AN anguished sigh from the stands as a Kevin Phillips shot whistles past the post - not just a sporting event but now part of a history degree.

Students will be examining the crowd's reactions to the ups and downs of their team's fortunes in a match at the Stadium of Light, in an attempt to understand the link between sport and society.

The field trip with a difference aims to look at how football has brought people together, particularly in the rapidly-expanding towns of the North-East in the 19th Century.

Sunderland University history lecturer Dr Neal Garnham said: "There was a big explosion in population in places like Middlesbrough and Sunderland, because of the burgeoning industries, and these people came here with nothing in common and no link to the town.

"One of the ways of feeling part of the town for a lot of working class men was to go to the football match.

"In a lot of towns in the North-East, the clubs are still a focus of local pride and identity, especially now with the decline of major industries."

About 20 history students will look at how the crowd responds to the action on the pitch, as well as listening to what fans are chanting and saying, in Sunderland's match against Charlton, on May 5.

Dr Garnham said: "You get more than 40,000 people together and a large proportion have taken drink and there is a lot of adrenaline around, but they don't go and wreck the place.

"Overwhelmingly the focus is on what is happening on the pitch."