are now prone to an upset).

A draw would have been brilliant. We could proudly added ‘a point away at Chelsea’ to our ever-growing list of responses to the claim that we ‘hadn’t played anyone yet’ or ‘hadn’t done it against any of the big boys’. To win, however, just makes it impossible to argue with the fact that this Sunderland team can give anyone a game, and nobody has the right to roll us over. Fixtures such as ‘Chelsea away’ aren’t ones that we would typically target for three points to take us toward that forty point target that almost guarantees survival, yet we’ve still went there and picked up the victory.

Of course, we’ll experience more off-days between now and the end of May, and, mathematically, the job is far from done; however, we have now silenced the doubters and ended the narrative that we haven’t played against anyone serious yet. We’ve played Chelsea away, played our hearts out, won, and returned to the North East second in the league after nine games. More credit to the lads, more credit to Regis Le Bris, and of course, as always, the travelling fans.

If you can’t get carried away at times like this, we might as well give up. Let’s get carried away man.

26/10/2025

25/10/2025

RLB POST BLUES

Football scientist, Regis Le Bris, was as steady as ever after Sunderland's excellent win at Chelsea. He insists that survival is still the aim, despite the Black Cats now officially being the best club in the world after beating the World Champions...

STAYED IN THE GAME
“It’s a good performance, especially after conceding the early goal. It wasn’t obvious that we would stay in the game, but after about 15 minutes we found the right balance."

TACTICAL SWITCH
"We had good quality on the ball with the extra body in there making four midfielders and we had the ability to defend high when it was possible. But then we could also set a deep block that was really strong, well-connected and hard to beat. That meant we could protect our goal and prevent Chelsea from getting through."

HARD FOUGHT WIN
“I didn’t really change the game plan – that was the way we wanted to build this game – but when you are on the pitch, it’s different. Emotionally, I think it’s sometimes difficult to find the right balance. We still have a really young squad, with limited experience. So, we have to learn from different situations. This one was really positive in the end, but we were right on the edge in the first few minutes.”

SURVIVAL STILL THE AIM
“Exactly the same, 40 points as soon as possible. We need three more points to be even halfway. We know it's important to start well because it can give confidence and belief. We know it can be difficult to break a negative mindset so to start like this is important, and we are very happy for our fans.”

25/10/2025

SOBS V CHELSEA

The Lads took it to The Bridge and produced one of the best away wins of my life. Smash and grab? Mebbe, but it's part of being a damn good football team. Down early, level before halftime, ahead in added time.

Ain't football great?

Yes. Of course it is. Days like today make it so. Put it in the memory bank and savour it at a later date. Or tomorrow. Or whenever, doesn't really matter - just put it somewhere, because it's worth it, it really is.

The big picture is that engineering works on the railway will mean better services in the future. The small picture meant crazy replacement buses that apparently travel at 35mph, and thus no comfy 7:30 departure. Out of bed at half four, aka "nee such time", and away in the dicky dark, with last night's good wishes from Mal the Mag still ringing in my ears. Apparently they (probably just "he") want us to turn Chelsey over to further next season's European jaunt. Hmm - there you go.

The joy of our players coming through the international break unscathed was spoiled by Alderete's bang on the head against Wolves, invoking the mysterious concussion protocol and bringing Reinaldo back into the squad, presumably with instructions to give over with the rugby and curb his temper, which we discussed between Stanmore and Holborn as Bob & co. broke the world record for can consumption.

After defaulting on what's left of our mortgages to pay for some refreshments, we tubed it to Earl's Court in time to catch up with mates and assess the team...

Roefs
Hume Ballard Mukiele Geertruida Reinildo
Xhaka (c) Sadiki
Traore Isidor Le Fee
.. and a bench of Patto, Neil, O'Nien, Brobbey, Mayenda, Talbi, Rigg, Jones, and Masuaku.

