Contact: Daniel Pearlman
Location: Israel
Learn more about Daniel Pearlman and the Israel branch with the Q&A section below
Q: What inspired you to supporter Sunderland AFC?
A: I am Sunderland borne and bread and so supporting the lads was a natural choice, along with the rest of my family. I lived in Sunderland until the age of 18 when I left to go to University and so all through my childhood and growing up I was able to attend matches at Roker Park. I attended University in London and so would go to away games in the South East where possible and any home games if I was back in Sunderland during any vacations.
After University I continued to live and work in London and so this arrangement pretty much continued and I would try and get to as many games as possible, making it back to the SOL on a few notable occasions. (One evening that stands out was a trip up for the Sheffield United play off semi-final second leg!)
I left the UK in 2007 and I don’t have any immediate family still living in Sunderland so its harder to get to games now, but as my wife is from Scotland and a couple of times when we have been over visiting I have driven down from Glasgow for a game.
Q: Have you watched Sunderland ‘til I die on Netflix and what did you think of it?
A: Yes absolutely. Leo Pearlman, Gabe and Ben Turner of Fulwell 73 are my second cousins.
Q: Have you traveled to any home and away games this season?
A: Israel is two hours ahead of the UK. The weekend in Israel is Friday & Saturday. Sunday is the first work day of the week so if we have an early kick off on a Sunday I will try and listen or watch the game while I am in the office or I will get away early to catch the game at home if it’s a 5pm (3pm UK) kick off.
Q: What was the first Sunderland match you ever watched and/or attended? Can you remember the score?
A: I actually can't remember the exact game I first went too. It must have been in about 1978 or 79. What I do remember that it was a midweek game and I went with my Dad and we sat in the Clock stand. I have a feeling we lost!!
Q: How long have you been supporting Sunderland for?
A: I was born in September 1972 and my Mum always tells me that I lay on a rug on the floor watching the 1973 Cup Final. So I guess I have always been a Sunderland fan.
Q: Roughly, how many Sunderland fans are there in Israel that you know of?
A:
Now this is a difficult question to answer. If you don’t mind I will indulge you with a little explanation as to why this is so hard to answer. I am not sure if you are aware of the history of the Jews in Sunderland but you may be aware that sadly there are now very few Jews left living in Sunderland (maybe as few as 20 or 30). Although there are records of Jews living in Sunderland as early as 1755 the Jewish community mostly grew through the late 1800's and 19th Century until around the mid 1960's when at its largest probably only numbered a couple of thousand people and from then on the community started to shrink. The trend being that kids who grew up in Sunderland and left to go to University never came back to the town mostly as they found jobs in other cities or married people from other places and went to live elsewhere. So what was the point of this little Jewish history insight.
Well it goes without saying that all Sunderland Jews are proud of where they came from and pretty much 100% of them are proud Sunderland Supporters.
I know there are several hundred Jews who over the years have left Sunderland and are now living in Israel or have descendants living in Israel and it goes without saying that if a family has Mackem roots they support the Lads. I would not be surprised if there are several hundred Sunderland fans in Israel. In the city where I live I know over 20 Sunderland fans and I know of probably at least another 30 Sunderland fans (people who I could name) around the country.
Q: What are your plans for the Israel branch?
A: Firstly having an official supporters branch in Israel will enable us to have a central focus for all fans in the country. Via social media I would like to be able to connect and reconnect people who may have lost touch over the years. I would definitely look to arranging social gatherings. Whilst it may not be possible for everyone to get together centrally it would be great if we could have groups of people getting together to watch games during the season. I would also like to try and do one annual national get together.
I would also like to create a local social media forum where we can talk all things SAFC. By having an official local supporters group we can also have a locally joined up line of communication with the club.
