READY TO GO

Standing on the rooftops, shouting out, baby we’re ready to go...

With our long-awaited return to the Premier League now quickly upon us, after a summer of anticipation, one thing is for certain - Sunderland has found it’s spark again.

There was a time, not long ago, when the Premier League felt so far away and we’d became accustomed to being the laughing stock of English football. Upon meeting other football fans from around the country, the first thing they’d mention would be the disappointment associated with a club struggling so far below its usual stomping ground.

Contrast that to now: there is a pride in reminding someone that we are where we belong to be, once again. If you tell someone you’re from Sunderland, they can’t help but mention that we’re back, and refer to us as a Premier League football club once more.

Reminiscing on the memories of our late triumphs in the play-offs, celebrating our glorious return to the Premier League at Wembley Stadium, where we’ve experienced so much disappointment over the years, and partying into the early hours in the streets of London after have really made up for years of discussing the bitter disappointment of falling short, and have given us hours worth of conversations with our fellow supporters, or with those of other clubs, proudly recalling one of the best days of our lives as SAFC fans.

Major signings such as the well-accomplished Granit Xhaka, murals of our play-off heroes and a reminder of the ‘Til The End’ campaign that pushed the players and fans, very much, til the end, the return of ‘The Sunderland Story’ performance at our illustrious Sunderland Empire and the long-awaited developments in and around our proud fortress, The Stadium of Light, have re-installed a major pride in what it means to be a Mackem.

The best sign of them all? Kids and adults, men and women, young and old, couples and families wearing Sunderland tops, everywhere. The League One days seemed to sap something out of us, a willingness to pull on our colours and be proud of where we come from. In fact, there has been times where I’ve seen more attention-seeking mags loitering around our beautiful beaches in their barcodes than I did Sunderland tops. But now, whether it be along the beach, in the city centre, or throughout Sunderland City Council Airport, seeing one of our own out and about, brandishing our crest for all to see, can’t help but fill you with excitement for that first game of the season against West Ham, and remind us all of the immense pride there is among us to be who we are, and to come from where we do.

It’s for these reasons that I am so, so thankful to finally end our sentence away from the top flight. Ever since Tommy Watson curled his two hundred and twenty million pound touch into that bottom corner at Wembley, silencing his haters and cementing himself as another proud son of Wearside, it feels like we’re allowed to be happy to be Sunderland fans again, and we’re proud to tell others about who we are.

The ship-builders, the coal miners, the producers of two of England’s finest performers in recent times who have taken the country to unforgettable moments in major tournaments, the city that boasts a glorious coastline and one of the most passionate populations in the country. It feels good to boast about who we are, after years of just being known as the boys who couldn’t get out of the third division, got beat six nil to Bolton, lost twice at Wembley in the space of six weeks, employed Danny Graham (again) and were mocked for failure after failure.

My hat has to go off to the club for the effort this summer, too. Of course, we don’t know how their efforts in the transfer window will translate to performances on the pitch until we’re well under-way, but they’ve put their money where their mouth is and gave it one heck of a go. On top of that, the extra efforts they’ve gone to, to make this season something special, have not gone unnoticed. Incorporating lyrics from The Lake Poets onto our away kit, and words which specifically mean so much to us, has been a great touch, as well as mixing the retro vibe which holds fond memories, with new and exciting prospects which are going to propel us into the future, highlighting developments such as the Keel Crossing, a real bit of evidence that we’re heading back in the right direction.

We’d be fools to expect this season to be anything shy of incredibly tough, and the fate of the previous six teams to have been promoted does make our odds of survival low, according to the bookies. The Premier League is a different beast to what it once was, but nobody deserves to be here more than we do, and a winning start against West Ham will make a long summer of waiting, worth it. We’re certainly as prepared as we could possibly be, and a city whose heart is beating again, ready for thirty-eight cup finals to make sure that the numbing pain of disappointment is a feeling that is certainly in the past.

The Stadium Of Light will be absolutely rocking as we begin our first Premier League campaign in eight years, ready to welcome the likes of the league champions to our home, to show them the unforgettable magic of Sunderland.

We’re a club and a city re-born, a community proud of its roots once-again. We're standing on the rooftop, shouting out, baby we’re ready to go.