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Roker Report

Sunderland AFC's foremost blog and Podcast!

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On This Day (26 April 1897): A Last Hurrah For Campbell And Co!  

Sunderland AFC spent most of its early years enjoying success, so 1896/1897 was something of a shock, with the team taking things to the wire before avoiding what would’ve been a humiliating relegation.   Football League champions in 1891/1892, 1892/1893 and 1894/1895, our reign of dominance had ended abruptly with a sharp drop off in […]

Haway The Podcast | MATCH REACTION | SAFC 0-5 Forest | What Just Happened?!

Erm… can we just put what we just saw into words? Well, Martin and Brett join Chris to try and put some words together to describe what happened at the Stadium of Light as the Lads go down 5-0 at home! On today’s show… All this and more! Get subscribed to Haway The Podcast so […]

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Matchday Musings: A Chastening Evening For Sunderland

I hate the automation; the robotic and soulless droid-like phrasing, but AI was invented to write about games like that — simply to spare Sunderland-supporting writers from reliving the sheer gutlessness of it all. Régis Le Bris’ sides have never heard of the word “capitulation”. Indeed, “There isn’t a direct translation for it in French,” […]

Talking Points: A Bad Night As Forest Crush Sunderland 0-5

Sunderland collapse in the most brutal fashion imaginable Wow. Wow. And wow again. Amid a season marked by ferociously committed performances both at home and away, with Sunderland’s players showing the kind of never-say-die spirit and will to win that had carried them very firmly into the shakeup for European football, it all came crashing […]

2 Up, 2 Down: Sunderland Stunned By Five-Goal Forest

John Wilson says… A decent-ish start I actually think we looked quite impressive in the first ten to fifteen minutes. Everyone was up for it and the crowd was still behind the lads at 0-2 down, but it all went pear-shaped in that first half. A bit of resilience after the break We came out […]

On This Day (25 April 1979): Sunderland Blitz The Blades!

One of many “What if?” endings to a Sunderland season. Yet again, the Lads did all they could to secure promotion to the top division after just missing out the season before, absolutely blitzing Sheffield United by six goals to two at Roker Park to move top of the table with only two games left. […]

Andy’s Player Ratings: Sunderland 0-5 Nottingham Forest – Thrashed By Forest

Robin Roefs: 3/10 Made a couple of routine saves in the first half but handing Forest the second goal was a killer, decision making with the ball at his feet seemed to be a bit suspect with the visitors cutting off passing lanes. Nordi Mukiele: 4/10 Went missing at the back post a couple of […]

Haway The Podcast | MATCHDAY PREVIEW | SAFC v Forest | Huge Game At The SoL!

There’s so much on the line tonight for both Sunderland and Nottingham Forest, with each club fighting for different reasons – join us as we look ahead to this massive game in the Premier League! On today’s show… All this and more! Get subscribed to Haway The Podcast so you never miss another episode of […]

Starting XI: Will Regis Make Changes As We Attempt To Fell Forest?

Sunday’s game at Villa was a strange affair on a number of levels, as we were the opposite of what we’ve been for much of the season – we started halves slowly, looked defensively shaky, and scored three goals away from home – and should have had four. It’ll be interesting therefore to see how we […]

Score Predictions: Sunderland Vs Forest — Bounce Back Time For The Lads?

Martin Wanless predicts… Score prediction: Sunderland 3 Forest 2 Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Habib Diarra Since we secured our Premier League position for next season it’s pretty clear we’ve let the shackles off a little — however on Sunday we looked pretty easy to break through at times and we need to make sure we don’t […]

On This Day (24 April 2010): Sunderland’s Victory Relegates Hull City

During a game that had a real end-of-season feel to it, Sunderland won 0-1 at Hullthrough a Darren Bent goal, effectively relegating the home side. This win brought Steve Bruce’s men up to tenth in the table in what was becoming a reasonably decent first season at the club for Sunderland’s new manager — despite […]

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Match Preview: Sunderland v Nottingham Forest — Welcome To Sunderland!

Friday 24th April 2026 Sunderland v Nottingham Forest – Premier League Stadium of Light – Kick-Off: 20:00 Tickets & Match Coverage Tickets: Tickets are available. TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available on Sky Sports. Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online) Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of […]

Fan Focus: What Can Sunderland Expect From Nottingham Forest Tonight?

Nottingham Forest started the season with Nuno Espirito Santo in charge after a European finish last season. What were the key factors behind his dismissal? By all reports he fell out with Edu, the group’s Global Head of Football (big title I know) and it got to the point where one had to go and […]

What Next For Granit Xhaka?

Granit Xhaka’s move to Sunderland raised eyebrows when it was announced, as a top class international joining a newly-promoted side with genuine relegation concerns seemed unlikely. It’s fair to say it’s worked out well, but what does the future hold? ​First, the positives, and Xhaka’s on-field performance. There are two elements to that: his own […]

Fan Letters: Has David Bruce’s Departure Changed The Dynamic?

Want to have your say on all things Sunderland? Drop us a line and we’ll publish your views! [email protected] Dear Roker Report, Is the club’s outlook towards the fans changing with the departure of David Bruce?  Let me be clear: the club and everyone around have been brilliant and there’s a close connection with fans. […]

Le Bris Must Stay – The Known Knowns

To paraphrase the late warmonger Donald Rumsfeld, there are known knowns, there are known unknowns, and there are unknown unknowns. Over 20 years on, confusion still reigns among the British public as to what the United States Secretary of Defense actually meant (though apparently it is common parlance in the corridors of US power). The […]

Talking Tactics: Aston Villa (A) —“Close, But No Cigar!”

Sunderland travelled to Villa Park on Sunday lunchtime with the race for European football firmly on following victory over a wounded Spurs side, but with Aston Villa fresh off a Europa League beatdown of Bologna in midweek, Régis Le Bris faced a tough ask to take points back to Wearside. Even though we twice came […]

Beer, Baccy & Bovril!

It was mentioned by one of our distant fans on the Haway The Podcast episode from the International Fans’ Day, that when you’re an ‘exile’, you often don’t have anyone to chat with ‘all things Sunderland’. There could be some exciting game to discuss, or a massive moan that you need to get off your […]

On This Day (22nd April 1935): Vintage Performance From Remarkable Urwin

Preston North End were the opposition in this 1934/35 season. Jimmy Connor had picked up an injury in the game at Birmingham just two days earlier in the hectic Easter programme of three games in four days and with the ‘mighty atom’ Patsy Gallacher absent through suspension, the call went out for replacements. George Goddard […]