With FIFA’s 2022 winter World Cup only a few months away, Sunderland found themselves in the unusual position of kicking off their league campaign in July.
Promotion from League One had lifted the mood around Wearside immeasurably and for the first time in years, there was a genuine sense that the dark clouds hanging over the club were finally beginning to clear.
A crowd of 40,851 packed into the Stadium of Light for the visit of Coventry City, creating an atmosphere fuelled by months of anticipation.
Although Alex Neil had spent much of the summer calling for reinforcements, only Jack Clarke — signed permanently after his successful loan spell — and defender Dan Ballard had arrived before the opening day.
Those concerns were quickly forgotten once the match got underway and Sunderland started brightly, feeding off the energy pouring down from the stands.
Lynden Gooch, operating at right back, repeatedly surged forward and delivered a succession of dangerous crosses — one of which eventually led to the breakthrough, with Clarke reacting quickest after Simon Moore failed to deal with the delivery, sending the Stadium of Light into raptures.
The lead, however, never truly reflected the balance of the contest and Coventry gradually took control, with Gustavo Hamer, Viktor Gyökeres and Matt Godden asking constant questions of Sunderland’s defence.
Godden came agonisingly close after Dan Neil was caught in possession inside his own penalty area, whereas Sunderland increasingly relied on the pace and ingenuity of Patrick Roberts and Ross Stewart on the counter-attack.
The pressure finally told in the 84th minute as Gyökeres collected the ball just outside the penalty area, skipped beyond two Sunderland defenders and unleashed an unstoppable strike into the far corner.
It was one of those goals that left you frustrated as a supporter but equally appreciative of the quality — and few inside the Stadium of Light could argue that Coventry hadn’t earned their equaliser.
The game finished 1-1, although there was one final moment of drama when substitute Luke O’Nien somehow escaped with only a yellow card after a crunching late challenge. In truth, a draw was probably a fair result, giving both sides a point to begin the new Championship campaign.
After the final whistle, Neil chose to focus on the positives.
I thought we gave a good account of ourselves.
I thought we were organised, and we made it really difficult for them. Let’s be honest, we’d be talking about a great result here if it wasn’t for one moment of quality.
We switch off, don’t get down the line quick enough and let him turn, but even then, it’s a great goal. It’s not as if we’ve made an error and they’ve had a tap in. The lad’s had to turn, dip past two players and bang the ball in the bottom corner.
That’s the quality of the Championship.
Walking away from the Stadium of Light that afternoon, there was an odd mix of emotions — disappointment that Sunderland hadn’t held on for all three points, but that was outweighed by something that had been missing for far too long: optimism.
After years of false dawns, relegations and frustration, this finally felt like a team capable of competing at Championship level again.
A point against Coventry was only a small step in what would become a memorable campaign, but as supporters filtered out into the Wearside sunshine, there was a growing belief that Sunderland were back where they belonged, and that the journey was only just beginning.
