There may well be some disappointment over Sunderland’s opening day defeat against Ipswich Town - but there can be no doubt the Stadium of Light faithful were fully behind Tony Mowbray’s side throughout a brave loss.
It seemed almost inevitable former Black Cats loan star Nathan Broadhead would find the target against his old club and that came to pass just before half-time as the Tractor Boys striker put his side in front. George Hirst doubled the visitors lead seven minutes into the second-half and things went from bad to worse for Sunderland when Trai Hume was shown a second yellow card with just under 20 minutes remaining.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Mowbray’s men put in a determined push to claim an unlikely point as Dan Neil got them back into the game with four minutes left on the clock. Despite 13 minutes of injury-time being signalled, the Black Cats could not find an equaliser and were left empty-handed from their opening game of the campaign.
The highlight of the day was the ferocious atmosphere created by the Wearside faithful on a challenging day for their side - but how did the Stadium of Light attendance compare to Sunderland’s Championship rivals?