Terry Crombie: Red and White for Life

Terry Crombie has been following Sunderland for more than fifty years, and it's become a big part of his life. Match days are built around routine, meeting up with the same group of friends from school and sharing the experience together. He has seen a lot of changes over the years, but his support has never. For Terry, it’s not just about what happens on the pitch, it’s about the people, the memories, and sticking with Sunderland through it all. 

Q: Do you remember your earliest experience for Sunderland, and what it was like? 

"Yeah, of course I do, the first game I went to September 1963, the 14^th, I’ve got the programme in the house actually, at Roker Park. The first game I went to was Manchester City and we won 2-0, and I remember it as if it was yesterday, believe it or not, I do. I was six years old, my brother took me, he wasn’t really interested in football but for some reason I was really interested."

Q: What does a typical match day look like for you when Sunderland play? 

"It’s changed over the years but up until I was 16, I would just go to the match from Hylton Castle. But now, there's four or five lads I go with, we all went to school together at St Thomas Aquinas, and we all come to The Duck to meet up and have a drink, go to the match. We’ve all got season tickets and have done for thirty odd years. We used to go to a lot of away matches together but we don’t bother so much now. I’ve only been to one away match this season, which was Chelsea, but years ago we used to follow them all over."

Q: If someone had never been to the Stadium of Light before, how would you describe the atmosphere? 

"It's okay, things have changed over the years, especially since Sunderland's in the Premier League, there’s a lot of people there who are, if i could describe them as just customers. They go to the match because Sunderland’s in the Premier League, if they were lower down, they wouldn’t be there."

Q: Looking back over the years, what would you say has been your favourite, or most memorable moment as a Sunderland fan? 

"Winning the cup in 1973, I was at Wembley when we beat Leeds, we played nine games to get to Wembley, and the only two I didn't go to was Notts County away, which was in the third round, and Reading away, which was in the fourth round, and after that I went to every game. We played Man City, which was in the fifth round, which was one of the most famous games at Roker Park when we beat them, in those days Man City were a very good team. We beat Arsenal in the semi-final, and then to beat Leeds, I mean Leeds, in those days, were one of the best teams in the world."

Q: When was the last time you went to Wembley, was it for the play-offs? 

"No, I’m struggling a bit now with walking, so I gave my ticket away to my son Patrick, and to be truthful, after we won in 1973, that was the first time I’d seen Sunderland play at Wembley, I seen us lose eight times off the belt there, and I thought ‘oh, I’m a jinx’. So, I just gave my ticket away for the Wycombe game, and then the one you’re talking about was Sheffield United, so when we won against Wycombe, I thought I’m definitely a jinx, so I just gave it to the boy again."