One Step from Europe: Sunderland Dream on at Everton

It’s hard to believe that this incredible season is nearly over. The last twelve months since that incredible, transformative play-off campaign seem to have passed in the blink of an eye and, as always with Sunderland, there has been no shortage of highs and lows. With just two fixtures remaining and a decent-sized points gap behind our competitors for European football, there was no margin for error as we headed over to the blue half of Merseyside.

The mutual respect that has been solidified over the last decade between Sunderland and Everton has been well documented, and ridiculed by some of a black-and-white persuasion, but the reasons behind it make complete sense to those who understand. Of course, there are transient and relatively trivial connections, like a shared love of Jordan Pickford and a mutual disdain for Anthony Gordon. But ultimately, these are two down-to-earth, working-class fanbases supporting clubs with a proud, distant history but little recent success, having to navigate tough times with stoicism and humour.

The symbolism of this fixture falling on Bradley Lowery’s birthday is a poignant reminder of how much the whole football community, but particularly these two clubs, came together to support and then remember an inspirational boy whose life was cruelly cut short, but who leaves behind an incredible legacy in the foundation that bears his name, which will make a real difference to other families going through a similar situation. Back to matters on the field, some may have earmarked this fixture at the start of the season as a potential end-of-season relegation decider, given our newly promoted status and Everton’s toil in recent seasons. However, both sides have defied the naysayers to enjoy comfortable campaigns spent mostly looking up rather than down, and the winner would leave themselves with a great chance of claiming a European spot, so there was plenty on the line.

A couple of us from the London branch decided to make a weekend of it and, bleary-eyed from a typical night in Concert Square, we headed from our hotel at Albert Dock towards the city centre to meet our fellow Mackems. The weather was as up and down as Sunderland’s season, with beautiful periods of sun punctuated by brief and bizarre patches of freezing rain. As is customary with Everton these days, all our interactions with the home fans were great, including a Sunderland fan joining in with a little girl’s rendition of Everton’s Jordan Pickford chant – thankfully a more PG-friendly version.