One hurdle remains as Black Cats go 'Til the End'

Sunderland have never been lower than fourth in the Championship this season

'Til the End'.

Those words written across the Sunderland team coach and unfurled on an enormous Tifo as the players emerged on to the Stadium of Light pitch proved more prophetic than even the most ardent Black Cats supporter could have imagined.

With virtually the last touch of a match in which they had been second best to Coventry City for large periods, Dan Ballard headed his team to Wembley.

So Sunderland's season will go to the very end, the final game of the Championship season as they face Sheffield United on 24 May with the chance to end their eight-year spell outside of the Premier League.

'Sunderland 'Til I Die'

Black Cats supporters have experienced many things in the last eight years, with some of those moments immortalised in the cult fly-on-the-wall Netflix series 'Sunderland 'Til I Die'.

Relegated from the Premier League, they then fell straight through the Championship into League One.

But rather than bounce back, it took four years, two failed play-off campaigns and four managers to get out of the third tier.

That was achieved at Wembley three years ago with five of the players involved against Coventry in the matchday squad on that afternoon against Wycombe Wanderers.

There was a sixth-placed finish in 2023 after promotion but optimism slumped last year as they ended in 16th after popular boss Tony Mowbray was sacked and very unpopular boss Michael Beale came and went.

This Tifo was on display at the Stadium of Light in front of a crowd of 46,530 - the highest in the Championship this season

With the club still searching for a new head coach in June, few would have expected a season challenging for promotion.

Regis Le Bris arrived with little fanfare, having suffered relegation from Ligue 1 with Lorient in his previous job.

But four straight wins in August had them top of the Championship in their best start to a season for 99 years and they carried that form on.

They were in the top four all season and were in the conversation for automatic promotion until successive defeats in February against Leeds United and Hull City.

The focus has been all about the play-offs for three months and saw a big drop-off in form as they finished the regular season with five straight losses.

Despite coming up against a Sky Blues team full of momentum who dominated possession across both games, the Black Cats kept going and had the big moments go in their favour, culminating in Ballard's header - a moment that will go down in Wearside folklore.

For Le Bris, it was a night for displaying those qualities that resonate with fans.

"It is really important to highlight the character, the togetherness," he said.

"The players are not always brilliant with the ball but they represent well the club and the region and the way you have to play to win.

"It's more about mentality and character and the ability to fight all the way. But this group is so strong and well connected."

'Absolutely brilliant season'

Now attention turns to the task of facing Chris Wilder's Blades at Wembley, with Premier League football the coveted prize.

"Getting to the final shows that the season has been absolutely fantastic," said Le Bris.

"It is very important to say that because you can win or lose at the end, but what we have lived together this season was absolutely brilliant. We cannot forget that.

"We have one more game. It will be another tough challenge, but we will be really focused on that game now. That is the next step for us now."