Peter Walker has resigned as Sunderland's chief executive. Walker, who deals with the day to day running of the club will leave around Christmas once a replacement is found. Walker said: "After over ten years, I have decided to move on from Sunderland Football Club and seek a new challenge as Chief Executive of Omega PLC, having been a non-executive director of the holding company for nearly two years. I have thoroughly enjoyed my ten years in football and am confident that I am leaving the club in an excellent position but think the time is right for me personally to broaden my horizons and accept a challenge in a new industry. I am very proud of the team of people that we have brought together at Sunderland over a period of time and it has also been a pleasure to work with Niall, Roy and the board in the last two years since the takeover. I will be very sad to leave because of the people but I am sure that the professional team at Sunderland both on and off the pitch, will take the Club on from strength to strength."
Niall Quinn added: "We successfully talked Peter out of leaving about 18 months ago as I really needed him to help us during the important and transitionary period after the takeover of the club by Drumaville. I have had to reluctantly accept his decision on this occasion but for the record although he is not one to look for credit, I think supporters should know of the important work he has done behind the scenes for this football club. Before we shook hands I did manage to sell him two season tickets though and we'll look forward to welcoming back for matches in the future!"
Meanwhile, George McCartney picked up a hamstring injury in Northern Ireland’s defeat by Slovakia on Saturday. Hopefully he’ll be fit for Wigan.
Sunderland's international players hardly set the world alight last weekend, but thankfully no one got injured. Craig Gordon played well for Scotland against Macedonia, but they lost 1-0! David Healy and George McCartney were also on the losing side as Northern Ireland got beat 2-1 in Slovakia. Trinidad and Tobago managed a 1-1 draw against Guatemala and Carlos Edwards and Dwight Yorke will have benefited from the much needed match practice.
Meanwhile, The Republic of Ireland were the only country involving Sunderland players who actually managed three points when they overcame Georgia 2-1. However the did it without Daryl Murphy and Andy Reid who were unused subs, but Liam Miller came off the bench and had a thirteen minute run out. Finally, El-Hadji Diouf’s Senegal lost 3-2 to Algeria leaving them little chance of qualification.
Anton Ferdinand reckons the north south divide is dead. Hurrah. Ferdinand will make his debut for SAFC against Wigan on Saturday and we’ve sold out our 5000 ticket allocation so it should be class. Anton said: "The club have signed a lot of players from London and that's down to ambition. I spoke to Rio about coming here and he was very positive about it. He always gives me good advice. The final decision is always up to me, but I had no concerns about coming up to Sunderland. Players are moving all over the world nowadays, so Sunderland's hardly the end of the earth. If a club has ambition and the right people guiding it, then it'll attract good players. Niall Quinn as chairman and Roy Keane as manager are football people who want success and those things were a big part of my desire to come to Sunderland. The club has brought a lot of players up from London, and it shows the club is moving forward."
Anton is also looking forward to teaming up with George McCartney who he knows well from their time together at West Ham. Ferdinand added: "George is a very consistent player, and I was surprised West Ham let him go, but that's the way it seems to be going down there. When I was talking to Sunderland about the move here he had only good things to say about the club and the fans that played a part in me wanting to come. George and I have played together for a couple of years, and we have a good understanding. I'm looking forward to playing with him and all of my new team-mates. George is looking forward to getting the Sunderland shirt back on; it's like coming home for him. I was going to take the No 3 shirt when I came here, but I've left it to George!"
Meanwhile, Teemu Tanio is fit again and will return for the Wigan game.
Roy Keane is set to loan Anthony Stokes out to a Championship club as soon as Michael Chopra has got his head together and Kenwyne Jones returns from injury. Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday have both expressed an interest in the Republic of Ireland striker The gaffer said: “It’s something I might have to consider over the next weeks and months if he doesn’t force his way into my first team. I haven’t spoken to Stokesy about it but perhaps he would benefit from going out and getting 10, 15 or 20 games somewhere. Loan deals are something that can sometimes benefit players and benefit clubs, so that’s something we maybe need to look at. He’s more than good enough to play in the Championship but if a big club like Leeds in Division One came in, then that would be an option.”
Stokes will no doubt be interested to hear about this development when he returns from a weekend in Dublin visiting his family.
In February 2009 ALS will be twenty years old. To mark this milestone we are getting very drunk, but to pay for the party we are also releasing The A Love Supreme Collection (Issues 1-50). With nearly all early issues of ALS sold out and issue one changing hands for £200, we are often inundated with requests to reprint some early magazines. However, instead we’ve spent the close season painstakingly picking the best bits from each issue and lovingly constructing them into the Very Best of ALS.
This is your chance to own a piece of Sunderland AFC fanzine history. Re-mixed and re-mastered articles from the first fifty issues of A Love Supreme, tenderly restored from the 1980s era of monochrome photocopying and paper cut-outs, into the modern day Technicolour design standards you have come to expect from us. So don’t miss out on over 200 packed pages of full colour visual gorgeousness featuring all your favourite features from years gone by. In short it looks mint, it reads really well and will take you on a trip down memory lane to the days of Terry Butcher, Margaret Thatcher and Thomas Hauser. But for every cloud there is a massive silver lining, as ALS got going and the 80s became the 90s, Marco was in his heyday, Vaux beer tasted better than champagne and standing on the terraces and going mental when we scored with a cigarette in your hand was the norm…
Pre order your copy of The ALS Collection (Issues 1-50) now…
On the Buses… als info
ALS run coaches to every away game that Sunderland AFC play from our base opposite the Stadium of Light, click here for a full list of departure times, prices and ways to book for the 2008/09 season.
Our trading hours are as follows: Monday-Friday 8.30am to 5.00pm. On weekend matchdays we open 11am until kick off. We also open some away/non match Saturdays 10am till 2pm depending on hangovers and if we can be arsed, call us and check to see if we’re in first. Please feel free to call 0191 565 4422, pop into our shop, or click here to go straight to our on-line shop and peruse our wares. ALS T Shirts Three For The Price Of Two...
