Two relegations. One promotion. Three different owners. Two reality TV series... My love affair with Sunderland 💓
As the Black Cats return to the Premier League after eight years, Aiden McGeady writes exclusively for Nutmeg FC on five tumultuous years in the North East
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By Aiden McGeady
Last week, I was onstage at an event with the Sunderland Central Scotland Supporters Branch and I was taking questions from the audience.
“Did you ever regret joining Sunderland?”
I understood where this supporter was coming from. In July 2017, I signed for a club that had just been relegated from the Premier League. The objective was to get them straight back up. Instead, 12 months later, we were in League One.
I look back now and reflect on two relegations, three changes of ownership, two reality TV series (Sunderland ‘Til I Die) and many dark times. But I also remember four trips to Wembley, and ultimately promotion back to the Championship in 2022. That last one — returning the club back to the second tier of English football — became a personal cause.
Tomorrow against West Ham, Sunderland will play their first Premier League game in eight years. It took them too long, but they’re back where they belong.
Did you ever regret joining Sunderland?
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t felt some regret after we got relegated to League One that first season. But everything else after that? I loved the club. The fans were so passionate and I had a great rapport with them. It’s a one-club city. A real footballing city. Great stadium. Great training ground. A Premier League club.
Then there’s the warmth of the people in the North East… I stayed in County Durham, and it was a great little part of the world. I wasn’t far away from returning home to Glasgow, if I wanted. Twenty minutes to training. Twenty minutes to Newcastle. Five minutes to Durham, which is a really nice university town. My family were settled there. I could have moved at times, but I never actively pursued other offers. Sure, there were plenty of low points, but I also played some of my best football there.
That first season in the Championship turned into a nightmare. There were players there who were signed for the Premier League on big contracts. They didn’t want to play in the Championship. You could see that. So, a few of them left and a few stayed. The ones who stayed didn’t try.
The management of the club was shambolic. Players came in for big money and left for nothing. Lamine Kone, for example. When I was at Everton, we were apparently going to sign him for £35million. Sunderland paid £6m and he left on a free. Didier Ndong was a club-record signing. £13.6m. He left for nothing. Papy Djilobodji? £8m. Left for free. In any other walk of life, if you’re responsible for that, you’re getting the sack.
There were low points. The relegation game against Burton (a 2-1 defeat in April 2018, which relegated Sunderland for the second successive season). It wasn’t even, “Oh my God, we’ve been relegated”. It was accepted.
Then we lost the final in the last minute against Charlton. Brutal.
Then the play-off final against Charlton in 2019, when we should have been automatically promoted. With six or seven games to go, we had two games in hand on Luton, and we were joint second… but we ended up finishing fifth. And then we lost the final in the last minute against Charlton. Brutal.
We spent far too long in League One. Four seasons. In hindsight, I think they might have been better to have bought Championship players, paid them £15-20,000 a week and just got out of that league. We still had a good enough squad as it was, but I wouldn’t have even left it to chance because it’s taken the club a long time to get back.
You needed to be a certain type of footballer to play for Sunderland during those times. I saw a lot of players — League One journeyman — who came in and it was too much for them. After a 2-2 home draw with Accrington Stanley (in February 2019), the manager invited us to say our piece.
I said, “Lads, if you all want to play at a higher level, that isn’t acceptable. And you need to be able to deal with what the fans give you out there. Otherwise, this is it.”
Brutally honest. I probably revelled in the fact that I was the one who had played at the top level and players looked to me for advice — maybe my words and actions carried more weight.
There were great moments. I remember Boxing Day versus Bradford in 2018. The crowd was over 46,000, a record for League One. When I was at Everton, we’d get 30-odd thousand. I actually scored the winner that day. It felt like we were back in the Premier League. Then, being part of it when we finally got promotion back to the Championship in May 2022 felt special. I wish I could have stayed longer.
I watched the playoff final in May when Sunderland beat Sheffield United and it was amazing for the club to get promoted back to the Premier league — and to see the joy of the fans, their relief at being back.
And my first thought? Newcastle games are back…
