Stadium of 'Fright' or Delight ?

[Monaco_Totty]

Current owners?
In 2022, Frenchman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, 25, increased his shares in Sunderland to 64% becoming majority/controlling shareholder.
Juan Sartori holds 36%.

The French Louis-Dreyfus fortune was made as a merchants firm formed in 1851. They're involved in agriculture, food processing of oilseeds, grains, juice, fertilisers, cotton, sugar, rice, coffee, dairy, metals & also international shipping with a multi-country finance group which manages hedge funds, real estate development/management with ownership chaired by his Mum from their HQ in Amsterdam.
He also has stakes in French side Marseille, previously owned by his mum.
The Second World War saw much of the family assets confiscated by the Vichy government as they'd fled to America. Today they employ 22,000 globally with young Kyril the heir to a staggering £4billion fortune!

Juan Sartori, Uruguayan businessman & senator.
He sits on the Senate Committees of International Affairs.
He is the president & founder of Union Group, set up as a blueberry farm originally.
In 2010, Sartori began investing in Energy generation projects. By 2013, Union Group had acquired German hydropower company Generacion Andina, then in 2018 utility firm Enbw with Polaris Infrastructure Inc the Canadian business.

His portfolio now boasts a privately owned Investment Management & Private Equity firm that holds significant interests across an array of industries worldwide in real estate, energy, tech & agriculture worth $100million!

The Sunderland current debt is on the rise again hitting £12.6m by the end of July 2022 & up to £15.1m by March 2023. However, it is all owed to the club's owners so no interest is charged, meaning it doesn't impact operations like external debt had done in the last decade.

The Stadium of Light is an all-seater 48,339, looks nice but not a great matchday experience as its a dated hostile environ.



Coach & Team ? ��
Ex-Coach, Mowbray saw 17 players arrive in the summer for £7.9m & 12 out for £9.3m & Dec 4th got sacked while 9th in table.
Caretaker boss Mike Dodds made two changes on Saturdays 2-1 win on WBA in a 4-1-4-1line up.



So, 2,000 fans for the 95 miles trip from ER, sadly only 6 wheelchair spaces were available.
£29 Adults
£26 65+
£22 U 22 years
£12 U16 years

Black Cats nickname ?
Cos "The Black Cat Battery" an Artillery battery based on the River Wear during the Napoleonic Wars.

Sunderland is situated 15 miles from rivals Newcastle & 30 miles from Boro.
21st century Sunderland is home to countless new,diverse industries, but this has transformed significantly over the decades. Historically, Sunderland's biggest exports were ships, coal & salt.
Hence local folks being nicknamed 'Mackems' as if a ship was needed to be built Sunderland folk could "Make-them" ��

Coal mining shallow 'bell' pits were commonplace by the 1600s to tap into the coal source that lay beneath the land, as 'bell pit' mining was a primitive method of mining coal lying near the surface.
However by the 17th, 18th & 19th centuries, new technology allowed for deeper mines/colleries to unearth precious coal veins that continued to fuel Sunderland's coal trade.

Sunderland now is a centre for electronic, chemical & paper industries as well as motor manufacturing.
In 1986, Japanese car manufacturers opened Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK factory in Washington, a town in the Sunderland district which remains the UK's largest car factory.
Nissan & its partners have recently announced a £2bn plan to build three electric car models at its Sunderland factory. The Japanese firm will build its electric Qashqai & Juke models at the plant.



Obviously i'm aware of our '73 Cup final defeat as its in my 'genetics' so a win there is always special, for sure. ��

[alfinyalcabo]

I was camping at Seaburn last year which is about half a mile from Roker Park. Pink was playing and the stadium was full of fannies screaming their heads off. You could here the racket on the campsite. Probably no different when the Leeds supporters are packing it out as they are a load of fannies ..😇

[Orgoner]

Midweek games at Roker Park…

[Monaco_Totty]

Sunderland are believed to looking abroad for their Coach with Reims Will Still now in the frame & Julien Sablé the assistant Coach at Nice currently 5th in Ligue 1, say French media.
Think Jim Ratcliffe who just spent £1.25b at Man U owns Nice.

Will Still, 31-year-old manager of 5th place Reims in Ligue 1 has had rave reviews since being appointed, so much so that the club were happy to pay £22,000 every game that he managed while he worked towards getting his UEFA Pro Licence while presently Reims sit 5th in Ligue1.



Reading tonight that a 4-1-4-1 Sunderland was the set up against WBA, i'm surprised how poor Corberáns WBA were & thought a point from them for us on Dec 29th would be decent - maybe 3 now. 🤞
The Guardian - App.
https://www.theguardian.com/football...p-match-report

[Monaco_Totty]

Midweek games at Roker Park…

The sea over here is a damn sight warmer for sure, too. 😂

[alfinyalcabo]

The sea over here is a damn sight warmer for sure, too. 😂

Love your dog Monaco.

I've just bought a dog off a magician,It's a labracadabrador.🙂

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

Love your dog Monaco.

I've just bought a dog off a magician,It's a labracadabrador.🙂

Get your coat and Never return - that was almost as bad as Burnley

[Monaco_Totty]

Jack Clark at Sunderland.

Great to see Jack Clark doing well.
He'd played in a number of positions throughout his career with us, including left-wing, left-back & centrally up top before Spurs nabbed him.

Thankfully he has come a long way since that 'seizure' in 2018 with us, caused by a virus in his blood combined with the adrenaline from the game & to many caffeine supplements he'd taken, which proved a recipe for near disaster that night at Boro.

Such caffeine supplement tablets can be dangerous, obviously, as an overdose of just 1-5 grams of caffeine may lead to seizures, coma or death.
Reading that caffeine overdose is especially risky for athletes that regularly use 'supplement products' that have pure or highly concentrated caffeine that come in bulk forms like powder or liquid, so Jacks naivety on their use combined all together effecting absorption rates that caused those dangerous effects.

Each to their own on caffeine use but for healthy adults, the FDA, MHRA & EMA has cited 400 milligrams a day (that's about 4 or 5 cups of coffee)!

I was advised to stop caffeine usage as was surpassing 400 mg which had been shown to increase the likelihood for anxiety, panic & psychotic episode attacks.

I actually stopped having it after Medical samples of blood, urine, blood pressure checks & health brain scans showed me that it stopped the absorbsion of important nutrients that helped my required brain thinking patterns condition. 🤯

Amazing what caffeine is in as i didn't know it was in many health bars & choccy bars let alone over the counter cough medicines that i used to purchase.

[Orgoner]

Pretty sure I have close to ten cups of the stuff a day.

Start off with a few goes on the espresso machine before getting lazy and using the Keurig.

I think it’s more about routine than caffeine though, so may try and switch to decaffeinated versions.

If your dog ever needs a new home, my border collies would always welcome a new playmate.

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

Pretty sure I have close to ten cups of the stuff a day.

Start off with a few goes on the espresso machine before getting lazy and using the Keurig.

I think it’s more about routine than caffeine though, so may try and switch to decaffeinated versions.

If your dog ever needs a new home, my border collies would always welcome a new playmate.

Increasingly, coffee and natural caffeine intake is being seen as very postive with little if any downside.


Good for memory and suspected to have beneficial effects re cancer and dementia.

Lots of studies coming out of leading universities to that effect.


So keep the intake up - I have about the same amount and often have a coffee before bed!