Sunderland have risen from the depths to the edge of a bright future

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Since our last Premier League game against Chelsea in 2017, Sunderland fans have been through a lot: back-to-back relegations, nine permanent managers, four seasons in League One and three different owners, but after eight years away, we’re back where we truly belong.

Maybe we had to hit rock bottom first — and we certainly have been rock bottom.

Languishing in fifteenth place in League One in December 2020 and having managers such as Phil Parkinson coming out with statements that draws at Rochdale

and Fleetwood Town were ‘decent’ results was the lowest I’ve felt as a Sunderland fan in over thirty years.

From Ellis Short almost risking our club’s existence to Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven gambling on immediate promotion to sell for big money, to spending almost £4 million on Will Grigg, these were testing times that I hope we never have to experience again.

However, since Kyril Louis-Dreyfus took control of the club, things have been on an upward trajectory.

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On the pitch, we’ve gone from League One to the Premier League in just three years, which is an achievement in itself.

In three seasons in the Championship, we finished in the top six twice, and with Kristjaan Speakman as sporting director, we’ve been able to navigate away from the cost-cutting measures that occurred under Donald to establishing a real identity in player recruitment and a clear pathway from the U21’s to the first team.

Last summer, we appointed the little-known Régis Le Bris, and what a masterstroke of an appointment that was.

In his first season as head coach, we celebrated promotion back to the Premier League by winning the playoffs in May 2025. We also have a young, vibrant and exciting team which with all the new signings will be chomping at the bit to make an impact in the Premier League.

Fast forward to July 2025, and things couldn’t be any more different

Le Bris was clearly instrumental in the signing of Enzo Le Fée. We’ve also signed a £30 million footballer in Habib Diarra and we’re on the verge of signing Granit Xhaka for up to £17 million.

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This is a footballer who finished sixteenth in the Ballon D’Or only eighteen months ago and in my opinion, his signing has a Stefan Schwarz-like feel to it. We’ve spent more than £100 million and it doesn’t look like stopping there.

Dreyfus, Speakman, Stuart Harvey and new director of football Florent Ghisolfi are working tirelessly to assemble a squad capable of staying in the division. With defensive reinforcements surely next on the recruitment team’s agenda, it’s going to be a busy time between now and the end of the transfer window.

We have to get the balance right, and it’s fair to say there have been mistakes made under Louis Dreyfus.

Hiring Mick Beale was certainly an error and welcoming our neighbours with a Newcastle United-themed Black Cats’ Bar was certainly a huge error of judgement. There have also been signings that haven’t worked out, such as Hemir and Nazariy Rusyn, but Dreyfus has certainly done more good than bad during his ownership of the club.

Hiring David Bruce as Chief Business Officer was another shrewd appointment.

Bruce oversaw the reopening of the new club shop at Black Cat House, and he and his team were behind the ‘Til The End campaign used towards the back end of last season, which caught the imagination of Sunderland fans.

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They also sanctioned the Black Cats Tifo displayed in the Roker End prior to the playoff semi-final second leg against Coventry City, which was an amazing sight. That was the night where for the first time in many years, I felt we had Sunderland fully back.

We have an owner in Dreyfus who’s fully invested in Sunderland AFC.

Ghisolfi, Speakman and Harvey are overseeing the recruitment; Bruce is dealing with the business side of the club’s operation, Le Bris has been magnificent since he came in and the players will be desperate to make their mark in the Premier League.

Playing in front of 49,000 fans during every home game and playing against the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal shouldn’t be daunting for us. We are Sunderland and when everyone writes us off, that’s when we’re at our most dangerous.

Will this season be tough? Absolutely. But we can most certainly stay up.

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