Roker Report
Sunderland AFC's foremost blog and Podcast!
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On This Day (8th July 1964): The Day Alan ‘Bomber’ Brown Walked Away from Sunderland
It was described as “the biggest shock of the soccer season”. Sunderland were just forty-five days away from their First Division opener when, apparently out of the blue, the ‘Bomber’ duly dropped the bombshell that he was resigning to take up the manager’s post at Sheffield Wednesday. Brown had taken over following the ‘Mr Smith’ […]
The Sunderland Transfer ‘Saga’ That Never Was?
Football in the social media era. Mad, isn’t it? Clips galore, analysis of games and individual performances from every possible angle, more statistics than you can shake a stick at, memes, inter-club banter, AI slop for those who need or desire it, and of course, transfer rumours. Endless, unceasing transfer rumours. It’s great if you […]
Where Are Sunderland’s 2021-22 Promotion Heroes Now?
The 2026-27 campaign will mark five years since that historic day at Wembley in May 2022, and just look at how far we have come as not just a football club, but a city as well. Today, I will take a look at the 18-man squad that won us promotion back to the EFL Championship […]
Haway The Podcast | ROOM 101 – Pt. 1 | Do You Hate Spidercam & People Tidying Up!
We’re back with another Room 101 and in part one we deal with Andrew & James’ World Cup choices! On today’s show… All this and more! Get subscribed to Haway The Podcast so you never miss another episode of our free daily show. Want to get in touch with us? You can drop us an […]
On This Day (7th July 1986): Steve Dealt In At Roker With New Post
Although managing director Lawrie McMenemy was quoted on this day as saying “the transfer market is dead” there was still plenty of other activity going on at Roker Park, and whilst the playing staff wasn’t about to be added to there was the arrival of a key member of back-room staff on the 7th of […]
Fan Letters: Romano Frustration… And A New Isidor Chant?
Want to have your say on all things Sunderland? Drop us a line and we’ll publish your views! [email protected] Dear Roker Report, I cannot believe how many people believe the rubbish that Fabrizio Romano comes out with. Do people not know that he’s more of an influencer than a journalist? He makes a story up […]
Sizing Up Sunderland’s 2026 Pre-Season Opposition
York City The Lads will kick off their pre-season campaign ahead of the 2026-27 season on 18 July against National League champions York City at the LNER Stadium. The two sides have faced each other a total of 14 times, with the first meeting resulting in a 0-0 draw in the FA Cup in January […]
Patience Not Panic: Why Sunderland Fans Should Remain Calm This Summer
I’ve seen rumblings of frustration on social media recently regarding Sunderland’s lack of incomings so far in this transfer window, but is it justified? To put it bluntly, no, in my opinion. The lads are due back in for pre – season training on Wednesday, with seven weeks and a full pre – season schedule […]
Can Stoicism Help Sunderland Fans Survive the Season?
“You need to be more stoic!” That was Mrs L’s verdict after listening to my final deliberation about the Xhaka saga. Whilst it appears to be over, disappointingly it had triggered dark and negative thinking. I don’t like it. Mrs L is probably right then. I need to be more “stoic”. But what does that […]
Editorial: Eliezer Mayenda — A Farewell To A Sunderland Favourite
I read Eliezer Mayenda’s departure post on social media, and I’m not ashamed to admit that it had me feeling a little bit emotional. I knew he was probably going to leave this summer, but I didn’t expect it to hit me like that, reading as he poured out his heart and soul to the […]
Eliezer Mayenda’s Departure: Tough But Necessary For Sunderland?
First and foremost, it’s nigh on impossible to argue against the economic logic of Eliezer Mayenda’s sale to Rennes. A fee rumoured to be north of £20 million for a player that cost around £800,000 when we signed him from Sochaux in 2023 represents another piece of Sunderland transfer wizardry and even once sell-on clauses […]
On This Day (6th July 1995): Reidy Bags Pop & Hints At Pulling On His Boots
He’d only been in the job for around three months, but already Peter Reid had made his mark as the new Sunderland manager. The ex-Everton midfielder arrived at Roker when it looked inevitable we’d drop into the third tier for the second time. Still, in seven games he turned around our immediate fortunes as well […]
Who Should Replace Dennis Cirkin at Left-Back?
