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Figure caption,Sunderland beat Chelsea to qualify for Europa League
ByAdwaidh RajanBBC Sport journalist- Published57 minutes ago
Sunderland were a League One outfit when Trai Hume joined for £200,000 in January 2022. He signed a four-and-a-half-year deal and said he had been assured the club were "aiming for bigger and better things".
He would not in his wildest dreams have thought he would be scoring - four and a half years later - to help send the club into Europe.
But that is exactly what the former Linfield defender did on the final day of this Premier League season.
The Black Cats came good on their need to beat Chelsea at the Stadium of Light to cap off an impressive return to the top flight with a spot in next season's Europa League.
Northern Ireland international Hume's first-time volley past Robert Sanchez got the celebration started at the Stadium of Light, and it reached a pinnacle at full-time when the club's return to Europe after 53 years was sealed.
Promotion into the Championship in Hume's first season with Sunderland was followed by last season's ascent to the top flight, both steps up the ladder coming via the play-offs.
"Last year was emotional for me as it was a dream to play in the Premier League," Hume told BBC Match of the Day.
"I didn't think we could get here and make Europe, but we have done it. We will give it everything next season."
Sunderland's rise from the third tier of English football to the Premier League and now Europa League in just four years is nothing short of remarkable.
Head coach Regis le Bris told BBC Match of the Day after Sunday's 2-1 win over an expensively assembled Chelsea: "It's amazing. Outstanding.
"The stadium is crazy now and the fans deserve this. The planets aligned today but we needed to do the job. We were only focused on our game - even at half-time."
But how did Sunderland do it? Here is a look at their remarkable journey.
'A massive collective achievement'
Four years ago, Sunderland beat Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 in the League One play-off final at Wembley Stadium to begin a journey few could have predicted.
But it was not until Regis le Bris arrived in 2024 after sixth-place and 16th-place finishes in the Championship that their trajectory really changed.
In the French head coach's first season in charge, Sunderland finished 24 points behind Burnley and Leeds in the automatic promotion spots and managed just 58 goals in 46 games.
They required an injury-time winner to edge past Coventry City in the play-off semi-final and were clear underdogs in the final against Sheffield United.
But the Black Cats came from behind at Wembley, scoring another injury-time winner through Tom Watson to secure a Premier League return for the first time in eight years.
Exactly one year later, Sunderland are sitting pretty among the elite.
Not many expected Sunderland to survive in the top flight, never mind thrive.
In each of the previous two campaigns, all three promoted teams were relegated straight back to the Championship.
But Le Bris' side bucked the trend and have gone neck-and-neck against the more established sides.
"It's a massive collective achievement," Le Bris said.
"What we showed last season and this was being together. We can be ambitious, but we have to work hard. The fans are really important - they are a huge part of this club. It's a community and we are proud to represent them."
Sunderland finished seventh with 54 points - just six behind Liverpool in the Champions League places - after 14 wins, 12 draws and 12 defeats.
Their tally is the most by a newly promoted side since Leeds United in 2020-21 (59 points), while their seventh-place finish is the best by a newly promoted team since Wolves in 2018-19 (seventh).
They are also only the 10th newly promoted Premier League side to qualify for Europe and just the fifth to do so via a league finish after Newcastle (1993-94), Nottingham Forest (1994-95), Ipswich Town (2000-01) and Wolves (2018-19).
The win over Chelsea on the final day completed a league double over the Blues.
Chelsea suffered the same fate as Sunderland's north-east rivals Newcastle, who were beaten both home and away by the team led by Le Bris.
Sunderland also held champions Arsenal, runners-up Manchester City and Manchester United to creditable draws - to name but a few impressive results.
"The fortress that is the Stadium of Light, the atmosphere, picking up the amount of points that they have there is unbelievable," said former England striker Ellen White on BBC Final Score.
"Those fans going away in Europe next season, they must be buzzing."
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Figure caption,'We like to react, it's the story of the season' - Le Bris on comeback win
Summer investment pays off
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Trai Hume was part of the side that beat Wycombe in the League One play-off final in 2022
Sunderland spent £161m on 15 new players after gaining promotion to the Premier League.
The season before, the three promoted sides - Leicester, Southampton and Ipswich - spent a combined £276.5m but returned to the Championship with the lowest combined points total of relegated sides in Premier League history.
Essentially, spending big is no guarantee of survival. But spending big and spending well is what Sunderland achieved.
"A lot of players came in last summer and there were questions, but Le Bris created that culture and philosophy," said White.
He has managed to seamlessly embed those signings into his system and extract the best from them - creating a squad that looks far greater than the sum of its parts.
Brian Brobbey, signed from Ajax for a reported £21.6m fee, has proved a key addition up front with a club-high seven Premier League goals, while France defender Nordi Mukiele, who joined from Paris St-Germain, has brought leadership and experience.
The £13m fee they paid for Granit Xhaka looks like a steal now as the former Arsenal man has dictated in midfield, while goalkeeper Robin Roefs has been outstanding.
Noah Sadiki's energy and skilful ball-carrying ability have also been crucial, underlining Sunderland's smart recruitment as they built a squad capable of competing at the highest level.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," Hume said. "Coming up to the start of the season, I don't think anyone gave us a chance to stay up, let alone Europe.
"We've worked our socks off and fully deserve that. A special mention to the fans who are the heartbeat of the club and they have been through some tough times."
Former Premier League striker Jermaine Beckford added on Final Score: "Le Bris has done a unbelievable job at Sunderland getting the players together and making them all believe that they can do it, and they can do anything they put their minds to."
With Europa League added to their schedule next season, the test now is whether Sunderland can carry this momentum on to the continental stage.
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