The 2026-27 campaign will mark five years since that historic day at Wembley in May 2022, and just look at how far we have come as not just a football club, but a city as well.
Today, I will take a look at the 18-man squad that won us promotion back to the EFL Championship in the 2021-22 season and where they are now.
Sunderland lined up against Wycombe Wanderers in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Let’s start with the man in goal that day.
Anthony Patterson
Anthony Patterson started in goal after spending half
of the campaign on loan at National League side Notts County.
He would make three crucial saves and see out the day as a promotion winner with his boyhood club.
Patterson would be Sunderland AFC’s number one for the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons before making way for Robin Roefs in 2025-26 and subsequently being loaned out to Millwall in February of this year. With the Lions, he qualified for the play-offs but unfortunately fell short to eventual winners Hull City. He had an all-round decent season at The Den, making 16 appearances and keeping six clean sheets. He is now back at Sunderland, with a few clubs looking to acquire the shot-stopper’s signature for the 2026-27 campaign.
Dennis Cirkin
At left-back that day was Dennis Cirkin, who made his senior debut that season and never looked back, becoming a defensive stalwart who could also score absolute screamers – Coventry City at home in 2024 comes to mind.
Cirkin played the full 90 minutes and had a 50 per cent passing accuracy, as well as 47 touches that day. He remained at Sunderland until the culmination of the 2025-26 season, making 126 appearances for the Lads and giving a great account of himself at the very top level. In June 2026, Dennis announced he would be leaving Wearside. He departs as a double promotion-winning hero to us Mackems and is currently a free agent as of July 2026.
Lynden Gooch
Academy graduate Lynden Gooch was the only player in that line-up who had played in the Premier League for Sunderland at the time. Our American Mackem made 33 competitive appearances after the Wembley final before leaving two matches into the 2023-24 season to join Alex Neil at Stoke City.
After 53 appearances for the Potters, Gooch joined Huddersfield Town and spent the 2025-26 season playing for the Terriers, scoring two goals and providing six assists. Currently, he remains contracted to the West Yorkshire side.
Bailey Wright
Bailey Wright had two campaigns at Sunderland under his belt at the time and was, in my opinion, one of our best players during our third-tier tenure. He unfortunately left us during the 2022-23 season after making 16 Championship appearances to join fellow promoted side Rotherham United.
He has since played for Lion City Sailors, scoring 16 goals and making 93 appearances for the Singaporean side.
Danny Batth
Danny Batth joined midway through the 2021-22 season from Stoke City and went on to make 55 appearances in red and white.
He departed in 2023 to join Norwich City, making 18 appearances, before moving on to Blackburn Rovers for the 2024-25 season, where he scored two goals. He then joined Derby County for 2025-26. The defender is now 35 years old and a free agent.
Corry Evans
The skipper that season was Corry Evans. He was a leader for Sunderland on and off the pitch and led the Lads back to the second tier for the first time in four years.
He would go on to play for Sunderland in 2022-23, making 24 appearances. He passed on the armband to Danny Batth during that campaign and made three final appearances on Wearside before departing for Bradford City in 2024, where he made nine appearances.
He then moved across the Pennines in January 2025 to Oldham Athletic, where he won National League promotion during his nine appearances. The former Northern Ireland international and brother of Johnny Evans has since retired from football.
Luke O’Nien
What more is there to say about Luke O’Nien? Mr Sunderland himself – captain, leader and legend on Wearside.
He started in defensive midfield that day and has gone on to play a multitude of positions in red and white, all except goalkeeper. Luke had been a Sunderland player for three years at that point and has since gone on to captain the side on the pitch, become club captain off the pitch, make over 329 competitive appearances, including 12 in the Premier League, win two promotions and receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Sunderland.
Luke remains a key figure at the club and is closing in on a decade of service. As of July 2026, he is still a Sunderland player and continues to etch his name into the history of SAFC.
Alex Pritchard
Alex Pritchard joined Sunderland during the 2021-22 season with previous Premier League experience at Huddersfield Town. Playing in the number 10 role, he assisted both goals during the final before making way for Callum Doyle after 81 minutes.
He left Sunderland during the second half of the 2023-24 campaign to join Tony Mowbray at Birmingham City. Mowbray, however, was relieved of his managerial duties in December of that season.
Pritchard made just nine appearances in the Second City before moving to Sivasspor in Turkey for the 2024-25 season, where he remained until becoming a free agent at the age of 33 after making just one appearance during 2025-26.
Patrick Roberts
Affectionately known as “Mini Messi” during his three-and-a-half-year stay on Wearside, Roberts started on the right wing and became a key player during that day at Wembley and throughout the following two full campaigns, including our promotion-winning 2024-25 season.
