Looking back at the archives from April 1933, we find that the new Sunderland manager, Benito Mussolini, gave a terse statement to a press conference in which he denied having Fascist sympathies.

The new Sunderland manager is a very excitable bald Italian, who has previously been photographed giving straight-arm salutes to large crowds of right wing supporters in Rome, but yesterday he was claiming to have been misquoted when he said “I’m a Fascist, not a Racist”.

Mussolini said “Like my great idol, Paulo Di Canio, I am opposed to violence and some of my best friends are Jewish. Furthermore, I’ve no intention of forming an alliance with the new Nazi regime in Germany”.

He also promised to stick to football while he was in charge of Sunderland, without getting involved in politics. “Back in Italy I am famous for making the trains run on time, so you can see that I’ve had no influence at all on the performance of Northern Rail in this part of England”.

Looking to the future, Benito said he was inspired by the ‘Invest in Africa’ logo on the Sunderland shirt. “I’m already running a brutal colonial regime in Libya, and I’ve got some exciting ideas as to how we can take this forward in the next few years by invading Abyssinia.”

But a lot of Sunderland fans remain unconvinced that Il Duce’ was a wise choice to be their next manager. Ramsay McDonald has already resigned as a director, and thousands of unemployed men in nearby Jarrow are about to start a march all the way to London to protest about his appointment.

Photo: Action Images

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