Page 15 - 358264 LP231909 A Love Supreme 48pp A5 (Issue 257)

for Peterborough in the last minute in front of the Sunderland fans. Everyone’s heart dropped. This result and a disappointing end to the season meant that it would be the playoffs.
We had already been to Wembley that season for the Checkatrade Trophy Final. On that occasion
we lost on penalties. We knew we couldn’t lose this game. Playing Charlton at Wembley. Some fans having nightmares about 1998, this was a chance for revenge. A packed Wembley with a great atmosphere. What a start we got off to scoring within five minutes.
Then we lost our intensity and aggression, losing 2-1 in the final minutes of the game. The most heart- breaking moment I have had a football fan. Walking out of Wembley nearly in tears, this is what being a proper football fan is.
When my mates tell me they support Arsenal and Manchester United and Liverpool, I know that they don’t get shivers down their spine watching their team play because they aren’t proper football fans. They are followers. They will be Arsenal until they become rubbish. But I am Sunderland til I die.
Unfortunately, that game ended 1-1. As soon as I got home everything about the game was ‘we’. I didn’t refer to anything else but Sunderland, from that day it was we.
Saying you’re a fan of a club and actually being
a fan of the club are two different things. I always remember thinking that I might not fit in with the Sunderland fans. I was a Southerner. I sounded different compared to everyone else. The first time
I went to the Stadium of Light I was nervous and exited. I wasn’t sure if I was meant to be a fan of the red and white army. But when I heard Wise Men Say roar around the sol and I had shivers down my spine, I knew that this was my second home.
In my first season of loving the Black Cats there were many emotions. Massive wins, record
crowds and shock defeats. I remember being at Peterborough away, we knew if we won that game we would probaly get promoted. Max Power scored for us with three minutes to go. The fans went crazy, there were flares on the pitch, everyone thought that was the goal. We were going up. Soon to be disappointment though as Matty Godden scored
ALOVESUPREME
ISSUE257
15
BY WILL MOONEY