Sir Bob Murray attended a special event celebrating the installation of Durham University’s ‘Away From Home’ exhibition at the Beacon of Light.
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.
The exhibition will be on display at the Beacon of Light until Wednesday 25 March, the former Sunderland AFC chairman describing it as a “powerful reminder” of the importance of women in the club’s history.
Sir Bob, who founded the club’s official charity, Foundation of Light, during his time as chairman, said: “Football clubs are nothing without their supporters, and this exhibition is a powerful reminder of the role women have played in Sunderland’s story across generations.
“When I first joined the club, the game was very different, largely male, with an older fanbase. I always believed football should be more inclusive and reflective of its community.
“Today, Sunderland has one of the highest proportions of female season card holders in the country and one of the youngest female fanbases attending games, something we’re incredibly proud of.
“Because without supporters, there is no football club, and without their stories, there is no history.”
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.
Visitors are encouraged to attend before 25 March to discover the fascinating stories of women who have supported Sunderland AFC from the 1950s to the present day.
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/
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Foundation of Light are collaborating with ATW Tree and Landscaping to host a bumper Fan Zone for Foundation of Light Matchday.
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.