Sunderland, who is also an "animal friend", is not willing to fall behind.

The black cat, which symbolizes bad luck, seems to be always isolated from the light and can only breed and crawl in the darkness. But in this miracle year where both Crystal Palace and Tottenham can win the championship, Sunderland, who is also an "animal friend", is not willing to fall behind. In the final of the Championship, Sunderland reversed and defeated Sheffield United after eight years of returning to the Premier League with Tom Watson's putting worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The warmth from the top league is about to sprinkle the stadium of light in the new season.

My heart always follows Sunderland, and it is more than just a documentary at this moment.

【Doom and Disaster】

On May 13, 2017, the last Premier League day of the Stadium in Light so far, Sunderland lost to Swansea 0-2. Although the season is not over yet, Sunderland, who has been flattened at the end of the standings for nearly four months, has struggled in vain. The Black Cat, who announced the demotion in advance, was just attending a meaningless funeral.

However, falling from the Premier League is just the beginning of bad luck. In the summer of 2017, amid the calls for revival, Sunderland sold the most valuable youth goalkeeper Pickford and sent away high-paid players such as Borini, Rance, Endong and Gilo Boge on loan. However, under the financial pressure of being stretched, Black Cat is difficult to provide the same level of reinforcement, and can only spend more than 1 million euros to get a bunch of "defective products". The team's management has become increasingly dispersed. Rodwell, a former Manchester City player who is highly paid, has not worked hard. Ashley Fletcher, a "mercenary" who joined on loan, has had a feud with his fans at the bar. In the equally fierce competition in the English Championship, Sunderland, who is so troubled, even relegation has become a luxury. On April 21, 2018, Sunderland lost to his direct relegation opponent Burton at home, and was tragically relegated to the League One two rounds ahead of schedule.

This scene is also the end of the first season of the documentary "My Heart will always follow Sunderland" produced by Netflix. This documentary originally carried the hope of the club's senior management's upgrade journey with video recording, but in the end it turned into a complete disappointment. In the summer of the same year Sunderland was relegated from the Premier League, Bradley Lowell, a young fan who had been fighting the illness since birth, passed away at the age of 6. Sunderland generals such as Defoe, Catmore and Moyes accompanied him through the last journey of his life. The deceased was gone, and Sunderland let the child leave with regret and concern, but failed to let optimism and confidence reappear on his tender and strong face until his name was almost forgotten by the Internet.

[Light is hard to find]

Documentary Season 2, the core of the tragedy remains unchanged. The decline in the English League One means thinner broadcast revenue and more severe fiscal situation, and it also means it is more difficult to dance well in the transfer market. All high-paying players who left the team on loan last season were cashed out, and two youth training forwards Asolo and Josh Maya were also sold due to failed contract renewals. Like the previous year, Sunderland was still unable to strengthen after losing a large number of main players, and only spent more than 3 million in the winter window to sign Northern Ireland center Will Grigg like a gambling. But in the 2016 European Cup, he was igniting the summer with a song "Grig's Firepower" and completely shut down at the Stadium of Light, scoring only 4 goals in 18 games in half. He even handed in the crucial upgrade play-offs.

In the 2018-19 season, Sunderland won fifth place in the League One and saw hope of returning to the Championship through the playoffs. However, that play-off final was like the preview of the protagonist's upside down today. "Black Cat" was defeated by Charlton in the 94th minute, but had no choice but to play in the League One for another year. The 2019-20 season coincided with the outbreak of the epidemic, and Sunderland missed the playoffs due to his goal difference. In the 2020-21 season, Sunderland lost to Lincoln City in the semi-finals of the upgraded play-offs and was blocked outside the Wembley goal.

When the days of the fall of the English League One are dark, the "My Heart will always be with you" in the title gradually deviate from its original intention. George Heniman, one of the leading players of the documentary and the youth training midfielder who has been loved by the audience since the first season, was poached by Hull City in the summer of 2019. The documentary itself was also stranded after the second season was filmed. Pierman, a producer of Black Cats fans, said bluntly: "If they can upgrade, then we can tell a very good story, and if they are mediocre in the English League One forever, who would want to watch this movie?"

