Sir Tim Rice picked 'beautiful, romantic' Sunderland

Sunderland - 'what a beautiful, romantic word'

BBC Look North

Sir Tim Rice admits to missing Bryan Ferry's potentialWorld-famous lyricist Sir Tim Rice is returning to theatres across the UK with a new tour. But it is a date at the Sunderland Empire that he is most looking forward to because the Oscar-winner has been a die-hard Sunderland football fan since the age of seven.

Now 80, Sir Tim recalls how he went in a different direction from his schoolfriends in the Home Counties who supported local teams like Luton Town and Watford.

He looked down the list of clubs in the old Division One and saw the name Sunderland.

"What a beautiful, romantic word - conjures up images of beaches and palm trees…