Subderland set to release a Netflix Documentation of the extraordinary scenes in Sunderland
Dan Neil says the extraordinary scenes in Sunderland ahead of the second leg of their play-off semi final against Coventry City inspired the team to get over the line.
Sunderland have released an in-house documentary called ‘Til The End, giving fans behind-the-scenes insight into the club’s ultimately victorious Championship play-off campaign. Having earned a narrow one-goal lead over Coventry City in the first leg, fans lined the streets on the team coaches’ route from the Academy of Light to the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland eventually won a difficult tie thanks to Dan Ballard’s 122nd-minute header, and Neil said he had never seen scenes like those in the city ahead of the game. The captain said the players were resolved to reward the fans by making it to Wembley, where they would then of course seal prom with a comeback win against Sheffield United.
“We knew that the Sunderland fans would massively turn up while the game was on and in the Stadium, I think what blew the boys away a little bit was the journey there. We’d seen stuff on social media that it was going to happen but we didn’t know how big it was going to be. We got to the lights and turned right to go down past the pub, and you just couldn’t see anything, it was just red flare after red flare. People banging on the bus. You could hear all the Sunderland chants… even for me, being from the area, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that as a fan. I think it really gave the boys that little bit of extra motivation, they’ve turned up in their numbers and they’re right behind us. We can’t let them leave this stadium with a loss.”
Head coach Régis Le Bris said the atmosphere generated was ”absolutely outstanding’.
