Two names on the list are that of Niall Quinn and Martin O’Neill.
Speaking to the club’s YouTube channel about his time as chairman, Quinn said: “Martin O’Neill was flying, I was delighted Martin had come in. I just find it hard looking back as to how Ellis (Short, then owner and chairman) and Martin didn’t gel and Martin could have been there for years to come. That’s the way I thought it was going to happen, but it didn’t.
“Have I regrets about that? Yeah. I wish I was around to have been between the two of them, maybe, looking back, because I think you had a meeting of two great minds there, that were probably clashing as opposed to someone in the middle to keep the peace.
“I think that’s probably the one regret I had, that when I did leave I wasn’t there to support Martin, or indeed to support Ellis to make sure he was happy with the way things were going.”
Quinn continued: “That (O’Neill’s departure) began, I think, a demise that eventually, despite hanging on for a little while, would see the club go down two divisions.
“I wouldn’t change a lot, but I think the one thing I would change, I’d maybe have gotten to the end of that season. Looking back, I left in February or March, I think. Even though it finished alright, things were in good shape, Martin had done a great job and it looked like they were going to sign a few players, it just didn’t happen. Then there were a succession of managers.”
The Black Cats have a number of other famous fans – including some surprising and international names. Over the years, we have seen many celebrities come out and publicly announce their support of the Wearsiders. Here, we take a look at the famous faces who support Sunderland:
1. Lewis Atkinson
The Member of Parliament for Sunderland Central is a Black Cats fan. Lewis Atkinson won his seat at the last general election. | North News & Pictures Ltd nort
![The football manager, who went onto take charge at the Stadium of Light later in his career, was a Sunderland fan growing up. He recently stated: "I was growing up as a kid, don’t know where it came from probably because Charlie Hurley played for them, I was a big Sunderland fanatic. So I went to Sunderland as a manager based on this romantic notion of where Sunderland were based, the crowds that they got at the old stadium, which was Roker Park. They’d not moved to the Stadium of Light when I was up there [as a fan]. This idea that ‘do you want Sunderland to be all the things when you were supporting them’ that they never were."](https://www.sunderlandecho.com/webimg/b25lY21zOmE4YzVkOWVhLWQ2ODAtNGQ5Ni05YjU1LTc2ZTk3NjhhMzg3NTo5ODIyMzI5OC1mMDQzLTQzYWMtODdkMS0xNjdlZWEwZDNjMjM=.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=800)
2. Martin O'Neill
The football manager, who went onto take charge at the Stadium of Light later in his career, was a Sunderland fan growing up. He recently stated: "I was growing up as a kid, don’t know where it came from probably because Charlie Hurley played for them, I was a big Sunderland fanatic. So I went to Sunderland as a manager based on this romantic notion of where Sunderland were based, the crowds that they got at the old stadium, which was Roker Park. They’d not moved to the Stadium of Light when I was up there [as a fan]. This idea that ‘do you want Sunderland to be all the things when you were supporting them’ that they never were." Photo: Ross Kinnaird
3. Charlotte Crosby
Despite finding fame in Tyneside based show 'Geordie Shore', Charlotte Crosby appears to be a Sunderland fan judging from her historic Twitter posts... which are somewhat unflattering towards a certain Alan Shearer! Photo: John Phillips
4. Jordan Pickford
Like Jordan Henderson, Jordan Pickford is a Sunderland fan having grown up in the area and come through the club's academy before moving on. Photo: Naomi Baker