Paul Days is back again with Sunderland AFC v Sunderland Albion: The Battle For A Town. After the success of his last book, SAFC Finest MatchesPaul thought he’d delve into the now infamous rivalry of Sunderland AFC and Sunderland Albion. It is the most comprehensive account ever of the story and has been researched from all sources both previously published and unpublished, including actual newspapers of the day.

The book concentrates, to a degree, on the Sunderland Albion side of matters, as full pre war fixture list and results are already available in Paul’s SAFC Finest Matches book. However he has managed to include some wonderful SAFC pictures from the period because to be honest very few pictures from the Albion team actually exist.

After the well written introduction Days talks about the background of the two clubs before digging out a match report from when both sides met in a friendly game way back in the 1888/89 season. The game on 1 st December pulled in the biggest crowd ever seen at that time at Newcastle Road, with everyone eager to witness the long awaited meeting between the town’s two premier clubs. Sunderland came out victorious on this occasion, running out 2-0 winners and subsequently ending Albion’s 13 game unbeaten run.

To be perfectly honest I think you will either love or hate this book. Maybe they are both too strong a word to use but if you like reading up on history then this is perfect, however if you don’t it can get some what tedious at times, which was the case with me. I’m desperately trying not to be too critical because I believe Paul Days to be a very good author but this personally is not my cup of tea.

Don’t be put off by my opinions as they generally mean nothing. But on a serious note if you like history and are interested about the roots of your beloved club, then this most definitely has to have a front row seat on your book shelf.

James Henderson

Click Here to Buy 24 Hour SAFC People