Why Do I Do It? by P D Han
Braiswick £7.95
ISBN: 1898030308
Finally its released, after months of promotion, plugging and teasing, its now out to buy via www.amazon.co.uk, www.whydoidoit.co.uk, www.author.co.uk, the ALS Shop outside the Stadium of Light, and local bookstores.
An ideal stocking filler for the red and white nutter in the family?
As reviewed in the Sunderland Echo – 10-10-03,
It’s a question asked by thousands of Sunderland fans, time and time again: “Why do I do it?” Why, when the club almost equalled the record for the longest run of defeats in English footballing history … Why when Sunderland fans suffered the ignominy of relegation to the delight of our intense rivals …
And the departure of Reid, the arrival of Howard Wilkinson, the deepening financial crisis, the long-running bitterness of defeat and the lack of silverware.
Why put up with it?
Why do I follow ~Sunderland Football Club?
The question isn’t directly answered in this new book, but the answer in there within the text.
It is obvious from page one that the author of this 198 page paperback is a true devoted Sunderland fan who has asked himself the question many times. He follows the last days at Roker Park and the move into the Stadium of Light, right to the end of the dismal last season, through his own eyes; those of an ordinary dedicated, fan.
Running in parallel is the setting up of his independent Sunderland supporters website which gives fans an outlet for their views. The author has two obvious passions in life, SAFC and the World Wide Web, and he has a burning desire for both to success.
He wants to see Sunderland win, and he dreams of coming a dot com millionaire, but the club’s success and is dream of achieving wealth both seem a long way off.
The book, a first for the author, will engage any Sunderland fan who has experienced the misery of after-match defeat while walking over Wearmouth Bridge in the persistent rain.
And it will amuse any true fan who has experienced the delight of having thrashed Newcastle United.
Written in the language of the terraces, the book pulls few punches and goes for the jugular more than once.