I was personally really sad to see Dennis Cirkin leave this summer. Not only because he’d been with us on our journey to European football, but because whenever he seemed to be looking like he could go to the next level, an injury would find its way to him. After the 24-year-old finally hung up […]
Haway The Podcast | NEWS ROUNDUP | Eliezer Mayenda’s Emotional Sunderland Goodbye
Good morning everyone and welcome along to your Monday morning episode of Haway The Podcast – and today, we’re wagging our chins at all of the latest news coming out of Sunderland AFC! Join Gav, Jonny and Andrew as they chew the fat over: All this and more! Get subscribed to Haway The Podcast so […]
Haway The Q&A | World Cup Qs, 5-A-Side Teams, Lasses and More!
Welcome to our latest Q&A pod, and despite it being the close season there’s always tonnes to talk about. On today’s show, Martin, Andrew and Ant delve into our virtual mailbag, and attempt to answer your questions. Remember if you have a question for our next Q&A episode, email [email protected]. This episode was recorded before […]
With Eliezer Mayenda’s Exit Due To Be Confirmed, We Say Thanks To The Big Man!
So, it’s almost official. The lad that hates Sam Fender and plays up front for Sunderland is on his way out, and what an impact he’s had in the three seasons he has been with us. Eliezer Mayenda arrived from Sochaux for 1 million pounds in the ill-fated 2023/2024 season, where Kristjaan Speakman and company […]
Fan Letters: Granit Xhaka’s Future: A Situation Resolved?
Want to have your say on all things Sunderland? Drop us a line and we’ll publish your views! [email protected] Dear Roker Report, On and off the pitch, he did everything perfectly. A man who seemed to understand exactly what Sunderland were about and the upward journey we are on. Would we have achieved a seventh-place […]
On This Day (5th July 2000): Reid Considers The Daz Challenge!
After a successful return to the top flight, Sunderland were preparing themselves for some serious transfer interest during the summer of 2000. Peter Reid’s side had just finished an impressive seventh in the table and had been receiving admiring glances throughout the Stadium of Light’s first season of Premiership action. It felt inevitable that rivals […]
Haway The Podcast | INTERVIEW | We Speak To Patrick Roberts!
It’s a select group of players who have won at Wembley twice in a Sunderland shirt, but Patrick Roberts is one of them! And he takes his time out from pre-season training at Birmingham City to talk to us about his time Sunderland! On today’s show… All this and more! Get subscribed to Haway The […]
Granit Xhaka Reaffirms His Commitment To Sunderland — Reaction!
Dean McDonald says… Huge news. In my opinion, he needs to make a statement after the World Cup to try and mend some bridges but a couple of good performances and the majority will forget all about it. It also goes to show the influence that people like Fabrizio Romano have. If talks with Xhaka […]
Goodbye, Big Man!
Eliezer Mayenda joined Sunderland during a summer window where a lot of pressure was put on the club to bring in strikers. Ross Stewart was injured, and many goals in the 2022/2023 season came via our midfielders and wingers. Mayenda was one of four strikers brought in during the summer of 2023 and with the […]
On This Day (4th July 1954): Former Sunderland Manager Malcolm Crosby Was Born
American Independence Day is also the birth date of one of our more intriguing past managers – Mr Malcolm Crosby. He was born in South Shields, and played most of his football at Aldershot, making 257 appearances for them between 1971 and 1980, scoring 21 goals. He moved to York City in 1981 and was […]
Haway The Podcast | REACTION | Granit Xhaka To STAY At Sunderland – But Mayenda Set To Leave
It’s never dull at Sunderland, is it? The short-lived “will he, won’t he?” Granit Xhaka appears to be over as it has been confirmed that our captain will STAY on Wearside following interest from Chelsea, so the Lads jumped on shortly after the news broke for a chinwag! On today’s show: All this and more! […]
Haway The Podcast | CHIT-CHAT | We Catch Up With Andy Sixsmith!
To our terrible shame it’s the first time in 2026 we’ve caught up with Andy Sixsmith! After we apologise and Chris butchers his name, we get into what it was like behind the scenes as Sunderland closed on the Europa League, and his catch up with Florent Ghisolfi a couple of weeks ago! On today’s […]
On This Day (3 July 1999) Reid Makes Bould Move To Get Top Flight Experience
Sunderland had stormed to promotion in 1998-99, amassing 105 points and blowing away all comers. It had been a season built on a solid defence – with young keeper Thomas Sorensen, enjoying a debut season in English football, protected well by Chris Makin, Paul Butler, Andy Melville and Michael Gray – as well as a blistering […]
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