Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #411150 in Books
• Published on: 1999-12-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Customer Reviews

Readable and informative
This is a well-written, well-presented history of Sunderland football club (to 2000). The format used is a double page spread for each season, with about a page of description of the season itself, illustrations, and two "side-bars" describing a player's career, a big match or some other relevant aspect. An obvious potential limitation to this format is that every season gets the same attention, whether good or bad, so the book occasionally devoates another double-page spread to a big event such as a cup win or a great player like Len Shackleton.
The writers have also told it from the fans' point-of-view, so "frustration" is a very over-used description of events on the pitch! Despite taking the fans' view, the book also does not pull its punches and describes the bad times as well as the good, such as the financial scandals of 1904 and 1957.
I would have given this five stars if there had been a little more analysis (of tactics, in particular) with maybe some of the less interestsing seasons given a page instead of two. However, if you are a Sunderland fan or not you will find this a readable, engaging introduction to the club.

A Crackin' Reid
This book chronicles the rise to greatness of the defining team of the North-East and profile some of The Black Cats' most enduring legends. Though I'm a Newcastle Utd supporter I take a great deal of pride in the success of all the clubs of the North East and this book has really helped to inform me about the rich history and folklore of our traditional rivals. Thanks to Paul Callaghan's inspiring prose and powerful imagery I now feel much closer to my red and white kin. I now know, for instance, that for every Jackie Milburn there's a Davenport, for each Shearer a Slaven is born.

Across the Tyne, hand-in-hand. United in football, we will stand.......