Interview: Sunderland fans UAE chapter welcomes lads to Dubai

The World Cup is in full swing and, therefore, the Championship break is nearly two weeks away. It feels like a lifetime since the lads returned from Birmingham City with all three points, but the team are working hard abroad.

Sunderland are currently in the United Arab Emirates for a warm-weather training camp, a trip that will end with a friendly against Saudi Arabian side Al Shabaab.

As we all know, Sunderland has a large number of followers wherever they go, even in a friendly match thousands of miles away, there will be many followers of the Red and White Army.

This will be made up of members of Sunderland’s UAE division.

I caught up with Stuart White from the division to find out what they were like, how they were able to see the lads firsthand and what they expected from the situation in the Middle East.

RR: For those who don’t already know, please tell us more about the branch…

software: The current fork has been running for about 12 years. Trevor Smith made things work, he handed it over to me after he moved to Oman for a new job and I’ve been running it ever since.

There are quite a few red and whites here in the United Arab Emirates, mostly in Dubai, but also some in Abu Dhabi and the other five emirates. Most of us are from the North East, but we also have lads and gals from Wales, London, New Zealand and Canada who support the lads and live and work here. Many of us are involved in engineering, education, aviation or project management employed by governments or international companies.

We stay connected through our Branch Facebook page with over 400 members. Lots of people join this branch after holiday in Dubai or have a short stay here. We had some really nice people join us at the pub to watch the game – it was a pleasure to meet them and to be able to give them a little bit of home in the sun.

We get together most games and watch them in a bar on the Palm Jumeirah. We had over 100 people in the playoff finals and it was a bit of a rowdy night by all accounts. There were about a dozen of us who made the trip to the game and sadly missed the party, but we did our best to make up for it in London.

So with Sunderland on your doorstep, what does it feel like to be so close?

software: It’s very exciting for the lads to be here again. While it’s nice to get together and watch TV, it’s so much better to see the lads at the local ballpark.

They will have great support from us that day.

By the way, we are taking care of four lads who have flown in for the game and then taking them out for the England game.

We did see this team a few years ago when Sam Allardyce brought them over. The players and staff are fantastic with the supporters and they take special care of the youngsters.

Would you like to meet any players/staff?

software: We were invited to a training session to meet the players and again to the training center for Friday’s game. A big thanks to Chris Waters who as always was fantastic in helping us arrange this.

Some of the lads here have met Patrick Roberts and Alex Pritchard golfing over the weekend and we have some nice pics on our Facebook page.

What can the lads expect from their trip to the UAE?

software: The weather here is starting to cool off from the ridiculous temperatures of summer. The forecast for this week is low 30s during the day and low 20s at night, so very pleasant by the pool, but still a little warm on the football field.

The place is buzzing right now with lots of people living here, “commuting” to the World Cup in Doha, a packed fan zone for the games, and last weekend’s F1 Grand Prix, a major golf tournament and the usual Dubai events.

What do you think of our rebirth in the Championship?

software: Considering the injuries we’ve had, I think we’re doing pretty well. Losing the striker and the whole back four doesn’t help us at all. If everyone is healthy, I think we can get at least another 6 to 8 points, if not more.

The challenge now is to keep the squad together, as there have been some eye-catching performances that are sure to catch the attention of scouts elsewhere in the Premier League and Champions League. Specifically Ross Stewart, Jack Clark, Alex Pritchard, Danny Butt and Anthony Patterson, to name five.

Our new owner seems to be someone with a plan unlike the past 15 years so I’m hopeful for the future.