A couple of years ago I travelled to Sunderland by train to meet Neil Herron, the man behind the Metric Martyrs campaign.

At the time we were on opposite sides of the Regional Assembly fence, so we sorted that out first and then the talk turned to football.

I want all five North-East clubs to do well. I always look out for their results first and enjoy chatting with fans of all persuasions.

Arriving at Sunderland railway station brought back some wonderful memories for me. It was the first time I had been there since the days my father used to take me to Roker Park.

As I explained to Neil, I was a Middlesbrough fan from birth, but my father would often take me to other North-East grounds. I probably saw Sunderland play a dozen games a season and loved hearing the Roker Roar and watching the likes of Charlie Hurley, Jimmy Montgomery and Jim Baxter.

I remember once, when the two teams were lining up, suddenly everyone noticed the ball was missing. Whilst players and officials looked round, Jim Baxter made his way to the edge of the opposing box, dropped the ball out from under his shirt and, to the amusement of the crowd, took a shot at goal. It's a memory that has stayed with me ever since.

So a part of my heart belongs to Sunderland Football Club and I'm saddened by the plight they find themselves in. It truly is a case of how the mighty have fallen.

In the first half of the 20th century, when they were bankrolled by shipyard owners, they were known as the Bank of England club because of the high transfer fees they paid to bring the top stars to Roker Park.

In 1958 they were relegated for the first time in their history, having set a then record of 68 years of continuous top flight football. The local sports paper - the Football Echo - had always been pink but appeared in white, declaring it was "due to the shock".

Well, there will be no shock when Sunderland are relegated again this year. It has become a regular occurrence despite the club appointing managers who would appear to be up to the job.

The buck stops with the chairman and Bob Murray has taken his fair share of criticism. I'm not going to jump on the anti-Murray bandwagon but I have been surprised he hasn't put himself forward a bit more to answer questions.

I'd like to see him appear on something like the Three Legends radio phone-in show so presenters Supermac, Eric Gates and Bernie Slaven, as well as the fans, can put questions to him. If Bob cannot stand that kind of heat then perhaps it is time to get out of the kitchen.

Some expressed surprise at the timing, but there is still pride to play for this season and I wonder whether the board had one eye on Easter Monday when they decided to dispense with Mick McCarthy.

That's the day that the old enemy comes to town and Murray will know that the protests of recent weeks will be nothing compared to what will happen if Newcastle United win at the Stadium of Light. The fact that it could be the game that officially puts Sunderland down makes things even worse.

Just for this game, I hope Sunderland win. Their fans deserve just a little bit of joy in what has been a season of misery.

Published: 10/03/2006