International Fans’ Day Weekend Reflections: “Nancy’s Story”

A general view of Sunderland branding scarves during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, United Kingdom, on April 12, 2026. (Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images Last weekend’s game took place on International Fans’ Day weekend, and Friday night at the Fans Museum was a chance for all of our visitors and some of the Roker Report team to meet up and chat all things Sunderland. It was my first experience of the IFD; beforehand, I’d only ever listened to episodes of Haway The Podcast as they’ve interviewed our guests and I’ve listened to their fantastic and varied stories behind becoming Lads’ fans.

On the night, had the pleasure of talking to Nancy, whom originally hailed from Canada and had moved to Netherlands after meeting her husband Erik. She was kindly offering around some delicious caramel-type wafers that I annoyingly can’t remember the name of, because they were delicious! She’s now a devoted and dedicated Sunderland fan — and I think she said that this was her fifth year of visiting on IFD.

International Fans' Weekend 2026 is here 🤩 Great to have supporters from across the world with us at the @FansMuseum tonight 🌍 pic. twitter. com/1UWLIdQeaT — Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) April 10, 2026 As a younger lad, her husband Erik had gone shopping, and had spotted a ‘cool’ looking football shirt that was predominantly white with a thin red stripe.

It turned out to be a Sunderland home shirt and he was hooked from then on! Each to their own I guess, as this was always my least favourite home strip, but it’s always fascinating to hear how different people get caught up in their own Sunderland story and become as mad and as passionate as anyone else. I could’ve listened to Nancy all evening, and her memories and stories about being a fan, but it was a different thread that I promised her that I would write about — the decision by Sky TV and the Premier League to move the Tottenham game from Saturday to 2:00pm on Sunday.