In two days’ time, we’ll watch Sunderland play in Europe.
Almost five years to the day since we conceded two late goals to Simon Grayson’s Fleetwood Town to draw 2-2, this club – our club – will be playing European football for the first time since 1973.
There’s only one player still around from the 18 on duty that night in Fleetwood; Luke O’Nien, of course. And it really does illustrate the magnitude of the job that’s been undertaken since Kyril Louis Dreyfus’s takeover, which officially happened
six months or so before that game at ‘Highbury’.
So now is the perfect time to sit back and take a minute to appreciate the work that’s been done, and the ups and downs we’ve all gone through, over the past decade.
And then quickly look forward to what is possible.
Because this European campaign shouldn’t be a once in 50+ years experience for us.
For a club as historically significant as Sunderland, the fact we’ve not played European football for 53 years really is a disgrace. The fact we’ve had to wait so long isn’t anything to do with the size of the club, it’s solely down to how the club’s been run for decades.
It finally feels like we’re getting towards being where we belong.
Bar some fleeting exceptions, the club had been pretty badly managed since the Mr Smith scandal of the late 50s, and despite a few false dawns, it feels like this game on Wednesday marks a new chapter in the history of Sunderland AFC; new unchartered territory that is another step into the unknown, a step on the road to Sunderland being the club it should be.
Only six clubs have won more league titles than we have, however it’s often felt to me in my lifetime that the club’s never really believed it belonged; never really felt it’s worthy of challenging the best, and had marked those past achievements as something well and truly belonging in a bygone era.
Thanks to the work of the current ownership and the staff they’ve put in place, that’s changing.
No more excuses, no more ‘knowing our place’, no more ‘look at how far we’ve come’.
Let’s look forward, reset our own expectations, and build a future that’s very, very different to what’s been as acceptable for the majority of the past 80 years.
Wednesday should be a moment of absolute pride for every single one of us, but it cannot be the pinnacle; it’s not the achievement. It’s the next step on the road to Sunderland AFC awakening. It’s the next step on the road to us realising the potential that was last truly unlocked in the mid 1930s.
What’s been achieved over the past five years or so has been exceptional. However, it’s bordering on criminal that level of rebuild was ever needed in the first place, and it should never be needed again.
So, if we are going to look back for more than a brief moment, let’s look back 90, 100 years.
Because that’s where you’ll find the true spirit of Sunderland, the true heart and soul of this football club. The real evidence of what this club is, was and should be.
And, when the Sunderland team walk out on Wednesday – fittingly enough wearing a kit inspired by the 1930s team, and bearing the names of the players who lifted a cup in 1937 – enjoy it.
Because Sunderland’s redemption story isn’t about regaining the top flight status of the late 90s under Reidy, or competing in the Premier League under Roy Keane or Steve Bruce.
Sunderland’s true redemption arc goes back way beyond that, it goes back to the first part of the 20th century.
And on Wednesday we’ll witness the biggest, most meaningful step towards realising our potential for the best part of 90 years.
Dan Neil hits the right notes
Another player on the team sheet that night in Fleetwood was Dan Neil, and our former captain has found life tough going north of the border after his move to Rangers.
He was appointed captain on his arrival and came in for some criticism from Rangers fans for his performances, so I was delighted to see him score two cracking goals at the weekend against Celtic.
Now, I’ve got no horse in that particular race, and I always keep an eye on players who’ve done well here, so it was great to see.
There’s definitely a player there, and if his contract situation had been resolved earlier I think he still could be playing a part here, but that’s by the by. Hopefully that kickstarts his Rangers career – if it’s anything like here, scoring a couple in a convincing derby win would guarantee a bit of a grace period, if nothing else – and hopefully he can kick on under Derek McInnes, who, you may remember, almost became Sunderland manager before Simon Grayson. Sunderland connections everywhere!
