Sunderland have been remodelled and revived – they have exceeded all expectations

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Regis Le Bris is a quiet, understated figurehead but an hour and a half after guiding Sunderland to Premier League promotion he found the words to unwittingly capture the beauty of a journey that had ended at Wembley.

“To create this connection, this memory, for the fans and for us, we needed to live the tough moments,” said Sunderland’s head coach.

Le Bris was talking about Tommy Watson’s sumptuous 95th-minute winner to kill off Sheffield United in the Championship play-off final and the collective resilience of his young group that had set it all up.

Yet Sunderland’s really tough moments had not come here. Or even this season.

They had come with a home defeat by Burton Albion that confirmed relegation to League One in 2018. And when losing to Lincoln City, Shrewsbury Town and Gillingham in the 2019-20 season to eventually record the club’s lowest finish.

There were also the humiliations — losing 5-1 at Rotherham United and 6-0 at Bolton Wanderers — and enough stumbles to see seven managers sacked in as many years.

Sunderland fans have lived all those tough moments and more since falling out of the Premier League in 2017, but the club’s return granted a collective catharsis. It was the hard yards travelled, sometimes on hands and knees, that made this so special.

The semi-final win over Coventry City 11 days earlier had brought a volcanic explosion at the Stadium of Light but victory over Sheffield United felt more of an emotional release. There were tears of joy among the 40,000 at Wembley’s western end and celebrations to mirror those of Crystal Palace seven days earlier in the FA Cup final. Sunderland had not waited as long for such a moment but they had suffered far more in recent times.

Sunderland rode their luck, perhaps as they had over two legs against Coventry, but the connection between Le Bris, his players and supporters has grown undeniable. A team that finished 16th in the Championship last season has been carefully restructured into an accomplished unit. There is promise and potential but, when it has mattered most, a togetherness and unity.

And now they are a Premier League club once more. A new season will begin in August with England’s elite returning to Wearside and the hope will be that momentum can help bridge a widening gap between the top flight and second tier. Doubts over disparities, both sporting and financial, can wait.

Sunderland have at least become a team worthy of their supporters’ backing once more. It is a squad with its imperfections but there is youth and vibrancy from front to back.

“We needed talented players and we needed a strong connection between them,” said Le Bris, outlining the subtle alterations of a reign that began two days before pre-season last summer. “They worked so well together and, at the end, this game is a good example of the season.”

The tiny pity is that Watson will go no further with Sunderland. The latest graduate of the club’s academy was sold to Brighton & Hove Albion for £10million ($13.5m) last month, with the deal being concluded once the summer transfer window opens.

That had triggered a backlash from a small section of fans questioning Watson’s motives but a moment of brilliance from the 19-year-old — that cute, rolled finish from 25 yards out — has now transformed his legacy. It stands as the most important goal a Sunderland player has scored at Wembley since Ian Porterfield struck a winner in the 1973 FA Cup final against Leeds United.

‘I can’t really put it into words to be honest,” said Watson in a pitchside interview with Sky Sports afterwards. “Look around, it’s f***ing unbelievable.”

Le Bris, forced to have his moment with the trophy by his players, would have agreed. Promotion was a faint prospect when he snapped a run of 10 British managers appointed by Sunderland last summer and the remodelling of a talented squad has seen all expectations surpassed.

Le Bris has been everything Sunderland needed. A football obsessive, he has immersed himself in life as the club’s head coach, working long days and leaving his family at home in France. The development of Sunderland’s best youngsters has also accelerated and with that has come collective improvements.

At no point were Sunderland ever out of the Championship’s top six but it required something more to get past a Sheffield United side that had finished the regular season 14 points better off.

For more than half of Saturday’s contest it seemed beyond Sunderland, who looked as uncomfortable as Le Bris — typically a tracksuit manager — did in his suit and tie on the touchline. Tyrese Campbell’s opener after 25 minutes preyed upon Sunderland’s shortcomings on the break and only VAR, unused in the Championship all season, denied Sheffield United a second as Harrison Burrows’ volley was ruled out when Vinicius Souza was adjudged to have been offside. “That gave them belief,” lamented Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder.

Sunderland’s improvements were clear after the break but it was the changes made by Le Bris that were telling.

Attackers Watson, Patrick Roberts and Wilson Isidor were all introduced, with captain Dan Neil among those sacrificed. It was Roberts’ clever through ball that teed up Eliezer Mayenda to rifle in a stunning finish and Watson who pounced upon Kieffer Moore’s slack lay-off to drive at his opponents in stoppage time. The winger’s precise right-foot finish took an age to find the bottom corner, allowing time for a collective breath to be drawn at that end of the stadium. Le Bris’ bravery, ending the game with a 4-2-4 formation, was rewarded emphatically.

The aftermath encouraged Sunderland’s head coach to look forward and on to next season, with questions focused upon this group’s ability to compete in the Premier League and the challenges Le Bris will face up against the likes of Arne Slot and Pep Guardiola.

“I didn’t think about the consequences of defeat or now,” he said. “Maybe it will be the case in the next few days but let’s enjoy, celebrate and take time with family and friends.”

Sunderland’s triumph was a moment that demanded to be lived in the here and now.

“F***ing Premier League,” screamed the excellent Jobe Bellingham at Sunderland’s fans during the celebrations, prodding the badge on his chest. They did not need telling.

(Top photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

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