Sunderland will mark their first foray into European football for more than half a century with something “truly, truly memorable” before kick-off.
Details of the Black Cats’ display before Wednesday night’s visit of AZ Alkmaar are being kept under wraps because Sunderland officials want to retain an element of surprise, but there is genuine excitement at something insiders feel is “unique and hasn’t been done before”.
“There is [going to be] a very specific and special moment that will connect us with our past and shine us into the future,” Sunderland chief executive Tom Burwell tells The i Paper of a “fan experience” that has required multiple Uefa sign-offs and a whole heap of supporter group “buy-in” to pull it together.
The club getting into Europe just four years after they were playing in League One fully justifies attempting something spectacular inside the Stadium of Light this week.
It also reflects the feeling internally that this European campaign is a chance to “take Sunderland to the world”.
Both the club and the city have undergone rapid regeneration in the last decade but still battle tired preconceptions.
Sunderland fans urged to ‘showcase club’
The Stadium of Light will be packed to the rafters on Wednesday night (Photo: Getty)Take a walk through Sunderland city centre this week and you can’t help but feel the excitement about the AZ game.
The Roker Report website called Europe a “new chapter” in the club’s history in an editorial on Monday and hailed it as the “biggest, most meaningful step towards realising the club’s potential in 90 years”.
It is a sentiment that is shared in the Sunderland hierarchy.
Qualifying for Europe has already certainly helped propel the club forward.
The chance to play in the Europa League featured heavily in the sales pitch to summer signings Malick Fofana and Dayann Methalie and has enabled them to strike some lucrative sponsorship deals this summer.
The i Paper can reveal Sunderland raked in £1m on the opening day that the club’s new Hummel home shirt went on sale.
It is a club record and only two other Premier League clubs are believed to have ever topped that figure – and both were coming off the back of Champions League wins.
That feelgood factor is something Sunderland’s hierarchy are desperate to tap into this week.
“This is the first time for a generation [in Europe] and I keep saying to supporters ‘Don’t just enjoy it, come along and play your part’,” Burwell says.
“I talk a lot about exporting Sunderland to the world and the opening commentary on Match of the Day on Saturday talked of the Stadium of Light being a cauldron. It’s hugely important European commentators are saying the same after the four games we have here and I think they will be.
“I don’t think there was an arena in the Premier League like ours this past weekend. Arsenal and their players and coaching staff thought they’d done very well to get a win because the Stadium of Light was our 12th man. So there is a big calling to our fans – let’s represent the city, play the role we can play and roar our players on to success this week.”
‘No ceiling’ for Sunderland’s ambition
Head coach Regis Le Bris retains the backing of the club’s hierarchy (Photo: Getty)His promise is that their efforts are being matched by a club whose mantra is “no limits, no ceiling”.
That motto is meant to do two things: firstly, not over-promise to an “honest, hard-working fanbase” who have grown weary of false dawns in recent years.
Secondly it recognises “the size of Sunderland football club and the opportunity that brings”.
Burwell says: “There’s never going to be massive declarations of success from us, but there’s a very clear mantra that we’re here, we want to be a Premier League side and represent the city in every competition we’re playing in.”
A new banner declaring “this is just the beginning” – a nod to Granit Xhaka’s on-field speech after the final day of the season promising more to come – also now hangs proudly at the Stadium of Light.
Can Sunderland win the Europa League? English clubs have triumphed in each of the last two seasons and Nottingham Forest made the semi-finals last year while embroiled in a relegation fight.
The Black Cats are sure to face “challenges”, Burwell admits, with the club required to play a minimum of 50 fixtures as they fight on four fronts for the first time since 1973.
European qualification also requires the club to meet Uefa’s more stringent financial fair play rules that limit a club to spending 70 per cent of their revenue.
Burwell says they will “fall into line accordingly” but adds of hitting Premier League and Uefa squad cost ratio rules: “It’s not something we need to talk overtly about”.
Stadium expansion off the agenda for now
However, there are no plans to expand the home ground in the near future (Photo: Getty)He is also realistic about the possibility of stadium expansion as Sunderland – who regularly sell out their 49,000-seater stadium – continue to grow.
“You have to be really careful with that,” Burwell says.
“Of course we’ve always got an eye on how we improve the stadium experience for everyone.
“How do we ensure, for example, that as many people in the city are getting in to access an appropriate ticket and getting value for money?
“That’s whether they’re joining us for our double Michelin star restaurant Banks on the Wear or whether they’re a general admission season-ticket holder.
“I recognise some of the challenges we have with inventory and a stadium that was built 30 years ago but we also have to recognise we’re in year two of the Premier League.
“There’s a reality that comes with that so you look at things over the short, medium and long-term and do so via the lens of not only where you are but where you’re going.
“We also have to recognise this is the Premier League, the hardest league in the world, and there are challenges that come with that as well as opportunities.”
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Investment from an ownership group led by Kyril Louis-Dreyfus will continue.
“If you stand still in the Premier League, you fall behind so we know we’ve got to keep pushing and chasing,” Burwell says.
“We have to trust the decisions that we’re taking and the vision of the ownership that has got us here.
“That vision is very demanding and it is also to be here for the long-term.”
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