Sunderland have seemingly found a new fanbase half the world away...
You may have noticed already; a sudden influx of social media profiles replying to all kinds of posts from Sunderland’s official accounts with messages like “Vamos!” and a whole string of Mexican flags.
In many respects, it has been a remarkable summer on Wearside; from promotion via the play-offs, to a flurry of pulse-quickening transfer business, to Saturday’s storming Premier League opening weekend victory over West Ham.
But perhaps one of the more unexpected, and bizarre, footnotes of the past few weeks has been the seeming upswing in affections that Sunderland are currently enjoying in Mexico. And now, after a little bit of internet sleuthing, the reason behind the apparent groundswell of Mexican Mackems has been revealed...
Why are Sunderland suddenly so popular in Mexico?
According to a piece from Mexican outlet Record - entitled, “Sunderland, brother, you’re Mexican now!” - the Black Cats’ recent march into Central America started as a bit of a joke that has snowballed into something quite real. The publication states that football fans from Mexico have “caused a stir on social media with their unwavering support for the English club”, so much so that Sunderland’s official Spanish language X account shared a post asking if the phenomenon was genuine.
After enough Mexican fans responded suggesting that they were, in fact, very serious, the Premier League new boys then shared a link to their official club shop so that their newfound fans could kit themselves out suitably for the current campaign.
The Echo has launched a new WhatsApp SAFC Channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates direct to your phone. Simply click this link to join ourSAFC WhatsApp channel.
Digging even deeper, it became apparent that the whole Sunderland/Mexico love affair was started by a single post from X account @MakinaAzulMX. On August 16th, the day of the Black Cats’ top flight curtain-raiser against West Ham, they asked the question: “How about, with this start of the European league, all of football Twitter picks an underdog team to support and follow, so that the European club says, ‘What the hell, why are these awful Mexicans supporting us?’”. In a subsequent post, they added: “Alright, Sunderland won by a landslide. Let's all support them. I'm leaving you the shop link so you can commit to this movement”.
Whether Sunderland’s popularity amongst Mexican football fanatics stands the test of time or whether it is simply a fleeting bit that fizzles out over the coming weeks remains to be seen, but certainly, if the Black Cats continue to regularly produce the calibre of performance that saw them bulldoze West Ham on Saturday afternoon, the celebrations on Wearside will be loud enough that you’ll probably be able to hear them on the banks of the Rio Bravo.
Continue Reading