Trying to pinpoint the exact moment when Sunderland’s recovery from third-tier also-rans to Premier League status was completed is easy: it was when Tommy Watson slotted the ball into a cigarette paper-wide gap at Wembley, sending the Lads back to the top flight in the most dramatic, heartstopping fashion possible.
Watson’s farewell was the full stop at the end of years of hard work, sacrifice, futility and sheer bloody frustration on behalf of everyone associated with the club.
He became a hero that
day without a doubt, but as we reflect on a suitably head-spinning finale to the summer transfer window, the subject of “Wembley heroes” now feels even more prevalent, with Patrick Roberts having bid farewell to Wearside to link up with the American-led mini-revolution that’s taking place at Birmingham City.
The ridiculously skilled and often-frustrating Roberts is one of many players whom, since 2022, played a huge role in Sunderland clawing their way first out of League One and then back into the Premier League, and whose legacy in red and white — though not measured in ‘major’ trophies — can be quantified in a different way; that is, they helped to restore our club to a position of respectability after years of humiliation on an industrial scale.
Of course, the continued evolution of the club and the need to improve the squad for the challenges we’ve faced and will continue to face means that certain players were always going to leave, but as we look to the future, it feels appropriate to look to the past as another of Sunderland’s key figures of recent years moves onto pastures new, and a club where his skill and game-changing ability will doubtless continue to flourish.
Our ascent back to the top flight came as a result of the efforts of many, of footballers who bought into what we were trying to achieve and gave their all in pursuit of victory. And the fact is that during those years, we flirted with disaster as often as we enjoyed the taste of success, which makes their resilience under pressure even more impressive.
During the League One playoff run, where would we have been without the defensive solidity of Danny Batth and Bailey Wright, and the relentless energy of Lynden Gooch? What might’ve happened had Alex Pritchard and Corry Evans not risen to the challenge when they were needed most, or Elliot Embleton not found the back of the net after his driving run in the playoff final?
How different might history have looked if Roberts hadn’t made a last-gasp run at Hillsborough or set Eliezer Mayenda up against Sheffield United, had Watson not backed himself to score at Wembley, Jobe failed to make a perfect tackle against Coventry City, or Ross Stewart not given us the lead against Sheffield Wednesday or missed the target late in the game against Wycombe?
The line between success and failure, between the end of our exile in the lower leagues and the bright lights of the Premier League was often painfully thin and the fact of the matter is that these lads all stepped up when it mattered, doing what we expected of them and embracing the challenge of helping to turn the ship around.
Perhaps many of these players weren’t world-beaters but at the time, we didn’t need superstars.
Instead, we simply needed honest professionals who were fully invested and not afraid to do the hard yards. Hell, I’m currently feeling so charitable that I’ll even sing Alex Neil’s praises, because without his influence (if not his tasteless exit), it’s debatable as to whether this whole process would’ve eventually borne fruit.
As at any sports club, the achievements of former players so often lays the groundwork for their successors to pick up the baton and run with it. It’s been that way at Sunderland for as long as I’ve supported the club, and there’s no doubt that our current trajectory owes as much to the likes of Roberts, Pritchard and Stewart as it does to those in the boardroom and the dugout.
Many of the players whose efforts and big moments led us to this point might’ve gradually departed Sunderland since those magical days at Wembley in 2022 and May 2025, but we owe them a debt of thanks and should always respect what they accomplished in a red and white shirt.
Cheers, lads. Without you, none of this would’ve been possible.