“Plenty Of Movement Inside The Box…BALLARD!”
“The last-gasp goal produced some of the greatest scenes the Stadium of Light has ever seen,” writes Paddy Hollis.
Sunderland's Daniel Ballard scores their side's first goal of the game during the Sky Bet Championship play off semi final, second leg match at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland. Picture date: Tuesday May 13, 2025. (Photo by Steve Welsh/PA Images via Getty Images) | PA Images via Getty Images We’ve all seen it about a million times and from hundreds of angles, but none of us are probably sick of it — even a year down the line.
When Dan Ballard headed the ball in off the crossbar and over the line in the 122nd minute on 13 May 2025, it sent the Sunderland-supporting world into absolute pandemonium. Coventry City players dropped to their knees, red smoke filled the air and Ballard stripped off his shirt and led the charge into the packed crowd at the Stadium of Light. On a night that’ll go down as one of the greatest in the stadium’s history, everything about what the club has become was in place.
Making the ground a cauldron and coming back from 0-1 down on the night is the attitude we’ve adopted in the Premier League, but we wouldn’t have had the chance to burst back the way we have without that incredible night on Wearside. Football is all about fine margins, and that — for a winning goal to send a team to Wembley — couldn’t have been much finer. If that header had been an inch higher, it wouldn’t have bounced down and over the line; if Ballard had been a second slower to the ball, his header probably would’ve gone over the bar.
Luckily for us, it didn’t, but it sums up the ecstasy and devastation this sport can bring us. If the ball doesn’t cross the line at that moment, the game goes to penalties and a spot at Wembley is in the balance even more. We may have just finished another season of Championship football if that ball doesn’t brush the crossbar in that exact spot.