Sunderland Till I Die premiered on Netflix last week and has caught the attention of football fans around the country.

BT Sports presenter Jake Humphreys tweeted:

I’ve binged-watched the Sunderland doc on Netflix. Fascinating – I can’t recommend it enough. The antithesis of the Man City version and captures the pain and passion perfectly. The best football access doc I’ve ever seen. Get on it.

Film makers Fulwell73 were granted exclusive access to the Black Cats’ turbulent season in the Championship and ultimate relegation to England’s third tier.

Their documentary has already earned critical acclaim for shining a light on the club, its fans and the Wearside community.  Read my article about what makes Mackems so special.

And the song that perfectly sets the tone for the series in its opening scene could rocket to number one in the charts.

Sunderland Singer-songwriter Marty Longstaff – AKA Lake Poets – released Shipyards in 2015. But the track Marty wrote about his grandfather and native city has been given fresh attention since it sound tracked the documentaries opening sequence.

Viewers were so touched by Shipyards that they flocked to buy it online. As of Sunday, Shipyards had climbed to fourth in the iTunes chart. There is a campaign to encourage Black Cats fans and Sunderland Till I Die viewers to propel the track to Christmas number one. You can download Shipyards from iTunes here.

On Sunday, Marty tweeted:

“Easily one of the best days of my life. Huge thanks for all the love & lovely words about Shipyards. Chuffed you all love the Fulwell73 documentary. Sunderland AFC are by far the greatest team the world has ever seen & the people of the city are even better !!”

Marty has said the song is about his late grandfather, who worked in shipbuilding, and the values he shared with the city of Sunderland. He said:

“Shipyards is a song from my debut album (2015) I wrote about my late granddad who was a rivet catcher and later a crane driver at Austin & Pickersgill where he worked all his life. He was a lifelong Sunderland fan, and an all round lovely, hard-working, humble, kind and generous man.

“It’s sort of a letter to him, but also to the city and its industrial heritage. I was overwhelmed the song was chosen to be the theme to the documentary. The values my granddad had are ones I strive to maintain and I know many in the city do too. The club’s success is tied in with all those hopes and dreams also for many of us, we all just want to do our family, friends, and city proud.”

Marty is no stranger to Billericay having played a hugely memorable house gig back in November 2016 I’m hoping to persuade him to come back sometime in 2019.