However, in the darkest night, a new dawn is brewing. In December 2020, Frenchman Kyrill Louis Dreyfus, who was only 23 years old, invested in the club as a small shareholder. He also has another prominent identity: the son of Robert, former shareholder of the French Ligue 1 giants. After coming to northeast England, he increased his capital and expanded his shares year by year, and eventually became the club's major shareholder in 2022. At that time, he made a promise to "return to the Premier League in five years after acquiring." Now that the period has not arrived, the young leader has fulfilled his promise in advance.

[Black Cat Resurrection]

drove away two British and American bosses who did not know how to operate or football, but Sunderland was still sedimenting. Kyriel, who has a strong family, believes that it is not to spend money crazy to achieve short-term goals, but to build a steadily style. After taking office, his "No. 1 Order" was to invite former Birmingham youth training director Spikeman to serve as athletic director and fully delegate the latter to form his own technical team. Spikeman's trusted former Blackburn chief scout Stewart Harvey also joined Sunderland in April 2021.

Soon, Sunderland's transfer strategy changed significantly. He no longer used high salaries and high signing fees to attract famous players, but focused on collecting young players, especially geniuses who were not developing smoothly in wealthy families. In the summer of 2021, the team loaned Hoffman from Bayern, bought Silkin and Jack Clark from Tottenham, loaned Callum Doyle from Manchester City, and also won 19-year-old right-back Tray Hume from the Northern Ireland League. Last night's escalation final battle, a pair of Sunderland's starting full-backs were the seeds planted four years ago and were blossoming and bearing fruit.. In the 2021-22 season, Sunderland finally took a solid step on the road to revival. In another year of promotion to the playoffs, they defeated Sheffield and Waicombe on Wednesday and returned to the Championship after four years. In the 2022-23 season, they almost performed a miracle of two consecutive gains in two years: they ranked fourth in the Championship, but they became the background board for the miracle of Luton Town in the play-offs.

After tasting the sweetness, Sunderland ran wildly on the way to form a youth army. In 2022, he signed central defender Daniel Ballard from the Arsenal echelon, and he advanced to the playoff semi-final this year to score a final. In 2023, with Spikeman's personal friendship, Sunderland signed the highly-watched Job Bellingham. Mondel, Mayanda, Daniel Neal and Chris Rigg, who were promoted to start last night, may join the same year or stand out from the youth training camp in the same year. Rigg also became the youngest outfield player in the history of the club at the age of 15 and 202 days.

From old and lacking vitality to young and infinite possibilities, Sunderland, whose lineup has been transformed, there is still a leader. In the summer of 2024, Regis Lebres, who had been in Lorient's all-level teams for many years, coached Sunderland. The French, who emphasized the triangular attack on the wing road, paved the right path for this group of young people. The record of 21 wins, 13 draws and 12 losses in 46 games, and the end of the 6 rounds of the regular season is not amazing, but it is also enough to enter the playoffs.

The cruel play-offs, "Black Cat" finally received good luck. In the semi-finals against Coventry led by Lampard, Sunderland was at a disadvantage in both rounds and advanced by counterattacking and set pieces. In the final, facing Sheffield United, which was in line with the Premier League team, Sunderland continued to put pressure on his conservatively recovered opponent in the second half, and finally, with the simple counterattack after two interceptions, the Blade's wall collapsed. Interestingly, due to the close main colors of the two teams, Wembley that night was a large red and white ocean, but when the final whistle sounded, the huge waves of cheering and terrible calm tore the ocean apart and tore the prelude.

For Tom Watson, who scored the final goal, there is nothing more dreamy farewell than this. He has only emerged in the first team of the Black Cats this season and has been "ordered" in advance by Brighton for 12 million yuan. In the new season, he will be in the Premier League with his former teammates, and each will be his own for the same dream.

Interestingly, Pierman, who had expressed his opinion that "there is no need to take pictures again", took his life back last year. In March 2024, the third season of "My Heart is Forever Following Sunderland" was launched, recording the team's journey to break into the League One and return to the Championship, which is also the last season of the entire film. Black Cat's return to the Premier League did not stop because of the end of the documentary. My heart is always followed by the oath that is contained in it, and it is finally passed down to where the dream begins again.