He made two Premier League appearances for Sunderland before joining Birmingham City on loan during 2025-26 – a move that has since become permanent. Patrick Roberts heads into the 2026-27 campaign as a Birmingham City player.
Elliot Embleton
The second of two local lads to start the match was Elliot Embleton, who lined up on the left flank and scored the opening goal just 12 minutes into the final before making way for Jack Clarke after 61 minutes.
Following loan spells at Blackpool and Grimsby Town, this was the season “Embo” established himself as a Sunderland regular. He made 47 appearances during 2021-22 and a further 24 in 2022-23 before joining Derby County for 2023-24, where he made just two appearances.
He then joined Blackpool the following season – a club he had helped win promotion with in 2020-21, alongside a certain Dan Ballard.
The 2024-25 campaign saw him join Carlisle United, where he suffered relegation to the National League. He remains contracted to Carlisle as of July 2026.
Ross Stewart
The Scotsman known as the Loch Ness Drogba, Ross Stewart, started up front and scored in the 79th minute – the goal that proved to be the winner and sent Sunderland back to the Championship. He was replaced by Nathan Broadhead in the 88th minute.
He scored a total of 38 goals in red and white, with 26 coming during the 2021-22 campaign, and made 81 appearances over three seasons.
Injuries kept the striker out for much of the second half of 2022-23 before he joined Southampton for 2023-24. He then endured around two years of injury problems before returning to his best during 2025-26, remaining injury-free and scoring 11 goals as Southampton reached the play-off final, although controversy at the club meant they did not appear in it.
Stewart was called up to Scotland’s squad for the FIFA World Cup this summer, making one group-stage appearance. He remains a Southampton player and appears to have established himself in the national team.
On the bench
Sunderland made three substitutions during the match – Jack Clarke, Tommy Doyle and Nathan Broadhead.
Jack Clarke
Clarke played just over half an hour of the final, but his real breakthrough came during Sunderland’s Championship years, when he became one of the first names on the teamsheet.
He scored 17 second-tier goals for the Lads between the 2022-23 and 2024-25 campaigns and played a pivotal role in keeping Sunderland up during the difficult 2023-24 season, scoring 14 goals.
The winger departed for newly promoted Ipswich Town during the 2024-25 campaign, making 36 Premier League appearances, scoring three goals and registering six assists.
The Tractor Boys were relegated that season, but Clarke returned to tearing Championship defences apart, scoring 16 goals and providing one assist as Ipswich won promotion back to the top flight.
Jack Clarke will return to the Stadium of Light with Ipswich Town during the 2026-27 season.
Callum Doyle
Callum Doyle played the final 10 minutes of the play-off final.
He departed for Coventry City in 2022-23, making 46 appearances, before moving 25 miles up the M69 to bitter rivals Leicester City, where he featured 23 times during 2023-24.
He then joined Norwich City for 2024-25, making 43 appearances, scoring once and providing seven assists. The former Manchester City academy player moved to Wrexham for the 2025-26 season, appearing 39 times, scoring three goals and assisting four.
As of July 2026, Doyle remains a Wrexham player.
Nathan Broadhead
Wales international Nathan Broadhead played only the closing minutes of the final.
He scored 13 goals during that campaign before moving to fellow promoted side Wigan Athletic for the 2022-23 season. In January 2023, he dropped back into League One with Ipswich Town and went on to secure back-to-back promotions with the Tractor Boys.
He made 84 appearances for Ipswich between 2023 and 2025, scoring 23 goals, before making a single Premier League appearance during 2025-26.
Broadhead then joined Wrexham later that campaign, scoring eight goals and providing five assists. As of July 2026, he remains a Wrexham player.
There were four unused substitutes on the bench that day:
Aiden McGeady, who departed for Hibernian during 2022-23 and retired after a spell with Ayr United in 2024.
Dan Neil, who captained Sunderland to Premier League promotion in 2024-25 before joining Ipswich Town on loan a few games into the 2025-26 season. He will play for Rangers on a permanent deal in 2026-27.
Jay Matete, who looked a promising player but was ultimately deemed not good enough. After loan spells with Plymouth Argyle, Oxford United and Bolton Wanderers, he secured a permanent move to MK Dons in 2025-26, making seven appearances while helping the club win promotion back to League One.
Ron-Thorben Hoffmann
Hoffmann started the 2021-22 season as Sunderland’s number one but made way for Anthony Patterson in January 2022.
He made 24 appearances for the Lads before moving to Eintracht Braunschweig, where he still plays as of July 2026. He also spent time on loan at Schalke during the 2024-25 campaign.
This League One play-off final squad contained the foundations of Sunderland’s future success, with five of the 18 players going on to achieve promotion to the Premier League in 2025 and four making Premier League appearances during the 2025-26 campaign.
