logo
EXCLUSIVE Inside Sunderland's bid to get back in the Premier League and how they can break the promotion curse

EXCLUSIVE Inside Sunderland's bid to get back in the Premier League and how they can break the promotion curse

Daily Mail​24-05-2025

The image of a boy standing barefoot on the edge of a Trafalgar Square fountain, wrapped in a Sunderland flag as he shouts to what you imagine is a mass of people, radiates an optimism and defiance which will be carried into Wembley Stadium this weekend.
It was taken when Sunderland played in, and lost, a Checkatrade Trophy final against Portsmouth, six years ago, and hangs in a corner of the North East city's Fans Museum, where a group of visitors is lingering around it in a kind of reverie on Wednesday afternoon this week.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Opinion: Formula One needs people like Eddie Jordan - he'll be sorely missed
Opinion: Formula One needs people like Eddie Jordan - he'll be sorely missed

Top Gear

time22 minutes ago

  • Top Gear

Opinion: Formula One needs people like Eddie Jordan - he'll be sorely missed

Formula One From team owner to pundit, Jordan's journey was unique. In the corporate Formula One paddock, his maverick personality stood out Skip 1 photos in the image carousel and continue reading In the ever evolving world of F1 – now a global juggernaut of speed and spotless PR – the loss of Eddie Jordan feels seismic. Not because he was still on the pitwall or publicly pulling strings in the paddock (although he was still absolutely doing that under the radar – note the Adrian Newey to Aston deal), but because voices like his are vanishing. Loud, honest, unpolished and unmistakably human, Eddie was the sport's living antidote to the hyper-managed, sponsor-sanitised travelling circus. Advertisement - Page continues below Eddie Jordan wasn't just a team boss. He was a true character and the best raconteur I have ever met. The kind of man who could spot talent a mile off – Michael Schumacher, anyone? – and still crack a joke with mechanics five minutes later. He ran his team like a rock band on tour: charismatic, chaotic and bursting with heart. His DNA permeated the ranks of the team, and does to this day in its current iteration – Aston Martin – where a handful of his loyal employees are still on its payroll. F1 is on a golden run, new fans pour in by the millions, but the flip side of that is big tech, big money and bigger image control have swept through like a desert sandstorm, polishing every surface. We are at risk of not telling the whole truth, for fear of upsetting the corporate bosses and social media mobs. You might like Eddie never hesitated. He said what he thought, not what he thought would trend well. He also had a strong sense of right and wrong. He once found out that a team boss had been rude to me, mistakenly thinking I had been the source of erroneous information about his team. Eddie steamed straight in there and demanded an immediate apology. Eddie could also be brash, unpredictable and occasionally wrong, but that's what made him real, and why we loved him. He reminded us that F1 isn't just about data and tyre deg, it is about people, egos, passion, risk, triumph and failure. He was perhaps at his most authentic when at home with his wife Marie, children and grandchildren. Advertisement - Page continues below Just this past Christmas he sent out a video Christmas card with them all singing, dancing and playing musical instruments – it was gorgeous. Notably Eddie was right at the back, letting his kids and grandkids take turns centre stage. As our sport soars to new exciting heights, let's not forget that characters like Eddie are irreplaceable. F1 will go on becoming glossier, grander and more compelling, but it will be just a little less mad and maverick without him. There will never be another Eddie Jordan – which is a huge loss when the sport needs characters like him more than ever. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.

Japan's King Kazu wants more after first appearance of 40th season
Japan's King Kazu wants more after first appearance of 40th season

Reuters

timean hour ago

  • Reuters

Japan's King Kazu wants more after first appearance of 40th season

TOKYO, June 16 (Reuters) - Japan's Kazuyoshi "King Kazu" Miura made his first appearance of his 40th season as a professional footballer at the weekend and shows no sign of wanting to hang up his boots any time soon. The former international forward, who turned 58 in February, came on as a late substitute in Atletico Suzuka's 2-1 win over YSCC Yokohama in the fourth tier of the Japanese pyramid on Sunday. The popular striker signed an 18-month loan deal with Suzuka last June but a leg injury sustained in January had kept him on the sidelines from the start of this Japan Football League season. "I hope to play again showing my character," Miura told Kyodo news agency after the match. "I managed to play thanks to the support from everyone. I'm looking to stepping up a gear from here." Miura made his first two appearances for Santos in the 1986 Brazilian Championship, having headed alone to South America to pursue his football dream as a 15-year-old. He returned to Japan as an established international to join Verdy Kawasaki and helped them win the first two titles in 1993 and 1994. He scored 55 goals in 89 appearances for Japan, the last of which came in 2000. Miura, whose long club career has also included spells in Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal, still has a way to go to match Egyptian Ezzeldin Bahader's record of turning out for a professional team at the age of 74. Given his commitment to the game, however, it might be foolish to write him off. "When I was around 35 or 40, I did start saying to myself, 'I can't keep playing this way'," he told in April. "Rather than giving any thought to quitting, it was more about pushing myself to give more. It's not so much that the word 'retire' isn't in my vocabulary, but more that I've never felt any desire to do it."

