Detroit Social Club

Skysports.com continues its new feature, Football Firsts, by reminiscing with Detroit Social Club.

Skysports.com continues its new feature, Football Firsts, by reminiscing with the much feted Detroit Social Club

Detroit Social Club are a band who have made all the right noises in the last couple of years and it looks as though new single 'Northern Man' could see the Sunderland-based outfit step it up another level. The soaring orchestral track has been a festival favourite all summer and is the theme tune for Sky Sports' Saturday lunchtime game. If you've been impressed with what you've been listening to since the start of the season then get your hands on a copy of their much praised debut album 'Existence'. Having earned their stripes touring with heavyweights Oasis and Primal Scream, front man David Burn and his band are now ready to go it alone with a headlining tour scheduled for October. The affable Burn took time out to regale us with his thoughts on all things Sunderland, including a hero-worshipping of Kevin Ball and loathing for Lee Clark...

Sunderland 2 Everton 2

The first one I can remember was at home to Everton. It must have been around 1990 or '91. It was 2-2. I remember the first half was awful, sitting there freezing cold thinking 'I hate this'. Then all the goals were scored in the second half and I had a change of heart. I was around seven or eight and I remember that when you used to go to games back then there were spiky railings so people used to make boards attached on a rope so you could sit on them and get to the front. My step dad made me one of them and that's the abiding memory of my first game.

Sunderland

I'm a big Sunderland fan. My dad's side of the family are all Sunderland supporters, who live literally two minutes away from Roker Park. I always used to drive past the stadium but the rest of my family are all Newcastle supporters. You tend to go where your dad goes because he's the one who takes you to your first game and all that. I've got a season ticket this year as the album's done and all the festivals are over now so I've got a bit more time to go to the game.

Kevin Ball

He just used to fight every match. He was definitely my first hero. He was the captain of the side and a real mainstay, alongside Gary Bennett and Richard Ord. That's when I first started going and then there was Marco Gabbiadini as well. After that stepped up people like Kevin Phillips in the mid-nineties, he was the next icon, along with Niall Quinn.

Lee Clark

I would say the biggest villain for us has to be Lee Clark. He was playing for us in '99 when Newcastle got to the FA Cup final. He was in the crowd at Wembley wearing a t-shirt that had 'sad Mackem b******' on it. He was sat laughing with all his Newcastle mates. He was one of our main players at the time. He was class, I remember the year before when we got to the play-off final and lost to Charlton he was one of the main players. When he first came we weren't impressed because he was a proper Geordie but he was great for us. Well, until he did that....I don't think he played another game after that as he was off to Fulham with Kevin Keegan.

Italia '90

My first memory is of the 1990 World Cup. I remember you bought a folder that you filled each week with stadium guides and player profiles. I remember passing the sweet shop every week and my mam would get me some stickers. By the end of the World Cup you had the whole lot in a folder. I also remember a game at Roker Park at around that time where two lads started fighting. It was a proper, proper fight when West Ham scored. It's strange but that was a really vivid memory that always sticks in my mind.

Sunday league wing wizard

I used to play until I was about 15. In my first game I was sub and they brought me on as a defender. I've always been a winger or a striker and absolute crap in defence. We were 2-0 up when I came on and it finished 2-2. I was quite tall and in junior football that automatically makes you a defender. A couple of games later though I scored direct from a corner and cemented my place on the wing. I stopped when I was about 15 as my older brother used to play Saturdays and Sundays so I preferred to watch him. I got to knock about with loads of older people and they managed to get me in the pub so it wasn't a tough choice. I still play five-a-side but I probably couldn't do 11-a-side anymore. I don't exactly live the right lifestyle being in a band. I scored a goal the other night but after ten minutes my heart started pumping and I was absolute garbage.

Liverpool strip

It was actually a Liverpool kit. When I was about six or seven I was a Liverpool fan. They were obviously the team of the eighties and I remember I used to copy down the tactics from the TV before the start of the match. I was into my formations at the time. My step dad said 'look, you're never going to go to a Liverpool match' and started to take me to Sunderland instead.

Billy Joel or something equally crap

I didn't get into music until I was about 13 or 14. I used to nick my brother's Stone Roses albums. My first album was probably something s*** like Billy Joel or Level 42. If I can pretend, it was something like Nevermind by Nirvana.


Co-produced by Burn and Jim Abbis (Arctic Monkeys, UNKLE) new single 'Northern Man' is out on October 11. What were your Football Firsts? Let us know using the feedback form below.