Sunderland in Europe, a club reborn at record speed | OneFootball

Sunderland returned to Europe at the Stadium of Light, beating AZ 1-0 beneath a vast two-tier tifo, a remarkable turnaround after years in League One.

The banner, evoking the city’s shipyards and a lighthouse, set the tone for a first continental night here in over 50 years. “It has taken up months of my life,” he said. “We’ve worked our arses off over the past few years,” he told The Athletic.

The scale jarred with memories of November 2019, when 7,892 watched a drab FA Cup draw with Gillingham and Jon McLaughlin fetched a wayward ball from an empty stand.

Sunderland had last hosted European opposition in 1973, beating Sporting CP 2-1 at Roker Park before exiting in Lisbon. Back-to-back games with Arsenal and Manchester City bookended AZ’s visit, which still felt the week’s least demanding assignment.

This Is Wearside, formed in early 2024 as relations with the club frayed after Newcastle-branded hospitality, now leads the elaborate displays alongside the hierarchy. Previous efforts have starred a snarling black cat, a mauled magpie and an ironclad Lord slaying a worm before West Ham’s visit in 2025.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’s arrival as chairman in 2021 brought a five-year plan to regain Premier League status, Europe was not part of the brief. “We have a good opportunity and it’s important to go all in,” said Regis Le Bris. Match-winner Enzo Le Fee added, “We are a bit frustrated because we could do better.”

Source: NY Times

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