The absence of Talbi was a shame, as his pace off the bench has been a problem for oppositions so far - but we've got a squad. A good squad, and that's what it's all about.

Away it went, with us attacking the end away to our fans' right. We looked fairly lively in the opening exchanges, but the home side's quality was scarily evident in their sharp and swift exchanges. None more so than in the case of Man U misfit Garnacho, who shaped and shifted to make space that his parent club couldn't use. Down our right, clip across Roefs, 0-1, only five gone.

Bu**er, and various other swearings, but we could hardly argue that they didn't deserve the lead. However, we obviously took that as a metaphorical hoof up the arse and simply shored up at the back. Previous Sunderland teams might have crumbled at this point, but not Granit's boys. It might have been backs to the wall, but we knew where our backs were and what the wall was made of.

Ballard and Mukiele, that's what, and enough to withstand owt the dancing feet and feigned injury of the prem could throw at us.

Without panicking, we stuck to our patient plan with Xhaka unsurprisingly pulling the strings and Ballard and Mukiele doing their impersonations of Gibraltar and another big rock while setting Hume away a few times. Isidor had one or two chances to run at the home defence, which they didn't like a bit (especially Cucurella hairy fella) and their cross field passing brought them nothing as big Dan simply waited to see what was coming his way then nutted, or carried, it away. As discussed with his marra Mukiele.

The first half might have been - ah, I was going to say all Chelsea, but that's nonsense because part of being a damn good football team is to do what we did in the 48 minutes that were played. So it was after twenty minutes or so that Isidor found space from what is becoming a trademark Nordi long throw, and he plonked it home to send the visiting fans tumbling down the rail standing. Girrruppp!

The rest of the half was a case of us defending while Chelsea passed sideways in honour of former captain Butch Wilkins. Then sideways again, and again - thankfully, there's only so much you can do while not attacking the opposition. Therefore we just stood our ground - it's why we recruited really solid defenders. Hume would tackle a tanker and come out on top, while Big Dan and No-nonsense Nordi showed Guiuiuiihu what he's missing.

By the time the break arrived, we in the stands were more than happy but wondered if we could keep Roefs' net empty.

Hell yes, even if the timepieces in the stadium seemed to have stopped. When we broke, we looked dangerous. When we defended, we looked impregnable.

Le Fee, run himself into the ground, Issy, job done, and Traore (who'd put in a decent shift with anything apparently meaningful coming of it) were given a rest with about 15 to go, giving Rigg, Brobbey (don't, just don't), and Talbi a run out as we sought to hang onto that precious point.

We soaked up whatever Chelsea and their SKA backing could throw at us, meaning that us fans were chowing our fingernails in the hope that we'd could hang on for a deserved point.

Aye, well, Mr Brobbey had other ideas in the six added minutes. Out on the right, he collected a long clearance, held it up nicely as we screamed for him to do just that, then laid it into to path of the onrushing fellow sub Talbi, who clipped it in from the edge of the box without faffing about to control it.

BOOOOOM!

Absolute mayhem in the away end, upstairs and downstairs alike, and by the time we'd settled (sort of, the bus is still bouncing as I try to type) the ref had run out of reasons to add to the six extra, and we celebrated as if we'd won a trophy.

Which we sort of did. We are second in the league, said we are second in the league. What a simply fantastic win, and proof perfect that we're a bloody good Premier League side.

Man of the Match? So many to choose from, but probably for his persistence and his goal, I'll give it to Issy. Please feel free to disagree, as I ain't gonna deny any of them the honour.

GIRRRUPPP!

25/10/2025

What a difference eight years can make

25/10/2025

📸 PICS OF THE DAY

P.S. Scroll to the end, we saved the best til last 😉

25/10/2025

PLAYER RATINGS: CHELSEA
BY THOMAS THORNTON

Sunderland beat the champions of the world by two goals to one on their own patch after going behind within the opening five minutes. Around halfway into the first 45, Wilson Isidor grabbed an equaliser and it looked for a while that we’d be more than happy with just the point. In second half stoppage time however, Brian Brobbey latched onto to a long ball, held it up brilliantly and passed to Chemsdine Talbi. The Moroccan put it home, sparking wild celebrations from the travelling support behind the goal. Here’s how our Lads rated out of ten.

