27-05-2025
What it was like seeing Sunderland promoted to the Premier League from Wembley
After a stunning and electric victory at Wembley on May 24, the Black Cats are back in the Premier League. Echo reporter Kayleigh Fraser was in the stands as Sunderland secured their ticket to the top flight of English football - here's what it was like.
Wandering up Wembley Way, you could have cut the tension with a knife. Two teams, 90 minutes, one spot in the Premier League. The stakes couldn't have been higher.
"Are you going to predict the score?", I asked my dad, as we ventured up to the steps at Wembley - darting around fans soaking in the atmosphere, snapping pictures and selfies left and right.
Echo reporter Kayleigh Fraser at Wembley. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO) He responded with a curt "nope", too nervous to say, gazing at the stadium above us that was, at this point, surrounded in a sea of red and white. We couldn't even joke.
We'd only travelled down the night before for the match. But really, this journey for Sunderland was eight years long. Two successive relegations left one of England's iconic clubs wondering how they'd come back.
In 2017, the Black Cats were relegated from the Premier League. Then in 2018, the team were relegated to League One where they spent four long years.
Now, after a few more years in the Championship, Sunderland were once again gaining momentum. With a new manager at the helm, Regis Le Bris, could we be coming back again? It was too early to say.
Sunderland fans holding their scarves. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO) But on May 13 when Dan Ballard scored that unbelievable header in the 122nd minute in a nail-biting clash with Coventry, the city of Sunderland dared to dream again.
Those dreams took us all, tens of thousands of us, to Wembley on Saturday (May 24) to cheer on the lads that had taken us to the most expensive game in football.
After all we had been through, relegations to losses and uncertainty - you could tell how much the club and the fans wanted this. Filing into the Sunderland stands, already draped in red and white flags to wave for kick off, we were apprehensive.
I don't mind admitting I was nervous too. I'd never been to Wembley for a football game - and to have my first being one of the biggest Sunderland had faced in a decade was nerve racking.
We all knew Sheffield United were the favourites. Chris Wider's Blades had the better track record - and every single pundit video I watched pointed to a Sheffield victory.
But as I was sitting in the stands belting out a rendition of Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love with my fellow Mackems; for just a minute, it felt like it didn't matter.
We were the underdogs - a team that had risen from the ashes to be just 90 minutes away from the Premier League. In a way, we had already made it. Getting to the top flight would have been the cherry on the cake.
Kick off. Flags waved, chants on - we'd waited for this chance again.
Unfortunately, as first halves go, my hope for a Sunderland win was not immediately backed up by our play.
"This is embarrassing", a fan near me muttered. Many had their heads held in their hands, only moving their hands away for a second to stare blankly to the empty field as if a goal would appear out of nowhere during half time.
Even my dad, who had a season ticket at the Stadium of Light for over a decade had agreed we were done. "That's it now", he shook his head and sat back as Sheffield fans celebrated Tyrese Campbell's 25th minute goal.
In a weird way, rather than admitting defeat, I think that spurred us in the stands to ramp it up. Something shifted in the fans when they blew the whistle for that second half.
All to play for - we still had a chance, and we had to give the players everything we had as fans. Til' the end.
Sunderland fans wave their flags for kick off. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)
76th minute. Just under fifteen minutes left - and in comes Eliezer Mayenda to equalise. What a moment.
Fans left their seats and ran up and down the stairs, shirts came off, flares were set alight and we all went wild. Strangers who had never met embraced in long hugs and continued to cheer. We were back in the game.
The minutes that followed could only have been described as agony. My stand could only hold our breath any time the ball went out of sight across to Sheffield's end. I felt sick as I looked around.
The cheers and chants continued, of course, but I had an awful pit in my stomach that it wasn't going to go my way. That was until Tommy Watson almost flew in to the 95th minute for a goal we'll never forget.
I remember seeing the ball move almost in slow motion to the goal - thinking it was gone. I genuinely thought he'd hit the bar and we'd missed our last chance. But as it curved around and hit the back of the net, thousands of us rejoiced in unison.
That was it - we'd done it. Fans were jumping around - screaming, crying, we were emphatic. Friends and families hugged one another - no words needed to be said.
I had tears even in my own eyes seeing how much it means to this club, to this city, to win this game and secure promotion.
If I'm honest, the minutes after that were a blur - when that final whistle blew the carnage just continued to a level I didn't think possible.
Sunderland celebrate their victory. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)
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To be there, surrounded by thousands of dreamers was something I will look back on with wonder - to have seen Sunderland's and my city's future change in the blink of an eye.
Sunderland AFC has been re-born - this is only the beginning for a new era of the Black Cats.
No matter whether we last a year in the Prem or five, we're back - and I know that we'll fight like mad, til' the end, to succeed.
