The English traditional club AFC Sunderland is back in the Premier League – without Jobe Bellingham, but with a stringent concept that has brought the sportingly declined myth back from insignificance.
They would have liked to prevent Borussia Dortmund from snatching their crown jewel.
Jobe Bellingham, Jude’s younger brother, is on his way to Borussia Dortmund – a coup for BVB, a painful blow for the ex-club. AFC Sunderland, who have just celebrated their return to the English Premier League after eight years, are feeling the curse of good deeds. He faces the difficult mission of establishing himself in the English top division – without some of the young performers who brought them there and aroused the desires of larger clubs.
Jobe Bellingham at the promotion match of AFC Sunderland
AFC Sunderland is not only losing Bellingham
In addition to Bellingham, 19-year-old winger Tom Watson will also leave Sunderland, who dramatically shot Sunderland to promotion at the end of May with a goal in the fifth minute of added time.
Shortly after the 2-1 win in the playoff final against Sheffield United, it was announced that the homegrown player would move to new league rivals Brighton & Hove Albion with German coach Fabian Hürzeler for 12 million euros.
For Sunderland and its French coach Régis Le Bris, this increases the challenge of continuing the path the club has taken in recent years in the Premier League.
A power of the past
The “Black Cats” are the pride of the 174,000-inhabitant working-class city in north-east England, their rivalry with Newcastle, only 19 kilometers away, legendary.
The Tyne-Wear derby was once a must, Sunderland a power in the early 20th century: Six English championships (most recently 1936) and two FA Cup wins (1937 and 1973) are in the history books. The sensational 1-0 win in the 1973 FA Cup final against the favored Leeds United is particularly unforgettable.
The ranks of the Stadium of Light were always well filled even in bad times: Even in the third-class League One, an average of almost 30,000 spectators came – more than half of the Premier League clubs.
Unbroken popular not only on Netflix
Mismanagement, wrong coach decisions and a lack of vision had led Sunderland step by step into a deep valley in recent decades.
The club experienced a low point when it was relegated from the Premier League in 2017 and a year later the fall into the third division was passed through – documented in the well-known Netflix documentary series “Sunderland ‘Til I Die”.
After relegation in 2017, Sunderland also lost the then-future national goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, a homegrown player since the age of eight. Pickford moved to FC Everton for around 34 million euros – a record sale, but also a symbol of decline.
A year later, Sunderland also made headlines when it treated itself to the most expensive third-division transfer in history with the 4.6 million euro commitment of cult star Will Grigg – but still missed the hoped-for promotion.
Blood-young boss brought a breath of fresh air
2021 broke a new era when the then only 24-year-old entrepreneur Kyril Louis-Dreyfus took over the majority of the club and became the youngest chairman in English professional football.
The son of the notorious ex-Adidas boss Robert Louis-Dreyfus – distantly related to actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld, Veep) – opened up new opportunities for the club with the wealth and network of his family dynasty.
The Zurich-based company not only modernized the management level, but also the scouting. Since then, the club has been pursuing a clear plan: to sign young, developing players who have sporting and economic potential.
Successful talent developer on the sidelines
Examples of this in addition to Bellingham and Watson are Dan Neil from his own academy, Jack Clarke, who revived his career at Sunderland, and Trai Hume, who came as a no-name and became a regular player.
The Frenchman Le Bris has been in charge as coach since 2024, who had made a name for himself in his French homeland for many years as a youth coach and manager at Stade Rennes and FC Lorient.
Although he had little experience as a head coach, his profile seems to fit the Sturm-und-Drang concept of young Sunderland. Whether it can now also exist in the first division remains to be seen.