ROBIN ROEFS: 8/10
I think he should have stopped their goal but after that he was brilliant at shot stopping and commanding his box. Six saves in total and one of them close to the break was particularly impressive. Distribution could have been better at times.

TRAI HUME: 8.5/10
He took a little while to adapt to Chelsea but once he did, he was fantastic.

NORDI MUKIELE: 8.5/10
Similar to Hume, did really well once he got used to Chelsea’s players.

DAN BALLARD: 10/10
Ballard didn’t put a foot wrong defensively and almost put us ahead in the opening seconds. He won practically every header available to him.

LUTSHAREL GEERTRUIDA: 9/10
Did really well at the back and put in a fantastic ball to Brobbey that caused the winner.

REINILDO: 9.5/10
Won the ball basically every time he went for it and burst forward on a number of occasions to relieve pressure.

BERTRAND TRAORE: 8/10
Much improved from his performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers. I’d still like him to drive at his opponents more but he held up the ball well, drawing several fouls. Also, he contributed to our first goal after his shot was put in on the rebound.

GRANIT XHAKA: 9/10
Solid in the middle of the park, constantly in communication with his teammates and helped out going forward. He should have passed to Talbi at one point though, rather than taking it on himself.

NOAH SADIKI: 9.5/10
Looked like he was still carrying a knock but played through it. Always there when he was needed and effective with his play.

ENZO LE FEE: 8/10
Probably could have come away with the ball slightly more than he actually did but he played his part today. Could have equalised early on with a free kick that went close.

WILSON ISIDOR: 9/10
He scored so you can’t complain about the performance, he’s done his job. Speaking critically, the Chelsea defenders did seem to have the better of him quite often, but not often enough!

SUBS:
CHEMSDINE TALBI: 9.5/10
Yes he only made eight touches but his off the ball work was brilliant and he scored the winner with a beautiful shot. Could have scored earlier if Xhaka passed to him and he was rewarded with a goal after putting himself into another great position late on.

CHRIS RIGG: 6.5/10
Worked hard but never really got on the end of it. Still, kept them occupied which prevented them from getting up the pitch and scoring.

BRIAN BROBBEY: 9/10
So effective at holding the ball up, brought that physicality which we needed, and that Isidor doesn’t have, to the table. Assisted the winner through this.

25/10/2025

SON OF SOBS: CHELSEA
BY GARY DOBSON

After looking at the international gibberish that is a Premier League comments section, a lot of people had already written us off. Our first real test against one of the big four this afternoon we had to do our talking with our feet… Second in the league!

Omar was rested with a bad head but our defensive depth had looked promising so far. Radged Reinildo was back and Gerty got a start too. Marc Guiu's loan hadn't stuck due to injuries - something I got no joy out of predicting. Chelsea's billions left something to be worried about.

Traore started again over Talbi and took no time in falling over and winning us a free kick which led to a promising cross to big Dan at the back post. We looked promising early on with Gerty being deployed in front of defence as he found Wilson with a promising through ball in the opening minutes. Their fullbacks, whose names sounded like noises you make when you sneeze, only just dealt with it.

This very early hard work was undone by the Blues’ first attack of the afternoon with Garnacho finding the net through Roefs’ legs. Bu**er. This didn't dampen our spirits as Captain Xhaka cooled things in the middle and we held our own well. We conceded successive corners as we threw everyone behind the ball and Chelsea continued to dominate.

