Beacon of Light to host exhibition celebrating untold stories of women football fans in North East

A new pop-up exhibition telling the stories of women fans of Sunderland AFC from the 1950s to the present day will be on display to visitors at the Beacon of Light from 11th March to 25th March. 

Away From Home: The Untold Stories of Women Football Fans features the stories of 11 Sunderland fans who share personal accounts of how they became supporters, their passion for football and their love for the club.  

Inspiring stories include Anne, a Sunderland fan since the 1960s who went to her first match aged 13. She said: “You know the song, “Sunderland 'til I Die”? Yes, well, that could be me. That will be me, because I will be.” 

Mary, also a fan since the 1960s talked about her experience with negative attitudes. She said: “Not so long ago there was an objectionable man sitting a few seats along and behind. He said, ‘Oh, you should be at the hockey game.’ I said, ‘Who d’you think you’re talking to?’ He was horrible. Didn’t put me off though.”   

Margaret, a fan since the 1950s, shares an idea familiar to so many of us: “Your football team gets into your heart, and that’s where it stays. My heart is with Sunderland Football Club.”

The exhibition is based on the research of Professor Stacey Pope, an expert in gender and football fandom at Durham University. The fan accounts collected by Stacey and her team reveal a variety of positive and negative experiences of women supporting their club in a traditionally male-dominated space. Stacey’s wider research includes work with local police forces and the Premier League to ensure that attending football matches is a safe, inclusive and welcoming experience for everyone.  

The exhibition includes hand-made football scarves made by Sunderland fans from across the North East and a football banner created by a Durham-based Creative Age group made up of adults living with dementia and their carers. 

An online version of the exhibition (which also features stories from women fans of Newcastle United) can be found here: https://stories.durham.ac.uk/awayfromhome/