Sunderland at Wembley: London pub landlord thanks SAFC fans for ‘bumper weekend’ after League play-off final victory over Wycombe Wanderers

Liam Birney manages McGlynn’s, near King’s Cross station, where he has worked for eight years. The pub was mentioned in our list of 11 bars for supporters to frequent over the Wembley weekend.

Sunderland beat Wycombe on May 21 to secure promotion, with tens of thousands of supporters making a weekend of it.

The Metropolitan Police had advised some pubs to close the next day for safety reasons, with Manchester United, Everton and Leeds all playing in the capital.

Police steered Leeds fans into other areas, meaning that only Everton supporters visited McGlynn’s on Sunday – but by then, Sunderland’s followers had drunk most of the beer anyway.

A delighted Liam, a Charlton Athletic fan, said: “The police didn’t tell us to close, but they sent out an email to everyone in the local area basically recommending caution. If smaller places weren’t prepared for it they suggested possibly closing. But they didn’t force us to.

“They wanted to keep everyone safe. We did open on Sunday and had just Everton fans, with no problems at all.

“We had just about enough beer left by then. The first Sunderland supporters arrived on the Thursday night. The last ones left on Sunday. We had great customers and were busy the whole weekend.

“I don’t know the exact barrelage, but we sold easily twice as much as we would normally do. Before Sunderland’s last play-off final in 2019 we had a lot in; but nothing like this.

“The Sunderland Echo must have played a part, because we had a lot of randoms in who mentioned that they’d read about us.

“The Sunderland supporters were absolutely fine. We had hundreds in with no problems at all. We didn’t have door staff; just me walking round and making sure everyone was alright.

“It was a really good weekend, so our thanks to the fans. We look forward to seeing them next season. But I have to be neutral, it’s very much a North Eastern thing. The support from there is always fantastic.”

Sunderland have a minimum of four fixtures in and around London next season.