Football – she is a cruel mistress. Especially when her dress of choice is stripes of red and white. Supporting Sunderland, all my life, has given me several sky-reaching highs, and many more soul-destroying lows.
So why is it that we attach ourselves to a club, and return week after week to sing our songs of devotion to its team, without any (even vague) guarantee of a return bus ride home with a smile on our face and joy in our heart? Oh how many times (573, at last count) I have glanced across to the other side of the dinner table with envy, watching the fans of Liverpool and Chelsea, and the like, feasting on what seems like a banquet of constant success and overflowing silverware.