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Aiden McGeady has admitted he had opportunities to leave Sunderland during his five-year spell on Wearside, but was determined to remain and play a part in rebuilding the club after its dramatic fall down the Football League.
Speaking exclusively to Roker Report, the former winger also discussed his departure from Sunderland and revealed how he feels watching the club now compete back in the Premier League and in Europe.
McGeady joined
Sunderland in 2017 following relegation from the Premier League and remained at the club through their subsequent drop into League One.
While the period was undoubtedly one of the darkest in Sunderland’s modern history, McGeady believes the work carried out during those years laid the foundations for the remarkable rise which followed.
‘The club has come on leaps and bounds’
McGeady has watched from afar as Sunderland have climbed from League One back to the Premier League and subsequently secured European football.
And he believes the scale of the transformation has been enormous.
“Luckily we managed to get promoted in that season [2021/22], but from then on the club just went there,” McGeady said, gesturing upwards.
“Just getting promoted to the Premier League and spending the money, staying in the league, which was the plan to start out with, but as the season went on you’re finishing in the European places and you’ve now got European football for the first time since the 70s.”
For McGeady, Sunderland’s progress represents the culmination of a long rebuilding process.
He also believes the club’s structure changed significantly following the departures of Charlie Methven and Stuart Donald.
“Shortly after Charlie Methven and Stuart Donald left the club, it started to change and be ran like a proper club.”
The results of that change are now clear.
Sunderland have gone from playing in League One to returning to the Premier League and competing in Europe within a relatively short period of time.
And McGeady is delighted to see it.
“I never parted ways on bad terms,” he said.
“The club got promoted, I was delighted and how well the club are doing now I am delighted to see it.”
Why McGeady stayed
McGeady could have left Sunderland during those difficult years.
Instead, he chose to remain and attempt to be part of the solution.
“I probably had the chance to leave a few times and I didn’t,” he said.
“I was part of the team that got relegated and wanted to be part of the team that kicked on and got the club promoted and eventually get the club back to where it should be.”
That desire was rooted in an understanding of just how far Sunderland had fallen.
“The club was as low as it had been in the Football League in its history, so it was our job to turn that around and start that upward trend.”
For a player who had experienced the pressure of playing for Celtic, McGeady relished the responsibility that came with representing Sunderland.
He had developed a strong connection with the supporters and the local area, and wanted to help restore the club to its rightful place.
‘I was never bothered about the money’
McGeady’s eventual departure from Sunderland was complicated by a clause in his contract.
The former winger revealed that if he started 30 games, he would trigger another year on his deal.
“I had a clause in my contract, if I started 30 games I would’ve triggered another year,” he explained.
That led to a disagreement between McGeady and the club over whether he should waive the clause.
“There was a stand-off between me and the club. They were saying we are going to offer you a new contract but can you sign a waiver to say that you’ll forego this clause.”
McGeady refused.
“I was like, no, because you’ve been happy with my performances up until now.”
He insists that financial considerations were not driving his position.
“I said, you know, just tell me what you’re going to offer me, I’m not bothered about the money.”
The problem was that Sunderland’s situation was still uncertain.
“Anyway, they couldn’t tell me what they were going to offer me because we didn’t know what league we were going to be in.”
Ultimately, the two parties went their separate ways.
But there was no bitterness.
“I never parted ways on bad terms.”
And, crucially, McGeady was able to leave knowing that Sunderland had finally secured promotion.
A lasting connection with Sunderland
Two years removed from professional football, McGeady remains clearly invested in Sunderland’s progress.
The winger’s five-year stay on Wearside included relegation, promotion battles, Wembley heartbreak, a Wembley trophy and 71 goal involvements.
But perhaps the most significant part of his legacy is the fact that he remained when Sunderland were at their lowest and helped lay the foundations for the recovery.
“I was part of the team that got relegated and wanted to be part of the team that kicked on and got the club promoted and eventually get the club back to where it should be.”
Now, with Sunderland back in the Premier League and playing European football, McGeady can look back knowing that he played his part in the first stage of that remarkable journey.
“The club was as low as it had been in the Football League in its history, so it was our job to turn that around and start that upward trend.”
The upward trend has continued far beyond what McGeady could have known when he first arrived in 2017.
And, as one of the players who stayed to help Sunderland begin that recovery, it is little wonder that he continues to take such pride in watching the club’s progress.
