Well any supporter has great memories, ups and downs, although more downs than ups, and before now our excitement had come mostly in cups and promotion or relegation battles.
When did you first get into football and Sunderland?
I must have been seven going on eight and the first match I saw was actually an England under-23 game at Roker Park.
At that time in the late sixties Sunderland had a lot of very good young players who had been put in the squad, people like Jimmy Montgomery, Colin Suggett and Colin Todd so it was a pretty good introduction.
What about the first time you saw the red and whites?
My dad is adamant I saw a game before this, but the first one I remember was against Liverpool in 1968.
We lost 1-0 which wasn't surprising in those days as we didn't have a great team.
And although Liverpool weren't a great team either they were starting to take shape and become a force.
That's the way I remember it but my dad insists otherwise.
Are you a regular at the Stadium of Light these days?
Well I've got a box, so having shelled out for it I try to go as often as I can.
I actually had one for about 10 years at Roker Park before we moved and I share it with a couple of friends, so it's a matter of putting the dates in the diary and then checking if any athletics events get in the way.
Obviously I have to push some aside when things overlap but I make up for that by going to some away games as well.
It's actually pretty handy being in the Premiership in that respect because there are so many London clubs.
As I spend a lot of time in London I can go to those as well, so all in all I probably get to 20 or so games a season.
And you're getting to watch some good stuff these days.
Well any supporter has great memories, ups and downs, although more downs than ups, and before now our excitement had come mostly in cups and promotion or relegation battles.
But now, well, I think until last season when we finished seventh in the Premiership our highest position in my time was 15th or so.
It goes to show that what we've seen in the last few seasons is unprecedented in my 30 years of supporting them.
Are they the best team you've ever seen at Sunderland then?
They certainly are a good team with some really good players - but I've seen some great players at Sunderland.
In the seventies, when we won the cup, we had the nucleus of a good team with the likes of Dennis Tueart, Dave Watson and Jimmy Montgomery but we never quite went on.
That was repeated in the early eighties.
We had players like Ally McCoist, Kevin Arnott and Shaun Elliott playing under Alan Durban, who I thought was a really good manager, but again it never really took off.
So yes, although I've been fortunate to see some great individuals, this is the best team we've had in my time.
So out of all the "great individuals" you have seen who is your favourite player?
Well it's hard to pick out one player.
You could argue a case for someone like Frank Worthington as in attack we've not really had that many great goalscorers - although Kevin Phillips is rapidly re-writing the record books.
I thought Marco Gabbiadini was an excellent forward and a great goalscorer and at the other end we've had some good goalkeepers, among whom Jimmy Montgomery stands out.
And then there's also Dave Watson who played God knows how many games for England.
There must be someone who stands out.
There are two actually.
My childhood hero was an old school player who was just retiring.
He wasn't even a great player, but Charlie Hurley was a larger-than-life character playing in the back end of the fifties and sixties who I was fortunate enough to see play in his last two seasons.
When you're a kid your emotions get locked into things a little bit more, so Dennis Tueart is probably my all-time favourite player - and if I say that I'm not embarrassing anyone who I might bump into.
And what about this season, how far do you think the present side can go?
Should I speak with my head or my heart?
Realistically we should be looking to step forward from last season's great achievement of finishing seventh and aim for Europe.
Building a club takes time and Peter Reid's doing a great job of consolidating - I would much rather do that than boom and bust.
I would be delighted if we got into Europe and I think we'll probably finish in fifth - but don't let Reidy hear me say that!
Sunderland in Europe, that would be fantastic.