“About 20 years ago, I was drinking in a pub in West Jesmond when I was accosted at the bar by a grey-haired, grey-stubbled man who worked on the Hoppings, an annual fair that was held on the Town Moor in Newcastle each year. Learning I was from Sunderland, he sucked through the gaps in his teeth and shook his head slowly. ‘Sunderland,’ he said, ‘is what happened when they kicked the miserable people out of Newcastle.’ It may not be entirely fair, but it’s certainly true that optimism doesn’t come easily to Wearside.” Who Scored? – Jonathan Wilson