With Ross Stewart having departed for our fellow Championship side Southampton, we thought we’d revisit his two and a half seasons as a Sunderland player.
The Scottish striker signed from then Scottish Championship side Ross County for a bargain fee of only around £300k. He would do exactly what you want a striker to do on his debut as he scored in a 2-0 win over Accrington Stanley.
He would truly come into his own during the next campaign, as we sealed promotion via the playoffs. Scoring 26 goals in 53 appearances he swiftly became a fan favourite. Supporters often commented on how he was their favourite striker since the days of Kevin Phillips, or for the younger generation of fans, Jermain Defoe. He scored the winner on opening day against Wigan and the final goal of the season as he rolled one into Wycombe Wanderer’s net sending the over 46,000 Sunderland fans into delirium at Wembley. There were braces against Wycombe, Cheltenham, Crewe, Wycombe again, Wigan and Cambridge as well as a hattrick against Sheffield Wednesday, as he proved instrumental in finally dragging us back into the second tier. Notable goals include the aforementioned play off final striker as well as the goal against Sheffield Wednesday in the play off semi final and the 93rd minute (at the time thought to be winner) against Wycombe away from home. Wycombe fans probably don’t like him very much reading that back. Ross was also called up to the senior Scottish national team in March 2022.
Owing to his obvious talents, he immediately was framed alongside the likes of Gyokeres in the debate over who was the best striker (or even player) in the Championship. He also made a massive breakthrough in his career, earning his first ever cap for the Scottish national team in a game against Armenia, the striker’s first of two caps earned whilst playing at SAFC. Early on in the season he formed a brilliant partnership with loaned-in striker Ellis Simms. Nicknamed SaS (Stewart and Simms) they contributed a number of goals until the first of two major injuries, this time around his calf in the warmup against Middlesbrough. Once he returned he made his presence instantly felt as he scored away to Hull. His second major injury would happen just over a month later as he had a major Achilles injury away to Fulham in the FA Cup. It has often been said (both during and after the fact) that we would have been promoted had Stewart remained fit, I can’t help but agree. He netted 11 times in just 15 appearances, including a stoppage time equaliser in the third round of the FA Cup that helped set up the game where he ended up getting injured annoyingly. Notable goals during last season included the penalty rebound against Middlesbrough and his brace against Rotherham to kick off Mowbray’s tenure as head coach.
As much as we all loved Ross Stewart and are very grateful for his contributions to our promotion, I’m glad to see the end of this lengthy contract saga of whether or not he would sign a new deal. We’ve also bagged £10 million for a player we paid £300k for which should help us out massively financially and a success of Speakman’s model (although he didn’t sign him). All the best Ross, just don’t score against us as I know you definitely will at some point in the future.
