Kieffer Moore is a veteran who has represented Wales in the 2022 World Cup and at the European Championships. Yet, at the final whistle at Wembley on Saturday, he looked like somebody who had seen a ghost. At the other end of the spectrum, Tom Watson who scored the winning goal, and Eliezer Mayenda, who had equalised, are barely out of their teens and still making their way in the game.
Watson, a local boy through and through, won’t even be playing for Sunderland in the English Premier League (EPL) next season. His transfer to high-flying Brighton was agreed a month ago. But the scenes of jubilation on one side, and desolation on the other – both teams traditionally wear the red-and-white vertical-striped shirt that Sheffield United donned on Saturday – said everything about what is known as the “most valuable” football match in the world.
Sheffield United finished the regular Championship season 14 points ahead of Sunderland, and only narrowly missed out on one of the two automatic promotion places. But when it came to the crunch, they couldn’t hold on to the lead that had been given them by Tyrese Campbell, whose father Kevin – a cult figure with Arsenal and Everton – tragically passed away last year.
It also didn’t help that Sheffield United lost their most creative player, Gustavo Hamer, to an injury midway through the second half. After he limped off the field, Sunderland were able to come into the game and their own substitutions made a huge difference. A delightful through ball from Patrick Roberts in the 76th minute released Mayenda to finish clinically for the equaliser. Then, with the game five minutes into injury time, it was a sloppy Moore lay-off in the middle of the park that was intercepted by Watson.
He carried the ball forward before precisely placing a shot into the far corner. On the sidelines, even Luke O’Nien – another local hero who had been taken off in the opening minutes after dislocating his shoulder – jumped up and down his his teammates. Sunderland, who were relegated from the EPL eight seasons ago, were once in such dire straits that they spent four years in League One, English football’s third tier.
But now, under the stewardship of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, who is just 28 himself, the club are back in the big time with an extraordinarily young squad and a manager, Regis Le Bris, who had never managed in England before. Few expected them to be promotion candidates but despite a shocking end to the season, they finished the 46-game campaign in fourth place.
There was then a 122nd-minute extra-time winner against Coventry City in the semi-final of the playoffs to make it to Wembley. So huge is the gulf now between the EPL and the championship the three teams that were promoted last season – Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich – all went straight back down this year. The financial chasm is also huge, and that’s what Sunderland were able to bridge yesterday.
Even the most conservative estimate says that this win will be worth £200 million to the club. Even if they are immediately relegated, the broadcast revenue from one season in the EPL, and two seasons of parachute payments after relegation, would total more than £200 million. If they manage to stay in the league as the likes of Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa have managed to in the last half-decade, the financial rewards will be far greater.
The club, who were the subject of a moving three-season documentary, Sunderland ‘Til I Die, possesses one of the most passionate fan bases in football. Next season, their great rivalry with Newcastle United will be renewed, but more importantly, the Stadium of Light will once again throb to the rhythms of Premier League football.
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