On Saturday, May 24, Sunderland secured their return ticket to the after eight years with a late winner in the Championship Play-off final at the Wembley Stadium in London.
Tom Watson, 19, who was signed recently by Brighton and Hove Albion for £10 million, scored the winning goal in the second half stoppage time after coming on as a substitute, to give Sunderland an unprecedented 2-1 win over Sheffield United in the winner-takes-all clash.
Prior to the dramatic low curling effort from Tom Watson in the 90+5′ minute of the final past goalkeeper Michael Cooper, Sunderland were brought into the contest by Eliezer Mayanda with the equaliser in the second half after Sheffield United had taken the lead via Tyrese Campbell in the first half. While talking to BBC Radio after sending Sunderland into the Premier League, Tom Watson said, ‘After the last few weeks, I’ve been dreaming of that moment.’
Tom Watson had a tough time with Sunderland before his champagne moment in the Championship Play-off final, scoring just two goals in his first 21 matches, both of them being scored against Stoke City last December. While the teenage sensation admitted to struggles with the club, he remarked after the match, ‘I’m really happy that it’s going to end positively and this monster of a club is back where it belongs. It’s been tough, but I’ve learned so much from it. I knew something like that could happen. So I’m just buzzing.’
Sunderland celebrated their return to Premier League in style
The return to the Premier League for Sunderland happened just after finishing last season in 16th place in the 24-team Championship, which is why the scale of their effort is more than remarkable. The club had brought in the Frenchman Regis Le Bris to the club in the summer, quite possibly to build the team up for promotion in the coming years, but he delivered the result in his first season itself.
It will be very interesting to see how Sunderland fare on their return to the Premier League, especially with the pressure of seeing their city rivals Newcastle United performing exceptionally over the past few seasons.