'My club!' - Kieran Richardson explains his lasting love for Sunderland AFC
Kieran Richardson says Sunderland is ‘his club’ and the passion of the fans surpasses any other he has ever known.
Richardson played 149 games for Sunderland during a five-year spell on Wearside, and he is still loved today for his stunning Wear-Tyne derby winner against Newcastle in 2008.
It was an especially bright moment in what was a fine Sunderland career, and Richardson says the club have left a lasting impression on him.
"I've always said that Sunderland is the best team I've ever played for, the best club in my career - my favourite club by a country mile,” Richardson said on the SAFC Unfiltered Podcast.
"Even though Manchester United is a massive club, a bigger club, it wasn't my favourite club. I felt like Sunderland was my club.
"The fans, the love they have for the club, the passion, it's superior to any other club I have been at."
Richardson left in 2012, long before Sunderland started their depressing slide into League One. Like anyone who loves the club, it hurt to watch for Richardson, but he is confident the club are now on their way back to where it belongs.
"I didn't like seeing that,” Richardson said. "You see your club as a Premier League club and then they are down there in League One but it happens - it's happened before to massive clubs.
“Hopefully now we are on the right track to come back."
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