In the aftermath of our latest outstanding victory over our self-aggrandising neighbours from Tyneside, the anticipated bitter retorts have been as tedious as they are predictable. “Yas have neva won a trophy,” “yas divvent even have an airport”, and, of course, “yas have neva played in Yoorap (sic).” The list goes on.
The first two of these coping mechanisms come with pretty significant caveats in my opinion. Their trophy – a solitary League Cup – was only finally achieved after the club sold its
soul to a reprehensible theocratic dictatorship, which anyone with even a modicum of a conscience would find troubling at least, and besides, this still remains their sole piece of silverware after five years of Saudi ownership and hundreds of millions spent on transfers. The airport argument is, and always has been, tired and puerile, as if transport hubs are in any way relevant to football success. Crewe has always been a key rail interchange, but you can’t see The Alex troubling the Premier League for a long time.
I will admit, however, that the European point has always stung. Whisper it quietly, but I can’t deny that I’ve always looked at Newcastle fans travelling across the continent to watch their club with more than a twinge of jealousy. Not for the experience of travelling around with a rabble of pissed-up, boorish Mags, of course, but for the prospect of seeing beautiful, historic cities and experiencing what they have to offer with your fellow fans.
Sunderland’s travelling support has been one constant throughout the turmoil of recent decades. Even in the darkest times, when attendances at the SOL dwindled, we would still pack out the away ends at dilapidated, half-finished League One grounds across the country. We’ve always taken strong numbers for meaningless pre-season trips to Benidorm and Albufeira, so imagine how many we’d take over to Seville or Lisbon for a European tie. I’d say that fewer fanbases are more deserving of some kind of reward for their suffering than ours, and trips to watch Sunderland competing on foreign shores would certainly be a fitting one.
At the time of writing there are seven league games remaining, and we sit just three points behind seventh place, the highest spot we’ve achieved in the Premier League era. Our fixture list looks reasonably kind on paper, though many of the teams we are facing still have plenty to fight for at either the top or bottom of the table, and we’ve obviously struggled to put together a consistent run of results lately.
You’d say then that, at least on current form, a European finish looks unlikely, but for me there’s no reason at all why we shouldn’t go for it. Much like our unexpected play-off charge in the first season in the Championship under Tony Mowbray, the fact that we can even have this conversation with seven games remaining underlines how brilliant this campaign has been overall.
There would absolutely be a strong logical argument that the club is ill-equipped to fight a European campaign on top of our domestic commitments, but I doubt anyone would care about this if we’re supping on £1.50 beers in some medieval town square in Latvia come September. The ownership have shown that they are willing to adapt to new circumstances, and European football would be another carrot to dangle in front of potential signings.
This is all likely moot for this season, as logic would suggest we’ll just fall short, but with the introduction of the Conference League and the increased number of European positions available to Premier League sides, you certainly wouldn’t rule out this conversation being repeated in future seasons. So let’s keep our passports in the drawer for now, but remember to check when they expire just in case.
