READY TO GO (AGAIN)

37 league games ago, I wrote about how Sunderland had found its spark again. We were about to play our first Premier League game in eight years; the club and city had never been so united as the pride of being a Mackem had been firmly re-installed. I spoke about how Sunderland had also developed as a city too and that the future of both the area and club looked brighter than it had for years. Nine months later, as a club, as a city and as a community, Sunderland are hurtling forward with red hot momentum and only one game stands between us to make history.

The anticipation for our first game back in the top flight buzzed around the city for months as the pride in being a Premier League club once more had returned. No longer was there embarrassment or shame associated with being a Sunderland fan. We’d spent years as the country’s laughing stock whilst we battled to get out of League One for a painfully long four years but now, when we told people where we were from and who we supported, people seemed excited to welcome us back to the promised land and congratulate us.

Said niceties didn’t stop everyone writing us off, however. We were told we’d finish bottom and break the lowest ever points tally record, we were told that we’d possibly not even win a game and the Mags were all convinced that the derbies would result in an easy six points. We battered West Ham United on the opening day, followed that up by making it back-to-back home wins to begin the campaign with against Brentford. We followed this up by beating the newly-crowned Champions of the World, Chelsea, in their own back yard as well as ending Arsenal’s 10 game winning run as we drew 2-2 in an epic bout with the league leaders.

We ran the Premier League ragged in those opening months and became a side that teams genuinely feared. Having spent years being the laughing stock of English football, as we failed and failed to even get out of the third tier, it felt surreal to be amongst the most feared sides in the country and to boast one of the strongest fortresses in the land. Back in those League One days, coming to the Stadium of Light felt more like an opportunity and a place away sides would look forward to visiting. We never managed to turn the SoL into a place where teams felt intimidated, or that a win was unlikely. Since returning to the top flight however, it’s become a place that we’re proud to call home again and somewhere nobody looks forward to visiting (unless you’re Nottingham Forest).

I’d touched on the efforts made by the club off the pitch to make this season feel a little extra special, in the aforementioned earlier article, as well. The ‘Til The End’ mural in the City Centre, with images of Dan Ballard and Tommy Watson celebrating their respective goals, aren’t only there to remind us of the great memories of the play-offs, they’re there to remind us of our identity. Til The End isn’t just a slogan, it’s who we are, and late winner after late winner this season has proven that. This is Sunderland and we fight 'Til the End. Last weekend brought the 15th annual ‘Sunderland City Runs’ weekend, as approximately 6,000 runners sprinted over the finish line, after their respective 5k, 10k, or half-marathon races, with the lettering of said mural and those proud words, that we now call our own, overlooking them as they too pushed 'Til the End.

However, that’s not all they did. The subtle touch of adding lyrics by The Lake Poets about our beautiful coastline was an exceptional way to both celebrate our local success stories, as well as (again) re-enforcing our identity into our football club. Speaking of our local success stories, Josh Kelly’s triumph made us all proud when he became the first ever boxing world champion from Sunderland in January, as he defeated Bakhram Murtazaliev at Newcastle Utilita Arena for the IBF light-middleweight championship, which turned out to be the first, but definitely not the only, victory for Sunderland on Tyneside this season.

The Lads turned up to St James' Park in March and were forced to field a team full of, what we’d consider, our second and third choices for specific positions (and even gave the Mags a goal head start) and still won, to complete one of the most satisfying derby doubles we’ve ever known. The Magpies spent years mocking us as we dwindled in the depths of the third and second tier, even turning up to our games in their famous barcode black and white to poke extra fun at us. They told us, from the moment that we we’re promoted, that they were thankful to have us back in the Premier League because they were going to smash us twice and see us relegated. They spent the entire opening stages of the season telling us that we hasn’t even played anyone yet and that we’d soon come crashing down to planet Earth when we faced some of the better teams. Even after we beat them the first time, we were told we weren’t allowed to celebrate as it was an own goal, which made our typical Sunderland late comeback over them even sweeter.

Speaking of the barcodes, how brilliant is it to no longer see them everywhere in Sunderland? During our dark days, many of us seemed to retire our official club colours to our wardrobes and we’d be more likely to see an attention seeking Mag wearing their club colours than we would a fellow Sunderland fan along the beach or in the city centre. Now we’ve spent almost the entirety of the league season above them (and done the double over them, sending them packing with their tail between their legs, it's a totally different story. The pride in the city is back and that’s why the past year has seen a return of Sunderland shirts everywhere across the region.

This is all without even mentioning the opening of Keel Crossing, and the extra development of the Keel Square in general, which has now turned into a major attraction for visitors who now come from all over the world to watch the famous Black Cats. Work also continues to progress on the construction of Crown Works Studios, with the film and TV production site set to open at the end of 2027, bringing even more exciting development to the city.

With us sitting ninth in the table, two points off the Europa League and a point away from the Conference League, we welcome a disjointed and disengaged Chelsea side to the SoL for one final game. We’ve already beaten the Blues this season and, to say that Chelsea don’t 'look up for it' at the moment is an understatement. Their season seemed to fade away into obscurity under their third head coach of the season, Calum McFarlane, a man who none of us would recognise if he walked past us in the street. Albeit, this comes with the caveat that they remain firmly in the fight for European football next season themselves, having just beaten relegation candidates Tottenham Hotspur, 2-1, in their most recent match. That result lifts them up to eighth. Conference League, a competition they won last season, would be a huge underachievement for them so they'll be hoping for a win, and Brighton and Hove Albion to lose (or for Brighton to draw and goal difference and Brentford's result to go their way) , to at least salvage a Europa League spot. As for ourselves, we’re a club, city and community with a clear identity and about as much hunger and desire as an individual team can hold. We’ve already had an exceptional season, way surpassing any expectation, but we are possibly one win away from making history and adding European football to the mix. Just imagine where we could be this time next year.

As I said in August, and it’s proven to be even more true as time as progressed: we’re a club and a city reborn, a community proud of its roots once again. From the rooftops, shout it out baby, we’re ready to go (again).

The permutations are as follows:

We will qualify for the Conference League play-off round (meaning we'd face a two legged tie to qualify for the league stage of the competition) if we beat Chelsea and EITHER Brentford fail to beat Liverpool or Brighton lose to Manchester United.

We will qualify for the Europa League league stage if we win and BOTH Brentford fail to win and Brighton are defeated.