Nags Head Soup

20 May 2022

Liam, Mark, Kate

Having reconnoitred the scene of the crime to come the day before, we had a relaxing morning and headed to Covent Garden to connect with the northern branch. We met my cousin Mark and his sons Liam and Ben and their cousin Kate at the semi-legendary Nags Head pub, pre-armed with 14 cans of lager (which disappeared in no time). Probably 1000 Sunderland supporters had gathered to drink and sing and prevent the occurence of any other form of activity.

Dan, Liam, Mark, Harry, Ben

We were excited to meet our relatives. I hadn't been with Mark since Christmas 1997 and apart from that the two groups had had no physical contact. I think it's fair to say we hit it off and enjoyed the rest of the day. Enjoyed perhaps undersells the experience.

The first task was to learn the words of the songs to be sung. 'Sunderland til I die' and '...by far the greatest team' we were across but the rest were new to us. Harry approached the learning experience with gusto and Dan and I were not far behind him.

The song that came to dominate the experience was 'Sunderland take over' which seemed to resonate throughout the area. Another notable was the Shearer song which taught us that Alan Shearer is a wanker who wears a wanker's hat. Delightfully childish and enjoyable but if I may offer one criticism: it was sung too often. I'd rather hear and sing positive songs about our greats. In keeping with this I loved 'Niall Quinn's Disco Pants' and SuperKev.

Speaking of delightfully childish, the Lee Howey chant made me laugh:

LeeHoweyLeeHoweyLeeHowey; 

Your brother is a **** [you know how to find out if you need to]

Anyway, we settled into a great rhythm and Dan went to get reinforcements including a four pack of Fosters (which we had to explain was a beer Australians rarely drink). 

Something that took me by surprise was the use of pyro (flares and fireworks) and its apparent acceptance by supporters.

Trafalgar Square

As evening descended it was time to migrate to Trafalgar Square where the noise of the Nags Head was amplified by maybe 15,000 gathered Sunderland supporters. On the way into the Square I was apprehended by a cop who sheepishly asked me to hand over my opened beer. I complied. But talk about an exercise in futility. Thousands of cans made their way into the square to be drunk by a wholly joyous and positive crowd.

Harry wearing the appropriate
Sunderland top for an Australian
 while drinking the most inappropriate beer 

 For me it was a brand new experience but legend had prepared me for it. People dancing in the fountains and climbing the various statues abounded. We had to keep an eye on Harry who was threatening to get in a fountain.

Eventually we declared it was time to go back to Clapham. With one of our number worse for wear we navigated the tube - though Dan who normally did such a magnificent job led us up the dead end to Battersea Power Station and we had to retrace our steps.

We got home in one piece and without disturbing our hosts too much (I think/hope), we went quickly to sleep.

Tomorrow would be the biggest day.