Strange feeling, this.
For the last time we were able to celebrate Sunderland guaranteeing another season of Premier League football as a newly-promoted club, you’d have to go way back to the 2007/2008 campaign as Roy Keane and Niall Quinn’s magic carpet ride climbed to an even higher altitude (or so it seemed at the time) as we eventually preserved our top flight status after a predictable season of struggle, with the deal eventually being sealed thanks to a thrilling 3-2 home victory over Middlesbrough.
This time, however, it’s been different.
Even if Saturday’s gritty draw with Wolves combined with West Ham’s loss to Brentford ensured that Premier League football for 2026/2027 was rubber-stamped in slightly more low-key fashion, it shouldn’t detract from the achievement overseen by Régis Le Bris and the efforts of his players as they became the first Sunderland side since 2010/2011 to reach such a total — our third-highest ever in the Premier League era.
A relief? Something to be proud of? Most definitely, even if what should’ve been six points from our last three games only ended up as one, but that’s the way it is.
In keeping with recent affairs, the clash at Molineux — which undoubtedly swung on Dan Ballard’s utterly infuriating red card — wasn’t the prettiest and it’s fair to say that one or two of Sunderland’s recent failings were exposed once again, but in the final analysis and despite the fact that we’ll more than likely fall short of qualifying for Europe, our number one goal for 2025/2026 has been attained.
It’s fair to say that this most intriguing and in many ways unexpected of seasons has been marked by the odd low point as well as a number of unforgettable highs, but when the final whistle blew at Wembley last May, everyone was surely united around one goal: survival and a foundation on which to build for the seasons to come.
Those boxes have been ticked and although one or two fault lines have been exposed in recent games, reaching forty seven points given the failings of newly-promoted sides in recent times is no mean feat.
Have points been dropped in frustrating fashion and have we occasionally been left wanting more? Yes, but we must remember that this version of the Premier League is a very different beast to that which we left in disgrace way back in 2017.
Nowadays, the pace of the top flight is more rapid. It’s also more physically demanding and altogether more daunting.
Squad depth is regularly tested, as is your mettle and your resilience as players and fans, but the fact that we’ve never looked remotely out of our depth speaks volumes. Come up, bank the cash and sink without a trace? “Here for a good time, not a long time”? Not this time. The vision and desire have been spot on, even if the execution hasn’t always been.
Naturally, it’s hard to look beyond the talismanic leadership of Granit Xhaka when you reflect on what the Lads have done this season, but the Swiss international has far from been alone in his task, with the likes of Omar Alderete, Ballard, Nordi Mukiele, Reinildo, Brian Brobbey, Robin Roefs and Wilson Isidor all doing their bit for the cause at key moments as the season has unfolded.
Attitude-wise, it’s been borderline impossible to fault the Lads and although recent results might’ve hinted at an easing off of the accelerator after a gruelling campaign, we can’t overlook the sheer effort it took to get into such a position in the first place. For much of the season and particularly at home, we were fiendishly difficult to beat, adopting a no-nonsense, ‘in your face’ approach, and it’s that solidity that enabled us to remain well out of the relegation battle.
Will we need to evolve in order to compete as strongly next season? Of course.
When the 2026/2027 campaign kicks off, we’ll no longer able to rely on the element of surprise and Le Bris’ style of play will undoubtedly have to be adapted to make us more of an all-round threat, but I firmly believe that he remains the right man for the job and that his position should not be under threat.
It would also be remiss to overlook the recruitment and the construction of the team that’s represented the club this season — easily one of the most popular, unique and exciting sides we’ve fielded in the Premier League era.
If last summer’s transfer window was a step into the unknown in terms of scale, fees and the profile of player we were able to bring to Wearside, it’s hard not to view it as a categorical if not entirely faultless success.
Many of the new arrivals have established themselves as mainstays and genuine bargains whereas some have found the going tougher and will undoubtedly require patience in order to develop, but the raw materials are in place and with another positive summer of recruitment, there’s every chance that another top ten challenge could be on the cards, as long as complacency is kept at bay and everyone remains on the same page.
At times this season, the scars of past failings have occasionally stung me — something that perhaps I wasn’t alone in experiencing — but perhaps I simply needed to show more faith in Le Bris and his players, trusting that they’d do the business when it mattered and ensuring that a season of struggle wasn’t on the cards.
That’s exactly what they’ve done and although it’s human nature to occasionally demand more, here and now, we are where we deserve to be; where we should be, and that’s more than good enough.