Eric Cantona and Ella Toone help meld football and art for Manchester festival
Eric Cantona and Ella Toone help meld football and art for Manchester festival

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

Eric Cantona and Ella Toone help meld football and art for Manchester festival

'Everybody needs his own ritual or way of preparing,' says the former Dutch footballer Edgar Davids. 'Those minutes that you're in the tunnel is where we're going to start.' Davids is talking about a piece he has worked on alongside the artist Paul Pfeiffer in which the pair recreate the tension of the tunnel before a big game. The work will serve as the passageway into the 'set piece' of this year's Manchester international festival – Football City, Art United – where the beautiful game is moving off the pitch and into the artist's studio. 'It's now more important than ever to bring things together,' says Hans Ulrich Obrist, who has co-curated the exhibition alongside Josh Willdigg and the former Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata. 'There's a lot of separation and it's important to connect worlds that wouldn't necessarily talk to each other. It's exciting to do it with sport.' For Football City, Art United, Pfeiffer was paired with the former Juventus midfielder Davids, who has a significant art collection of his own and suggested recreating the intensity of the tunnel as players prepare to walk out into a stadium. 'He referred to it as the moment of greatest tension,' says Pfeiffer. 'Even more so than being on the field itself.' Visitors to the Aviva Studios in Manchester, where the exhibition is being held, will be immersed into a tunnel, with audio of crowd noise that Pfeiffer and his team recorded live at the San Siro stadium during the Milan derby earlier this year. Davids, who also played for both Milan sides during his career in Italy, was able to pull strings to get the artist's team pitchside. Pfeiffer calls it a mix of the 'preparation and interior space of the individual player' versus 'the sound of 100,000 fans permeating the wall'. There are 11 'pairings' in total, with footballers and artists put together according to interests. Arguably the most anticipated work for locals comes from the United fan favourite and Manchester United bete noire Eric Cantona, who alongside the British conceptual artist Ryan Gander explores the effects of fame on a player. The work features three parts: an automated spotlight that will pick out visitors at random so they can experience the 'isolating glare of celebrity'; a song performed by Cantona, Les Temps Passe or Time Passes, will play; and a number of match tickets from the French forward's final appearance at Old Trafford will be handed out to every 100th visitor replete with a message from him. Perhaps the most intriguing work is a collaboration between the Berlin and London-based artist collective Keiken and the England star Ella Toone. Visitors can step on to a podium and interact with a mask inspired by Toone's 'spirit animal', the shetland pony. 'The idea is that football is for everyone and art is for everyone,' says Obrist. 'We're here to create a bridge of possibilities. There are moments of epiphany in football and art, and hopefully we can create some in Manchester.' This is not the first time Obrist has embraced football. He was a passionate backer of Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno's film Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, which he describes as a masterpiece. He has also had a long-running collaborative relationship with Mata, after the pair messaged each other on Instagram when the footballer began liking Obrist's studio visit posts. This year's project is the latest instalment of The Trequartista: Art and Football United, a multi-part exploration of the sport and artistic practice. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion After connecting with Mata, the Serpentine curator invited him to collaborate with the German-Indian artist Tino Sehgal at the 2023 Manchester international festival. The resulting work, This entry, features Mata alongside a trick cyclist, a freeform footballer, a violinist and a dancer. Obrist described the 2023 work as a teaserfor what's to come later this summer. The Honolulu-born, New York-based Pfeiffer's work often intersects with sport. He has used digital editing to make it seem as if a boxer is being hit by an invisible opponent and removed audio from NBA games, creating eerie portraits of players. As one critic put it, Pfeiffer 'strips away the pageantry' of sport and in so doing shows 'the pain and contradiction that draw people in'. The Swiss Uruguayan artist Jill Mulleady once met Diego Maradona, and she is using that chance encounter as the basis for a 'holographic illusion' of the footballer, which will recall his controversial 'hand of God' goal against England at the 1986 World Cup. Alvaro Barrington teams up with the 90s Brazil star Raí to create a 'large green felt banner' that will hang about the space, while the architects Stefano Boeri and Eduardo Terrazas have created a work on the floor of the Aviva Studios with the former Italian player Sandro Mazzola where visitors can recreate some of his goals. Other work includes the manga artist Chikyuu no Osakana Pon-chan recreating scenes from the life of the former Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa; the Zidane co-creator Parreno and Marco Perego present a Sims-style video game where visitors can explore the 'physical geography' of the former Everton and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti. The US artist Suzanne Lacy, the Manchester City and Netherlands star Vivianne Miedema and the Angel City FC and New Zealand captain Ali Riley have created a film; Bárbara Sánchez-Kane and the former Mexican goalkeeper Jorge Campos have created a flamboyant mascot named Brody; and the British artist Rose Wylie worked with the Arsenal and England defender Lotte Wubben-Moy to turn moments from her daily life as a footballer into paintings. Football City, Art United is at Aviva Studios, Manchester from 4 July to 24 August

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store