To say that the FA Cup has been something of a non-event for Sunderland in recent years might be an understatement, but after the deflating loss at Brentford a break from league action could be the tonic we all needed. A trip to Everton away wasn’t the kindest draw on paper, but the Toffees’ squad is arguably even more ravaged than ours by injury, suspensions, and AFCON, so if we went about it cleverly it seemed we had a chance of at least lasting longer in the Cup than most people’s New Year resolutions.
Thanks to TNT Sports condemning us to the brutal 12:15 kick-off time, it was still pitch black when I left Walthamstow in the bitter cold for the empty train. There was a mix of home and away fans on the train heading up to Merseyside, and a few Everton fans mentioned they were taking their kids along for their first trip to the new stadium. That was lovely, but I still hoped we’d ruin it for them.
Since the Hill Dickinson Stadium is relatively new, the local infrastructure hasn’t quite caught up to effectively manage transporting over 50,000 fans to a relatively poorly connected part of the city, so we decided to make the walk from Lime Street, stopping off at the very friendly and affordable Eagle pub along the way. The team news came as a pleasant surprise as we saw relatively few changes to the usual league side, and a welcome return to action for Sadiki. Everton’s side featured one of our favourite sons in Jordan Pickford, but was bereft of most of their best attacking players, so even the more cynical of us fancied our chances.
The new stadium was an impressive sight, sitting between the Mersey and a range of imposing former factories and warehouses. It took around 10 seconds to be served a couple of beers and chicken strips, contrasting with the interminable wait you get at a lot of other grounds, but the toilet facilities were nowhere near adequate for such a large crowd, so it was definitely a mixed bag. The massive away contingent were in fine voice, unperturbed by the early kick-off time to create a great atmosphere. For some reason Everton were lining up in all black again – truly bizarre given that our away kit is the same colour combination as their home number, but that’s their problem, not ours.
Anyway, Le Fée’s opener was a brilliant moment to banish the demons from West London. An excellent volley from Mukiele and a curled long-ranger from Mundle were saved impressively by Pickford, and Everton had rarely threatened at our end, so at half-time we felt confident that the Lads could see the job home in the second half. We should’ve remembered that things are never so straightforward with Sunderland, however, and some sloppy defending allowed the referee to give a controversial penalty that Roefs wasn’t quite able to keep out, so we had to face up to another thirty minutes.
At least most of us did; one of the lads from our branch hadn’t realised that FA Cup games went to extra time rather than straight to penalties, so had to depart and watch the last half an hour and spot-kicks on the train back down south. He missed out on a flawless shootout from our perspective, as Roefs held off Everton’s three poor efforts and Xhaka, Le Fée, and O’Nien converted to spark jubilation in the away end. The fervent celebrations from the players surely eliminate any doubt over whether the club is taking the cup seriously this year.
After the game we enjoyed a few celebratory pints at the Meraki music venue and the Blackstock Market, discussing the game and the season with the home fans. It might be verging on sycophancy to say this, but Everton really do have one of the classiest fanbases around. There wasn’t a hint of trouble all day, and you felt that they were being completely sincere in wishing us all the best for the next round and the rest of the season. There are obvious reasons for the rapport between the two clubs, and our return to the Hill Dickinson Stadium in May should be another great occasion.
For now we can look ahead to the fourth round and a trip to Oxford’s three-sided arena, which should be a completely different affair to last April’s visit during the waning months of the season. It’s far too early to get ahead of ourselves, but the prospect of this resilient and well-coached Sunderland team making a real fist of the cup is yet more reason to be excited for what 2026 might have in store.
