A Goal Achieved Amid A Season Of Success For Sunderland

Sunderland AFC team huddles at kick-off during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sunderland at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom, on May 2, 2026. (Photo by Stuart Leggett/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images Strange feeling, this. For the last time we were able to celebrate Sunderland guaranteeing another season of Premier League football as a newly-promoted club, you’d have to go way back to the 2007/2008 campaign as Roy Keane and Niall Quinn’s magic carpet ride climbed to an even higher altitude (or so it seemed at the time) as we eventually preserved our top flight status after a predictable season of struggle, with the deal eventually being sealed thanks to a thrilling 3-2 home victory over Middlesbrough.

This time, however, it’s been different. Even if Saturday’s gritty draw with Wolves combined with West Ham’s loss to Brentford ensured that Premier League football for 2026/2027 was rubber-stamped in slightly more low-key fashion, it shouldn’t detract from the achievement overseen by Régis Le Bris and the efforts of his players as they became the first Sunderland side since 2010/2011 to reach such a total — our third-highest ever in the Premier League era. A relief?

Something to be proud of? Most definitely, even if what should’ve been six points from our last three games only ended up as one, but that’s the way it is. In keeping with recent affairs, the clash at Molineux — which undoubtedly swung on Dan Ballard’s utterly infuriating red card — wasn’t the prettiest and it’s fair to say that one or two of Sunderland’s recent failings were exposed once again, but in the final analysis and despite the fact that we’ll more than likely fall short of qualifying for Europe, our number one goal for 2025/2026 has been attained.

It’s fair to say that this most intriguing and in many ways unexpected of seasons has been marked by the odd low point as well as a number of unforgettable highs, but when the final whistle blew at Wembley last May, everyone was surely united around one goal: survival and a foundation on which to build for the seasons to come. Those boxes have been ticked and although one or two fault lines have been exposed in recent games, reaching forty seven points given the failings of newly-promoted sides in recent times is no mean feat. Have points been dropped in frustrating fashion and have we occasionally been left wanting more?