Football League World
·31 October 2024
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·31 October 2024
A selection of unfortunate Sunderland players braved the horrors of Psycho Path...
Sunderland have been scarily good through the early stages of the 2024/25 Championship season, but now it was their turn to have fear put into them, as a selection of unfortunate Black Cats players braved a Halloween scare maze.
Jobe Bellingham, Romaine Mundle, Wilson Isidor, Trai Hume, Dan Neil, Chris Rigg, Leo Hjelde and Anthony Patterson braved the terrors of Pyscho Path, which is one of the UK's biggest scream parks based in Newcastle.
The park offers a host of terrifying attractions, from indoor and outdoor mazes, a stage show, live music, carnival games, fairground rides and more.
2024 marks the third year in a row in which a brave bunch of Sunderland players have attended the event, with their frightened faces and hilarious reactions documented via the club's YouTube channel for all to see.
Whilst Sunderland's players may have displayed calm and composure on the pitch so far this season, it's fair to say those traits weren't on display at Psycho Path.
Whether it was jump scares, giant stuffed teddy bears, getting makeovers, or being forced to sing by a weapon-wielding pig, the group endured a variety of encounters throughout the maze.
The profanity bleep seemed to have been used on Rigg and Jobe more than anyone else, but being the youngest of the Sunderland contingent at 17 and 19 respectively, that's understandable.
Having said that, Hjelde didn't provide much of a reassuring influence on Sunderland's teenage starlet Rigg, as he too fell victim to the terrors of the maze.
Isidor on the other hand, found himself stopping for a chat with those who were supposed to be scaring him, and even posed for the odd selfie.
As for Hume, he largely faced his fears alone, and can be extremely happy with his effort, having maintained more composure than a certain few pairings.
In the end, all the group appeared to have a great time at the event, as the experience both literally and metaphorically brought them closer together. There may be a few extra requests for some new underwear from Father Christmas though!
For a club of the size and weight of expectation from supporters as Sunderland has, it's always tough to write them off for having a strong season.
However, their 16th-placed finish in the second tier last season was a real disappointment after finishing fourth the season prior, and after changing managers and losing their talisman in Jack Clarke, 2024/25 had the feel of a rebuilding year at the Stadium of Light.
Le Bris and his largely youthful side don't appear to have got that memo, however, as the Black Cats are flying at the top of the table after 12 games, having opened up a five point gap to Burnley in second already.
As per FotMob, no team in the Championship has a higher goal per match record than Sunderland's 1.9, whilst only Sheffield United (eight) have kept more clean sheets than Sunderland's seven.
With November appearing to be a fairly kind month for the Black Cats, with their next four games being against QPR, Preston, Coventry and Millwall respectively, they could really start to pull away at the top.
Yet to lose at the Stadium of Light either, their iconic home is looking like a real fortress this season, which is always a crucial thing to establish when aiming for promotion.
The Premier League is their goal, and as of now, no side is looking more likely to achieve that than the Black Cats.