Dan Ballard had a crack at being a midfielder and laid off a slick ball to Traore who, instead of falling over, darted a ball across the face of goal past an outstretched Wilson. We two'd and fro'd for the next ten before one of Nordi's trademark long throws was flicked on, Traore took a great first time shot that bobbled before our top scorer found himself at the right place and time again, poking the ball home. 1's a piece. I'd say this put us back in the game, but we'd never looked out of it.

By the half hour mark Chelsea had firmly set up camp in our half, with Sideshow Bob mark 2 flailing around like a rubber mop in the wind. Guiu tested Roefs but he had his number and dealt deftly. Gerty had a bit of mare and allowed them through on goal but their man couldn't find the mark. I'll let Gerty off for now as his new nickname is fun to type - give it a go!

Trai Hume finally met Cockrocha with a Trai Hume Special. I'd been looking forward to their duel all week. When I say 'duel' I mean 'Trai kicking him up in the air. We went in at half time level on shots having made a good account of ourselves and Chelsea having made as many mistakes as we had. A fair reflection and everything to play for.

The second began where we'd left off, with neither side looking to back down. Traore showed all facets of his game by crossing and falling over at the same time! I like him, honest. We fired some trademark throws that bothered the Blues leading to a corner. They countered immediately, Sadiki hesitated and we recovered via a stonking tackle from Enzo. In Noah's defence I think he was watching the run of Garnacho and couldn't quite read the bounce of the ball i.e. not as bad as it looked.

The home fans had a go at singing but were much less vocal than the complete gibberish in SAFC's comments section this morning. Whereas the RAWA...best fans in the land.

Chelsea resorted to diving and drew a foul from the freshly-returned Reinildo who, wanting to avoid any more bookings, promptly cacked himself. Their long-winded set up to the free kick led to naff all aside from wasting everyone's time. The Blues were the first to switch things up with a sub on 60 mins but we had other plans as a great switch of play saw Isidor only stopped at the last minute from being through on goal.

The home side replied with a five-minute period of all out attack. The Rubber Mop tried his antics again and tried to convince everyone he could actually sustain a head injury through his ample mane. While they checked to see if he had any brains left, Chems came on for Traore. For me, Talbi should start every week. Chelsea didn't let it up as we entered the last 20 and threw the kitchen sink at us.

We eventually managed a promising counter. Granit found himself in their box with the ball at his feet. His first touch was excellent but he couldn't make his mind up whether to pass or shoot and he fluffed a good opportunity to square it to Talbi. Mr Brobbey and Riggy came on for Enzo and our goalscorer Issy to add some fresh legs and physicality.

The Blues kept their foot to the floor into the last ten, throwing another two attacking subs on. Another long throw from us was thwarted by the mop again, as he played the ref like a fiddle, undoing our honest hard work.

Six added minutes were announced and the dreary blue home fans began to dribble from their seats. And then...

A long ball was held up calmly by Mr Brobbey, who put the ball on a plate for Talbi. Boom! A cool finish from the teenager showed he was a MorocCAN! 2-1, get in!

We kept our heads throughout and claimed a victory we definitely deserved. Beating the Club World Cup champions means we're the best time in the world, right? Don't worry. I already knew that.

Second in the Premier League! Let's get carried away!

25/10/2025

LFL: CHELSEA
BY IAN MOLE

This will go down as one of our games to be remembered for a very long time. Despite going down to an early Chelsea goal we were by no means cowed and battled on to soon get the equaliser. Once again we put up a very impressive defensive display and remained dangerous on the break. We weren't prepared to settle for a draw and won it in clinical style in added-time. We're second in the league!

BEFORE
We've played some strong sides already but this afternoon's game will be our toughest test so far and if we can get a point from it, I'll be very happy. The loss of Alderete was a big blow but at least Reinildo will be back from suspension and finally we have considerable strength in depth. Chelsea are currently in fifth position, two places above us, but their form has been very similar to ours except that they've scored more and we've conceded less. It'll be interesting to see if Guiu plays some part in the match as he'll no doubt want to show us what we're missing. It's very hard for me to get a ticket for an away game these days so it'll have to be some kind of audio this afternoon. Match prediction: 1-1.

