After years of disappointment, Black Cats have eyes on top flight

The Championship is always a competitive league and this season is no different. Just take a look at the table after just 12 games and the top nine clubs have all had recent experience of life in the Premier League.
The leading four teams in particular are familiar with all fans — Sunderland, Burnley, Leeds United and Sheffield United. But hot on their heels are West Brom, Blackburn Rovers, Norwich and Middlesbrough.
Sunderland have done particularly well to overcome the woes of recent years and currently sit top with their sights firmly set on returning to the Premier League after seven years of disappointment. The Black Cats were relegated from the top flight in 2017 and suffered two successive relegations leading to a frustrating four-year stint in the third tier League One.
However, they have worked their way back into the Championship and last weekend’s 2-0 win over Oxford United placed them five points clear of Burnley and Leeds. They will be hoping to cement their position today with a home game against second from bottom Queens Park Rangers.
Sunderland have been playing entertaining football too, attracting crowds of more than 40,000 to their home games at the Stadium of Light. Fan support has always been hugely impressive through thick and thin. In League One in 2018 they broke the attendance record when 46,039 showed up for the game against Bradford City.
One of the goals against Oxford was scored by Jobe Bellingham, younger brother of Real Madrid and England star Jude. Another outstanding player has been full-back Dennis Cirkin whose strong but calm play has impressed opponents in the Championship.
But their success has been based on good teamwork and this comes down to the smart man-management by new head coach Regis Le Blis. The Frenchman won the Championship manager of the month in August following the brilliant start to the season by the Black Cats. Sunderland have not had the best of luck with managers in recent years but it looks like Le Blis has settled into the job in a positive way. Their only defeats in the opening dozen games have been away to Watford and a surprise loss to struggling Plymouth Argyle.
The club has a rich history, but unfortunately it is mainly ancient history. They have won the English league title an impressive six times, but the dates of these successes tell the real story — 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913 and 1936. Their only real piece of silver in the modern era came in 1973 when they upset the then mighty Leeds United 1-0 in the FA Cup final.
Sunderland were in the top flight for a record 68 years before suffering their first relegation in 1958, which the Wearside press called “an unbelievable and humiliating blow.”
A visit to the impressive Stadium of Light, which was built over an old coal mine, can be an enriching experience. The place is stacked with memorabilia of Sunderland teams and famous faces of years gone by — Charlie Buchan, Raich Carter, Len Shackleton and Brian Clough — every face with a thousand tales to tell.
Clough incidentally scored 54 goals in 61 appearances for Sunderland before a serious knee injury ended his playing career. In their prime in the late 1940s Sunderland were known as the “Bank of England” club because of their considerable riches. Those days are long gone but promotion back to the Premier League would certainly be a step in the right direction.