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at the end of January we then conceded only three league goals between then and securing promotion against Bury in April. We even got to the League Cup semi-final. We were in the wrong division and a football season, week in and week out, has never felt that good.
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was running straight at me, like the whole thing, the ups and downs of supporting Sunderland all of those years was building to that moment when Kevin Phillips scored against Chelsea just for me and then ran towards me in a completely empty stadium and wait, there were other people there? I don’t remember that. It felt like
it was just me. To top it off he and Quinny got another each before half time. It was magical.
6: BRAD
In every one of the moments above I can imagine the crowds, the noise, the spirit between us all, the thing that binds us together as a club, the fans. And, although it might seem odd to include him in my seven happy Sunderland moments, he couldn’t not be. There are some obvious facts about Bradley Lowery and his painfully short life that are as far from ‘happy’ thoughts as you can get. But when I think of him, I never think
of them. I think of the smile. I think of the relationship with Jermain Defoe, I think of him walking out and being carried out at football matches at the Stadium of Light and at Everton and Wembley. He was pure
5: CHELSEA 99
The following season we proved the point by finishing seventh. Nothing was ever going to match the previous season’s feelings but there was one game, one half of a game, where everything was perfect. The best way I can demonstrate just how happy I was in the first half of the Chelsea game at the Stadium of Light was that I rang my mam at half time. This was unheard of behaviour. She will still tell you today that I just kept saying ‘look at Ceefax, look at Ceefax’. And if she did, she’d have seen Sunderland 4, Chelsea 0. It was the most dominant
half of football I’ve ever seen. It started as I arrived seconds late at my seat having bought a cup of tea. I only remember the tea because, when Quinn scored,
it went everywhere. At that point I’d have happily
taken a 1-0 win, keep it tight against Zola. But then the moment that is probably my happiest of all football related moments. The man we simply call SuperKev hit a volley from 84 miles out into the top corner with what I can only describe as proper swazz. So why is this more special than Defoe against Newcastle? Or Richardson against Newcastle? Or Gabbiadini against Newcastle? Or, erm, Carteron against Newcastle? Because he celebrated with me. Or rather he would have if his
positivity and the happiness he had in his life spread through all of us. And not just Sunderland fans. Look
at the picture of him with the Chelsea team, he made Diego Costa smile. Not a photograph smile, a genuine heartfelt smile. He had such an impact on them that he was invited to their trophy celebration. Bradley brought happiness to all of us and his legacy continues to do so. He was one of us and he reminded us of why none of the football actually matters, just the community and the people within it.
7 THE LADS
When a local lad plays for Sunderland it means more for the reasons I’ve just said about Bradley. Dan Neil’s goals this season mean more than other players, it’s a (very
knee slide had carried on for another few metres. He
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