Victories for the Black Cats and, somehow, Reform

WELL, thank goodness. Of course it was never in doubt, I always knew that Regis would find the way to win.

- Hilton Dawson

Now all the North East needs is for Sunderland - and even Newcastle - to stay up, and for Middlesbrough to join them in the Premier League.

Football absolutely is 'the beautiful game, it's the passion and pride of communities, it can unite us across race and colour and creed and espe-cially at the top level in England it can bring the North East to the attention of the world.

Football can help in the worst times and in the worst places, I've seen laddies and lassies, kicking a ball around, barefoot on a stony, makeshift pitch in a refugee camp, lifting themselves out of terrible cir-cumstances for a little while.

Half of Newbiggin, half of my family is from Durham, and I first stood in the Fulwell End the day Billy Hughes made his debut on the pitch in 1967. I was at Wembley for the dread days with Swindon and Charlton Athletic and had a ticket for the second leg home to Coventry but went down with some mystery bug.

I spent most of the second half on Saturday pretending to make the tea.

It’s been a very fraught month of May. Early on, here in Warkworth, with the sun shining on the castle across the cricket field, just a mile from the sea, we've somehow slipped into being represented by Reform UK. (Lib Dem 110, Independent 292, Green 351, Labour 196, Conservative 325, Reform UK 397. Turnout 45.95%)

We are now represented on Northumberland County Council by some-