Any Sunderland fan who has brought a non-supporter to a match - or who has a mate supporting the away team - will have had to clarify this one question in particular: "Why did they play The Apprentice theme tune before the game?". The correct response is a snort of derision and disgust. The rousing anthem is Prokofiev's 'Montagues and Capulets' (otherwise known as 'Dance of the Knights'), and was used by Sunderland long before Alan Sugar got his filthy rich mitts on it. It's one of the most exciting walk-on songs in English football, easily up there with 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles' and 'The Liquidator' (the reggae track heard at Stamford Bridge and The Hawthorns). Nothing quite gets the crowd going like those opening few croaky cello notes or the soaring lone trumpet, especially when it's immediately followed by a passionate rendition 'Wise Men Say'.