I got the team news an hour and a quarter before kick-off and Reinildo was in for Alderete while Geertruida replaced Rigg, who was on the bench. There were many negative comments online about Traore getting a start over Talbi or Mayenda but Le Bris clearly has his reasons. Guiu was making his first Premier League start for them. I couldn't get any commentary via the club site but managed to get the game on BBC 5 Live.

THE MATCH
I was glad to hear we were playing in red and white. We made a bright start with Ballard having a headed attempt after a minute or so but we were soon behind when in their first real attack Garnacho shot home from an angle on the left through Roefs' legs. It was cruel, as we had started so well.

Shortly afterwards Cucurella missed a good chance but we were fighting back and weren't cowed. We were awarded a free-kick about eight yards outside their box and when Le Fee took it, his effort wasn't far wide of the post. Chelsea won the first corner in the twelfth minute and after a couple of blocked shots it resulted in a second corner. Garnacho shot into the side-netting and the pressure was relieved, for a short while at least. Cucurella and Neto were sounding a constant threat down the wings. In the twenty-second Mukiele took one of his characteristic long throws to the near post and in a crowded box Isidor poked it over the line to put us level. There was a great roar from our fans and their subsequent singing was coming over loud and clear. One all, game on.

On the half-hour a great pass from Xhaka reached Isidor and his shot was narrowly wide. Our shouts for a corner went unheeded. The commentators were full of praise for us. With around ten minutes to the break it was sounding like an even enough contest and we'd done well to battle back after conceding that early goal.

Chelsea won another corner in the thirty-sixth but it came to nothing except for Pedro rolling around clutching his head. Another Chelsea corner soon followed and Roefs was there to block a Garnacho shot. In the dying minutes Traore had a rather weak shot on target and Sanchez in goal dealt with it comfortably. Roefs palmed a powerful shot over the bar for another Chelsea corner, which we managed to get clear. Three minutes of added-time were announced and it remained 1-1 as the whistle went. It sounded like a very competitive game.

As we kicked off again there were no changes to either side and we were playing towards our fans in the Shed End. We started the half strongly and were doing most of the pressing. We won our first corner but it only led to a break by Chelsea that was nipped in the bud by a Le Fee tackle. Chelsea made the first change of the game in the fifty-eighth when they brought on Estevao for Garnacho. Estevao is apparently a real whizz-kid so I knew he'd be a handful. He soon won a corner when his shot was deflected and we finally got the ball away. Cucurella went down in our box when Roefs was going for the ball and connected with him, but the incident passed unpunished. Talbi came on for Traore and with twenty-five minutes to go things were feeling good. I could still hear our fans singing loudly.

With twenty minutes on the clock a point or maybe more was looking quite possible but the tension was mounting. The Chelsea fans must also have been getting edgy as they no doubt expected three points today. Roefs made a couple of comfortable saves from Fernandez. Commentator Steve Sidwell said a couple of our players were starting to look quite tired so I expected further changes before too long. Acheampong made a great block from a Xhaka shot while the latter really should have passed instead. We brought on Rigg and Brobbey for Le Fee and Isidor in the seventy-fifth. With ten minutes left I had to get up and start pacing around. We were going for the winner, as of course were Chelsea, so it was going to be a barnstorming finish. We were awarded a free-kick in a decent spot with two minutes left and though nothing came of it, I was happy enough with the ball being up their end. Chelsea won a corner but couldn't make anything of it.

Six minutes of added-time were announced and overall I wished there wasn't as much. I was wrong to wish that, as in the ninety-third Brobbey did very well to set up Talbi and he slotted it into the corner for a perfect finish. There was a mass exodus from the home fans but a great roar from our lot. It ended 2-1, with our fans going berserk.