Niall Quinn: 'For Sunderland fans football is a religion - it's extraordinary'

Niall Quinn has explained what makes Sunderland - and Newcastle - fans different from the rest.

Sunderland legend Niall Quinn says that, in his experience at least, there is not another part of the country where the passion for football can compare to the north east.

Quinn spent seven years at Sunderland after playing for both Manchester City and Arsenal before coming back to the club as part-owner and chairman after he retired from playing.

He saw the highs of promotion and the lows of relegation during his time at Roker Park and the Stadium of Light, but he says the region as a whole has left an incredible impression on him.

“People love their football and it’s more important to them than in other parts of the country,” Quinn said during a talk-in at South Shields FC.

“I always say to people, I played in a London derby, I played in a Manchester derby and I played in the Tyne-Wear derby.

“What was extraordinary [about the Tyne/Wear derby] was the amount of households that were involved in the build-up and everybody talking about it.

“With the greatest respect to Arsenal, Spurs, they are not all talking about the derby for weeks before, but in this place they do and it means so much to them.

“Like the leaders of industry here used to tell me that if you lost the derby, the amount of people that wouldn’t go into work the next day and face their colleagues on the other side of the floor.

“That kind of tells you it’s religion and it was lovely to be a part of it, as a player to be a part of what was collectively the most exciting time for Sunderland.”

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