Following on from part one, here is more information on what we can expect as we travel up and down the country in the Championship - feels good to say that finally. Championship.
Hull
Apart from Boro, this is our shortest trip, so expect a sell-out away following of around 2,500. Our last visit, just over a year ago, saw Leadbitter and Jordan Jones score in a 2-2 draw – but none of us were there. In September 2017 we were in attendance for a Championship game that saw James Vaughan give us the lead only for David Meyler to grab a late leveller – and the Tigers also featured Seb Larsson and Fraizer Campbell. Since then they’ve nicked George Honeyman as well, and think the world of Steve Bruce. Aint football funny? The stadium is a fairly happy hunting ground for us, as we’ve won four, drawn three, and lost just the once there in the league – we’ll forget THAT FA Cup game in 2014 when Meyler was again on target as a weird Sunderland line-up lost 3-0. Ustarsi (even if he did save a penalty), Scocco, Dossena – need I say more? We’ll have our own Pitch Side bar next to the away turnstiles but it stops serving well before the game, so there’s the Park View pub opposite the huge car park and the Walton Street Club just down the road.
Luton
Kenilworth Road - they’ve been talking about replacing it for years, but nothing’s happened – hence the rather dilapidated state of the place. Our last visit, four years ago, marked the debut of Max Power and Jack Baldwin, ending 1-1 thanks to Maja’s goal, but our most memorable day here was Keano’s promotion party 5-0 win in 2007. 1,000 fans will enter through a terrace of houses, and have a nice view of locals’ bathrooms as they do so. Lack of space means cramped food and drink options inside, and precious little nearby. There’s a Spoons in the town centre, which is about it for visiting fans apart from the Beech Hill Conservative Club nearer the ground. Stop off somewhere en route. Fun fact – sub Milton Nunez ran through a defender’s legs in a League Cup win on September 26th 2000 that also featured Brendan McGill’s only 45 minutes in a Sunderland shirt.
Boro
Not really an awayday as it’s only half an hour down the road and you wouldn’t want to visit the town anyway, so do your pre-match near home then go to the match. There’ll be a decent atmosphere as the Smoggies treat it as a derby, they have a fondness for flares (pyrotechnics as well as trousers), and might well feature McNair and Watmore. Expect strict policing, but there’s a decent-sized concourse and they’ll sell beer in Boro Buckets – that’s a two-pint pot to you and me. Our record there since it opened in 1995 is mixed, with the Dazzler’s only Sunderland goal, from a Chris Waddle free-kick, claiming victory on our first visit in 1997 and a deluge of biblical proportions forcing the abandonment of our last game there, a pre-season friendly in 2018. Competitively, a 2-0 defeat in the FA Cup in January 2018 (our last foray into the third round) featured Leadbitter and Downing in the Boro side. Won three, drew four, lost seven, home in time for tea.
Millwall
We all know their reputation, and although it’s nowhere near as dodgy as it used to be, expect a steady stream of ejections from the home section nearest us. Up to 4,000 seats are available to visiting fans, so there’ll be a decent atmosphere anyway. The police are obviously aware of what goes on, and arrivals by coach will be well looked after on the way to the ground, but there’s nowhere suitable for away fans to socialise nearby anyway. The best option, if you’re going by train, is to spend a while near London Bridge and Borough Market before heading east.
Our last visit, in March 2018, saw one of Brian Oviedo’s two Sunderland goals give us the lead in a game that ended 1-1. Prior to that, we have to go back to Friday (aye, Friday) November 5th 2004 when Mark Lynch produced one of the worst displays by a Sunderland fullback, giving a penalty to Denis Wise as we lost 2-0.
Norwich
Who doesn’t love a trip to Norwich, despite it seeming to be at the end of one of England’s longest single-track roads? Carrow Road was upgraded a few seasons ago and we should get around 2,500 tickets for the East end of the South stand. The home fans to our right are always a noisy bunch, making for a good atmosphere – they’re pretty approachable outside the ground, but once inside they become more partisan than most. The station isn’t that far away, but it’s still a rush to get a train back to the North East post-match. Most pubs in the city, which are walkable, allow visiting fans, and closer to the ground is the Coach and Horses, where we sat with the same home fans two seasons running. There’s also a decent concourse area for visitors. Our last visit came shortly after our relegation from the Prem in 2017, and a comprehensive 3-1 victory - with Grabban scoring for both teams – had us dreaming of a swift return. Dreams don’t all come true.
Preston North End
Another trip to Lancashire takes us to Alex Neil’s former employers for the first time since a 2-2 draw in our last Championship season, 2017-18. Goals from Honeyman and McGeady came either side of the home team’s two, and keeper Jason Steele was booked for time wasting ten minutes after our second – with 22 minutes remaining. Managers that day were Alex Neil and Simon Grayson, who they’d allowed to join us three months earlier - some things are not worthy of forgiveness. Another reasonably short trip over the Pennines, Deepdale, PNE’s home for almost 150 years, might offer us all 6,000 seats in the Bill Shankly end, where there’s a decent concourse where the bars remain open all game – steady, now! –and offer the local delicacy of Butter Pie. Little exists near the ground in terms of hostelries, with the White Hart being nearly a mile away and town centre pubs being almost exclusively Home Fans Only.
Queens Park Rangers
Our last visit to Loftus Road was a memorable one in September 2021, as we kept a League Cup tie goalless, using five subs in the process, then won the penalty shoot-out. There were some scenes in the Sindercome Social Club after that one, but our last league visit saw a 1-0 defeat with the home side featuring Josh Scowen, Joel Lynch, and Nedum Onuoha with Jason Steele getting himself sent off and this subjecting us to forty minutes of Lee Camp. Perhaps our most memorable goal there was SKP’s comeback volley in early 1998 – with Bally getting sent off on half-time and Quinny equalising in the last minute. The School Road end is tiny, and we should get both upstairs and downstairs (about 2,500 seats) and be right on top of the action. It can take an age to get in as they’re a bit strict with searches etc. And the concourse is....tiny. Shepherd’s Bush Green and tube is a ten minute walk, where the pubs are hitty-missy for away fans, apart from the aforementioned Sindercombe, which isn’t a club and was exclusively for away fans last time – but booking a table is recommended.
Reading
Our last visit to the Madejski (sorry, Select Car Leasing) Stadium was in our last Championship season, when goals from Paddy McNair and Catts earned us a 2-2 draw – with Mannone in goal for the home side. We’ve only won once at this relatively new ground (opened 1998) and that was in 2004 with two goals in one second half minute from Darren Byfield and Tommy Smith – and Jeff Whitley got sent off. Up to 4,300 of us will be in the South Stand, and the concourse is bigger than average – they’ll even let you out for a tab at half time. The out of town location means that there’s nothing in the vicinity unless you like factory units, but there might be a fanzone outside the East Stand. The town is a couple of miles away, and there are a few pubs near the station that allow away fans, so that’s your best bet if using the train.
ALS we will be running buses to EVERY away game, taking you there and back from the SoL like we have done for years. Our buses can be booked here.
