Sunderland's Monkwearmouth Station, home of The Fans Museum, celebrates 175th anniversary - this is what makes it so special

And this month marks 175 years since the former Monkwearmouth Station opened its doors, providing a major transport link and standing guard over a gateway to Sunderland.

A testament to the burgeoning wealth and industrial power of Wearside in the mid 19th century, the fine-looking sandstone station opened as a new Sunderland terminus for the Brandling Junction Railway in June 1848.

It was the brainchild of The Railway King himself, George Hudson, who wanted to mark his successful election as MP for Sunderland and commissioned Thomas Moore, the leading architect in Victorian Sunderland, to design the station.

It would go on to serve the then town as a busy station, transporting people as well as cattle.

As the decades passed, the main Sunderland Station became more well used, passengers dwindled and in 1967 it closed its doors – although the line is, of course, still used today by mainline and Metro services.

It would become a railway museum before similarly low footfall led to its closure.

Today, however, the Grade II*-listed building is serving the city in style once more as The Fans Museum.

City businessman and ardent Black Cat Michael Ganley took over the Victorian gem in 2017 and he and his team have brought it back to life spectacularly.

Around 2000 people head through its towering wooden doors each week, for everything from youth clubs and mental health support clubs to lively pre-match and pre-concert entertainment.

It’s been a real passion project for Michael who’s been a private collector of memorabilia for decades, building up a vast collection of items linked to his beloved Black Cats as well as his home city.

The collections rotate monthly and are only ever a fraction of around 20,000 items he’s collected, including 4,500 match-worn shirts dating back 120 years, balls and medals, ranging from original turnstiles and seats from Roker Park to Martin O'Neill’s underpants and the original Women’s Premier League trophy.

He’s just as passionate about the people of Sunderland having ownership of such an important building and its collection, and visitors can try on the shirts, sit on the Roker Park seats and really get hands on with the history of their city.

“I have a huge passion for football, which had always been hidden. Some may call me a hoarder, but I wanted to do something with it, so everyone could enjoy the collection,” he said.

“Football fans come in all shapes and abilities, so I knew we could reach a wide range of people with this museum,” he explained. “I never wanted it to be commercially driven, which is why it’s free for everyone.

"I really support health and education, if you can stop a kid tossing a stone through a window, you can stop them breaking a window and moving on to more things.”

A dedicated team of ambassadors man the museum.

Michael said: “I call them ambassadors, not volunteers. They are more than that. Post Covid, volunteers are instrumental to industry now and they should be given respect for that.

"I think a lot of families can feel scared about coming to such a daunting building, they think a museum isn’t for them. But we engage with them in a diverse way.”

In July, the museum will host a 175th celebration which will be open to the public, with more details announced soon.

The museum has some high profile supporters, with Leo Pearlman of Fulwell 73 and Don Airey of Deep Purple fame amongst the board members.

It’s also full steam ahead for some big developments at the museum so watch this space.

:: The Fans Museum is open from Mondays to Fridays from 10am to 3pm, on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm and on match days from 11am.