Sunderland return to Premier League and the rewards of youth revolution

Tommy Watson's injury-time winner to beat Sheffield United in the Premier League play-off final has become a symbol of Sunderland's vision of ending years of misery.

Watson, who turned 19 recently, is a product of the Sunderland Academy. He made his debut in April 2023, but it was only this season that he truly became part of the first team. And he repaid the club's faith in him with a moment of brilliance on Saturday night against Sheffield. It was undoubtedly one of the most important goals in Sunderland's history.

Watson is part of a long-term vision to revive a club that has won six English titles, equalling Chelsea and tripling Manchester City’s before the club was taken over by Sheikh Mansour. The plan has been developed by chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, who bought a majority stake to take control of the club in 2020, and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman.

Sunderland were still in League One at the time, and Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman agreed that they needed to get out of there as soon as possible. First, to improve the quality of play, they agreed to spend money to upgrade the facilities, especially the training ground.

Next, and most importantly, building a competitive squad around young players. With a state-of-the-art training ground and a big budget for the Academy, Speakman believed the Black Cats could produce high-quality players. He was right. 23-year-old captain Dan Neil, 25-year-old goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, 17-year-old midfielder Chris Rigg and 19-year-old winger Watson were introduced.

Also independent of the Academy, Speakman has been actively looking for talent from outside. Over the years, Sunderland have consistently brought in underrated young players, or those who have struggled to develop across Europe.

The advantage of this strategy is that it is cheap. Of course, there are many failures, but there are also many successes. Jude Bellingham’s younger brother Jobe Bellingham, bought from Birmingham for £1.5m and now valued at £25m, is one example. Full-back Trai Hume, a £200,000 signing from Linfield in Northern Ireland, is another.

Exiting League One and failing in the Championship play-offs in 2022/23, dropping to 16th in 2023/24, have not deterred the Sunderland board. Conflicts over recruitment, such as a willingness to sell any player for the right price, and signing potential low-cost players, which have led to 10 changes in the coaching staff in the past five years, have not shaken their resolve. Chairman Louis-Dreyfus, by the way, is only 27. He believes that young people are the foundation for a sustainable business.

Last season, Sunderland had the youngest average age in the Championship (23 years and 324 days). This was also the third season in a row they have held this position. “We have been the youngest team in the Championship for the last three years, and we have the 20th lowest average age of the 59 European leagues,” Speakman proudly shared.

Jobe Bellingham, the younger brother of Jude Bellingham, is a key figure in Sunderland's 2024/25 campaign.

If we only count the average age of the starting lineup, Sunderland is even younger (22.4). This shows the strong belief of the Board of Directors, as well as Coach Regis Le Bris, in the team they have created.

In the end, the young players took the Black Cats to the play-off final. And there, Eliezer Mayenda, who turned 20 two weeks ago, scored the equalizer to make it 1-1. It was his 10th goal involvement in 14 appearances in all competitions since the start of 2025 (8 goals, 2 assists). Then it was Watson's turn to speak.

However, a rather strange situation is about to happen. Watson will leave Sunderland this summer, having completed a £10m deal with Brighton last month. As mentioned, buying low and selling high is a strategy for a club with modest resources to survive.

Whether this policy will change, after securing promotion to the Premier League and the £220m that is about to be poured into Sunderland’s accounts, is hard to predict. But there is still plenty of time for director Speakman and manager Regis Le Bris to plan. Now they have to celebrate, because history has been written and the dark days are over.

Thanh Hai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/sunderland-tro-lai-premier-league-va-phan-thuong-cua-cuoc-cach-mang-tre-post1745370.tpo