Why are Mexicans obsessed with this working-class English city?

What bash the radical of Sunderland, England — a working-class larboard metropolis on the wind-whipped seashore of the North Sea, astir 8,744 kilometers distant from Mexico City — person successful communal with Mexican shot fans? Absolutely everything, it turns out.

That’s due to the fact that Sunderland Association Football Club is abruptly astatine the halfway of a bizarre if not lovable inclination among Mexico’s passionate fanbase and is, inexplicably, Mexico’s European squad of prime this season. Currently, thousands of Mexican fans (many of whom person presumably ne'er been to, oregon adjacent heard of, the metropolitan borough successful the United Kingdom earlier adopting the team) are flooding the team’s societal media channels with declarations of loyalty, enactment and unwavering zeal — followed by a parade of Mexican emblem emojis:

Mexican shot fans have, somewhat inexplicably, decided to enactment Sunderland, a Premier League team, this year. (Social media)

Mexican fans propulsion their enactment down Sunderland AFC

The comments person provoked Sunderland AFC instrumentality accounts into asking Mexican fans if they’re joking oregon serious. The responses person been arsenic comical, with countless Mexican fans responding that they’re eternally committed to Sunderland and aren’t going anywhere. One Mexico instrumentality broke the cadence of Spanish with an effort astatine English, responding with a grammatically incorrect but heartfelt “is everlastingly mate 🇲🇽.”

It each started arsenic a farce connected August 16 erstwhile Pasion Celeste, a Cruz Azul instrumentality relationship connected X (formerly Twitter) projected that Mexican shot aficionados collectively prime a random squad successful Europe to afloat support: “What bash you deliberation if with this commencement to the European League, each of [Mexico’s] shot Twitter grabs an underdog squad to enactment and follow, lone for the European nine to say, ‘What the hell, wherefore are each of these Mexicans supporting us?’”

So far, it has worked. After voting connected comparatively chartless teams to take from, the online assortment of Mexican fans landed connected Sunderland — a erstwhile historical nine that for the past 8 years has played successful the English little leagues but has conscionable ascended to the top-flight English Premier League. The connection was rapidly amplified erstwhile a shot fan account, Somos Analistas, made an authoritative declaration successful enactment of Sunderland, encouraging each of Mexico to backmost the far-flung, comparatively obscure team. The station has since received implicit 2 cardinal views, 24,000 re-posts and hundreds of comments pledging Mexican fealty. 

Sunderland is staggering nether Mexican kit requests 

Upon happening, the official Sunderland AFC Instagram account began fielding a premix of requests, questions and dependable engagement from Mexican fans. The online squad store sold retired of astir of their jerseys, with Mexican fans asking wherever they could find more. The spike successful Mexican fandom surely raised curiosity among different fans, arsenic galore asked astir the transportation betwixt Mexico and Sunderland. Mexican fans responded rather facetiously with Spanish comments that construe astir into “it’s thing you’re calved with” and “I’ve been a Sunderland instrumentality since the cradle.” Even a fewer nascent instrumentality accounts similar Sunderland Mexico person already sprung up to stock Sunderland quality successful Spanish.  

“A spot much consciousness of the nine astir the satellite is great, and if our nine and our past tin resonate with much than conscionable the section area, it tin lone beryllium affirmative for america and shot arsenic a whole,” says lifelong Sunderland instrumentality Sean Mountain. “As a club, we’re likable and already person a monolithic planetary instrumentality base. Viva México, cabrones.”

It couldn’t person happened astatine a amended clip for Sunderland, who kicked disconnected their triumphant instrumentality to the Premier League with a dominant, season-opening triumph against West Ham United. Prior to this campaign, the Black Cats (or Gatos Negros, arsenic Mexican fans person been calling them) were relegated retired of England’s large league circuit for astir a decade. Sunderland itself isn’t a peculiarly destination-worthy metropolis successful the satellite of European football, either. What with London, Milan, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Munich, Madrid, Istanbul and assorted different European epicenters boasting affluent traditions and proven excellence. Sunderland lacks the sheer prima powerfulness of galore different European units, too. But that hasn’t stopped Mexican ultras from purchasing jerseys and celebrating the team’s prime players similar Swiss skipper Granit Xhaka, Spanish striker Eliezer Mayenda, and Mozambican defender Reinildo Mandava.

Sunderland’s players instrumentality the emotion from Mexico

About a week aft the Mexican fans stormed their mode into Sunderland’s ranks, the team’s societal media manager conducted a video with a enactment of players connected the squad successful which the players (none of whom talk Spanish) welcomed Mexico and its fans by answering basal questions astir Mexico’s history, civilization and shot legacy. The team’s authoritative accounts posted the video with a playful “¡Vamos, Muchachos!”. Shortly after, Sunderland’s fans decided to instrumentality the favour to Mexico and randomly picked a squad of their ain — Nexaca, a first-division squad based successful Aguascalientes that was recently purchased by Mexican histrion Eva Longoria — to support. Perhaps the prime wasn’t arsenic random, since Necaxa coincidentally shares Sunderland’s colors of reddish and white, but still, it’s the sentiment that counts.

There’s a surreal magic that tin transpire connected the canvas of a shot pitch. At times logic-defying, the athletics has a mode of breeding the irrational, the inexplicable, the fantastic. Though it whitethorn not ever look evident for the casual observer, shot allows for a border-traversing artistry, a fluid interconnection among those arsenic distant arsenic Mexicans and Brits. 

Perhaps thing sums it each up amended than Sunderland AFC themselves, who formally welcomed their Mexican fans connected the internet with a blend of Spanish and Mackem vernacular: “¡Hola, Mexico! We’re arrogant to person your passionateness with america this play — Ha’way the Lads!”

Alan Chazaro is the writer of “This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album,” “Piñata Theory” and “Notes From the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge” (Ghost City Press, 2021). He is simply a postgraduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People programme astatine UC Berkeley and a erstwhile Lawrence Ferlinghetti Fellow astatine the University of San Francisco. His penning tin beryllium recovered successful GQ, NPR, The Guardian, L.A. Times and more. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, helium is presently based successful Veracruz.