English Football League Championship
Stadium of Light, Sunderland
Admission: £25.00 (South Stand)
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 25,475
Match Rating: 3
Not only did I take advantage of a Virgin East Coast rail sale to reduce the cost of a return journey from London to Newcastle ticket to £41.00, but using Nectar points meant all I actually paid was just the princely sum of £1.00. It would be a relief to finally get to tick off the Stadium of Light, which was always likely to be tricky and expensive from the south east corner of England. It looked like it might not have happened today either, when Sunderland AFC announced in the lead up to the match that tickets for this fixture would only be available to those with a previous purchasing history, to try to prevent Newcastle fans floating in the demise of their fierce rivals. But I tried my luck on the club’s ticket portal and was successful, and it was a big relief when the tickets arrived in yesterday's post.
After arriving in Newcastle, I immediately made my way to the metro for a 25 minute journey to the Stadium of Light station, which is smartly decorated in the football club’s colours, and then embarked on a further ten minute walk to the stadium itself. Whilst it is another modern bowl stadium, there are some interesting nods to the club's and site's history around the outside. A standalone tall brick building a little distance away from the stadium houses the ticket office, and in front of it is there is large miner's lamp which was “burning” bright inside. A statue of Bob Stokoe is positioned close to one corner of the stadium. The side with the main entrance is by far the most attractive side, with gates featuring the club’s logo, and to one side a large wheel is positioned, in tribute to the colliery that was previously on the site. Once inside, the stadium has wraparound seating, with three tiers along one length and behind one goal - with away fans given a small section in one corner of the top tier – whilst the other two tiers are two tiered. As would be expected, views are excellent and unobstructed, with good incline between rows and sufficient legroom. The programme was fairly standard Football League fare, consisting of 68 pages and was interesting to read and was well presented.
This match was most likely to be the battle of the wooden spoon, with the loser virtually consigned to relegation and even any winner today would most likely join them. No great surprise to see Burton Albion, who are doing astonishingly well just to be in the Championship for their second season, second bottom and five points adrift of safety with three league games left to play. They surprisingly beat Derby 3-1 at home last Saturday, but previously had picked up just three points from three draws from their previous nine games. Arguably more of a surprise is to see Sunderland rock bottom, a point adrift of Burton, so six points adrift of safety. Appointing the successful Wales manager Chris Coleman certainly hasn’t reinvigorated the club, picking up just 12 points from 18 games since the turn of the year. When the two teams met in late November, Sunderland won 0-2 thanks to two late goals.
On a warm afternoon under clear blue skies, this match followed a fairly predictable pattern of being low on quality, with both teams far too readily giving away possession, although Sunderland were always in the slight ascendancy. They managed to score the crucial opening goal on 34 minutes after Ashley Fletcher ran at a couple of defenders into the box before laying the ball off to Paddy McNair just outside the area and he struck a low, first-time shot which went past the keeper. Shortly after, the visitors had a great chance to equalise when the ball fell to an unmarked Joe Sbarra at the back post, but he scuffed his first time shot wide. But generally, it was surprising a rather lethargic performance from the visitors in the first half, and Sunderland deserved their narrow lead at the break.
Burton certainly upper their game after the break, but rarely carried much of a threat nor looked likely to get back on level terms, although they did make the home keeper work more. On 73 minutes they brought on Darren Bent. As a Charlton fan, I have great memories of his goalscoring record, and of him being a general nice guy who left on positive terms when we were relegated from the Premiership. Sunderland fans certainly do not hold those same feelings following his spell at their club as he was loudly booed and abused before and after he came on. So little surprise that he was the one who got Burton back on level terms on 86 minutes. After a little scramble in the box, the ball was cleared out only as far as Hope Akpan just outside the area, and he took a touch before firing in a shot from the edge of the area which the home keeper Luke Steele could only party into the air, allowing Bent to nod the ball just out of the keeper’s reach and into the net. Sunderland then came close to retaking the lead when a free kick from the left was headed on by John O'Shea, but the ball came back off the crossbar. But it was Burton who took the lead in the second minute of added on time. Ben Turner swung in a cross from the left wing and club record signing Liam Boyce, making only his second appearance after being injured soon after his arrival last summer, headed the ball just past the keeper’s clutches and inside the far post. But the drama certainty didn’t end there, as Sunderland bundled the ball into the net six minutes into added on time. The Burton defenders rushed over to the linesman claiming handball by Fletcher, and when the linesman called the referee over, the goal was disallowed. Video replays showed this to be the correct decision, and the final whistle blew shortly afterwards.
So, a crucial result that gives Burton real hope of staying up – next Saturday, they play Bolton, the team immediately above the relegation zone and whom they now trail by just two points, although Barnsley, between the two clubs and on the same points tally as Burton, have a game in hand on both. As for Sunderland, this result confirmed back to back relegations, from the Premier League last season to League One next, and one wonders whether Chris Coleman must be ruing giving up the Wales national team job last autumn for the poisoned chalice at a club that has appeared in terminal decline for some time now. But with a change of ownership to come, their time will come again no doubt.
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