Skip to main content

Roker Report

Sunderland AFC's foremost blog and Podcast!

Total reads

4,770

This week

0

Rank

#31 of 466

Published

2,340 posts

Active 41.5 posts/week Last post about 2 hours ago
Last 12 weeks

Most read posts

Featured on Sportsblogs

Run this blog? Add the badge to your site to show readers you're featured — it links back to this page.

Featured on Sportsblogs

Latest Entries

Haway The Podcast | MATCHDAY PREVIEW | Sunderland Take On Liverpool In Nashville!

YEEEEEEEEEHAW! Sunderland take on Liverpool in Nashville later today and we’re right up for it, so join Gav, James and Andrew as they chat ahead of the match! Coming up 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 […]

NFL

Fan Letters: Transfer Frustrations, Biding Our Time, And More Membership Questions

Dear Roker Report, Like many others, it would seem, I’m becoming somewhat frustrated by the slow transfer window Sunderland appear to be having this summer. However, I have to admit that’s primarily because I love transfer news. Other than matchdays themselves, it’s probably the most exciting part of football and, over the summer, when we’re […]

Match Preview: Sunderland v Liverpool — The Party Gets Going In Nashville

Saturday 25th July 2026 Sunderland v Liverpool – Friendly GEODIS Park, Nashville Kick-Off: 23:00 (BST) Tickets & Match Coverage TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via safc.com. Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online) Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter […]

On This Day (25 July 1973): Happy Birthday, SuperKev!

It’s a happy 53rd birthday to ‘Super’ Kevin Phillips today — and what joy and memories he’s given all of us that are old enough and lucky enough to have seen him. I say that last bit as a nod to the late Kevin Keegan (a player admired and idolised on Merseyside and Tyneside) as […]

Transfer Spotlight: Ten Value Signings Sunderland Could Target This Summer!

‘Arry leaning out of his Land Rover. Sol Campbell crossing North London on a free and Darren Gibson on an eighteen-month deal. The transfer window can bring up plenty of wheeling, dealing and out-of-the blue signings — and often that maybe should’ve stayed there. It’s often been said that “One man’s trash is another man’s […]

Released Sunderland Man Reflects on Wearside Spell and Injury Battle

Former Sunderland Under-21 midfielder Elias Lenz has reflected on his two years on Wearside after being released by the club this summer. Speaking to BylineCoverage.com, the former RB Leipzig academy captain opened up on his injury struggles, the support he received at the Academy of Light, why he believes Sunderland’s coaching helped improve his game, […]

On This Day (24 July 2006): A Sunny Night In Dublin With Niall Quinn!

It seemed like the perfect time for the club to arrange a pre-season friendly in Dublin, where Sunderland would take on Shelbourne FC, and on a sunny midweek evening in the Irish capital, hundreds of Sunderland supporters, — including this writer — made the journey from both near and far to Tolka Park on Dublin’s […]

Hope Returns: Why Sunderland Fans Can Dream Again

As Sunderland fans, we’ve been almost institutionalised over the years into thinking negative thoughts about the club’s and team’s future, or its ability to maintain any semblance of long-term satisfaction – let alone happiness. I’ve written in these pages before about “doing a Sunderland”. Many other clubs (if not all) can claim to have similar […]

Sunderland’s 1955 North American Trip: What Happens On Tour, Stays On Tour…

In 1955, Sunderland embarked on an international tour for the first time since the pre-Second World War trip to Spain in 1935. The North American tour was scheduled to last just under a month and would include nine matches in all, with four against Huddersfield Town, as well as games against Nuremberg, the Montreal All-Stars, […]

On This Day (23 July 1995): Gray Right At Home As He Hits A Pre-Season Hattrick

When Michael Gray looks back on his career, the moment Peter Reid walked into Roker Park must be viewed as a sliding doors moment. The youngster had burst onto the scene under Malcolm Crosby – famously scoring in the first minute of his first start, in his first pro game at Roker – before enjoying […]

What Can Sunderland Hope To Gain From Their USA Tour?

