Looking back on THAT volley against them down the road
I was already in love with Sunderland by the 5th of April 2015, but after that day, I was head over heels.
I remember rushing to the Stadium after playing for my football team in the morning. It was my first taste of the Wear-Tyne derby, but I was already very aware of its importance. Even if I didn’t know before, just the atmosphere in the ground would have told me that. It was different to anything I had experienced before. There was an extra layer of tension, like the stadium was humming with electricity.
I remember the goal so vividly. It is burnt into my mind. It’s one of my earliest memories of Sunderland and definitely one of my favourites too. I am looking at the picture of the goal on my wall as I write this. It’s easily the best goal I’ve seen live at the Stadium of Light, intensified by the occasion.
Everything about it was perfect. The timing — it being the last kick of the first half. The commentary — some of Martin Tyler’s most iconic and excellent work. The unexpectedness — how it came from nothing, just a hopeful flick from Fletcher. The brilliance of it – the technique, power and talent it takes to put a dropping ball into the top corner is hard to understand. The legacy of it – here I am, almost 11 years later, talking about how it made me fall in love with the club. I especially love how it came to be the difference at full-time. A goal like that should be a game-winner, particularly in a game like that.
As you might expect, 7-year-old me was consequently infatuated with both the club and Jermain Defoe. He was, is, and will remain one of my favourite players to play for our club. He has described it as the best goal he scored in his career, elevating it, considering his magnificent goal catalogue. Defoe even admitted that it almost made him cry. He very clearly loves the club, that game and that goal.
It is in games like this where legends are made. It is in games like this where players write their name into a club’s history. It is in games like this where a young fan in the stands falls in love with a club.
Category: General Sports
