Page 42 - 364645 LP243221 A Love Supreme 48pp A5 Aug22

SPIRIT OF 37
The Spirit of 37 was set up shortly before the Sheffield Wednesday play-off game. In the space of a week, they had turned around the display in the Roker End. They had placards printed, a 30m banner created, a social media account and a Crowdfunder which SAFC fans contributed to raise the funds for it.
Volunteers volunteered and set the whole thing up to produce a display that contributed to the best atmosphere the Stadium of Light had witnessed for years. Their name comes from the area of the ground they sit in, Block U37 in the Roker End but has a nice resonance with our first FA Cup win,
a harmonious coincidence. What is the principle behind SO37?
“First and foremost, we want to create an atmosphere at the SOL that drives the team on. Sometimes it makes a big difference and we like to think that it gave us the edge against Sheff Wed, but we have principles a bit deeper than that. We’re really keen on recognising the history of the club, you get all age groups within the stadium and if we can bring back memories of certain players or certain times then it brings fans into it a bit.
That history is really important because it lets the younger fans know that we are this great club with a rich past.”
“There are kids coming to the Stadium now who have only ever seen us in League One, they might not realise that we’ve won six top flight league titles. We’re one of the most successful clubs in England and we should have pride in that. That’s kind of where the Passion Pride Wearside banner comes from. The crowd felt a bit limp and you could hear away fans singing “Is this a library?” or whatever. There was no real response to that and the pride seemed to have seeped out of the fans a little. We’re also really keen to recognise the history of the city, become proud of where we have come from.
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