Malc Dugdale says… I’m quite relaxed about pre-season as last time around, we hardly ripped up trees, but we then had our best season in many decades.  I’d like to see what the lads who had injuries late last season can do, as we’ll need depth in the squad more than ever this season, so […]

Opposition Focus: Can Sunderland Show Some Pre-Season Promise Against Liverpool?

Can Régis Le Bris’ side reproduce the exciting, free-flowing football shown against York City and trouble Liverpool in Nashville? The Lads now travel stateside to face the Reds at GEODIS Park in Nashville on 25 July and the game itself — as with all matches hosted over the last six weeks in North America — […]

NFL

View From The Away End: York Offers Sunderland the Perfect Return to Club Football

With England’s painful – and arguably avoidable – exit from the World Cup at the semi-final stage still fresh in the mind, a quick turnaround before the return of club football was the perfect tonic. I always think of pre-season friendlies like an appetiser at a fancy restaurant; they’re not what you’re there for and […]

Thanks, Lutsha, And Good Luck!

Since the days of Bergkamp, Davids and Kluivert, I’ve had an affinity for Dutch players, so I was primed to like Lutsharel Geertruida from the jump. Then he almost scored this goal. And then, on his first start, he provided the hockey assist (to another Dutchman) for this legendary goal. I was all in, yet […]

On This Day (22nd July 1977): The Sunderland Career That Never Took Off

Bob Stokoe paid a near club-record fee for coveted winger Roy Greenwood. Less than 18 months later, Jimmy Adamson was ready to listen to offers, and all the signs suggested a deal could be done… The Journal‘s John Donoghue shared the thoughts of Sunderland manager Jimmy Adamson on this day in 1977. Adamson said: “The […]

2026/2027 Could Be A Coming-Of-Age Campaign For Sunderland’s Youngsters!

We saw flashes of their immense potential on the domestic front at times last season and for many of Sunderland’s young tyros, during a marathon and frankly weird World Cup in the United States, and as the Lads continue to put in the hard yards ahead of the 2026/2027 season, there should be a growing […]

MLS

Haway The Podcast | INTERVIEW | We’re Joined By Danny McNamara From Embrace!

If you hadn’t seen it already, there’s a weekend of live music down at Seaburn in mid-August with Cliffe Park Live with the likes of The Waterboys & Ocean Colour Scene, and on Friday 14th August, Embrace headline the evening! So we caught up with Danny McNamara to catch up on everything about the gig […]

The Match That Made Me Fall in Love with Sunderland

As we’re about to embark on a European campaign and my sixth consecutive season as a season-ticket holder, it seems appropriate to reminisce about where it all began. It all started back in 2008, when I was just a five-year-old lad looking for something to do at the weekend. My dad and his brothers are […]

Can Sunderland Avoid A Sticky Second Season?

A band’s second album can notoriously be a let-down. You can get The Bends following Pablo Honey, but The Stone Roses didn’t really deliver following their self-titled debut. While the Premier League isn’t unfamiliar territory for Sunderland fans, beginning another top-flight season on the back of such a fruitful campaign certainly is. The remainder of […]

Which Of Sunderland’s Fringe Players Could Be In The Spotlight This Pre-Season?

Dean Dugdale says… Jocelin Ta Bi was impressive in a recent youth tournament, and he assisted in the recent pre-season game too.  He got off to a great start last season before injury in what seemed to be his first chance. He has confidence, attacking intent and ability, and we need talented wide men — especially […]

On This Day (July 21st 1984): Sunderland Played Nissan In A Relationship Building Friendly

The Japanese car giant Nissan had, as recently as March that year, selected Wearside as the location for its massive investment in its UK manufacturing operation. A friendly match was suggested to mark the occasion, with Japanese side Nissan FC visiting Roker Park for a historic, relationship-building fixture. The manufacturing plant was to be built […]