Sunderland 'Til I Die new series has global launch at Fire Station

The third and, probably, final series of Sunderland 'Til I Die was officially launched in the heart of the city.

The final episode of the fly-on-the wall Netflix documentary was shown to an audience in the Fire Station auditorium, which included SAFC stars past and present.

Among them was Marco Gabbiadini, Gary Bennett, Trai Hume, Anthony Patterson, Jay Matete, Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts. Entertainment came from Marty Longstaff, aka the Lake Poets, who performed the show's theme song.

Since it was first broadcast in December 2018, the show has brought global attention to the football club and its incredible supporters. It is produced by Fulwell73, whose bosses are huge Sunderland fans.

The episode screened ends the series on a high, whereas the finales of the first two series concerned a relegation and a play-off final defeat respectively. Series three ends with promotion glory and a play-off victory at Wembley in 2022.

There is the usual enlightening behind-the-scenes stuff. Ross Stewart tells how his dad had paid a third of his £1,500 transfer fee from Ayrshire club Kilwinning Rangers to Albion Rovers in 2016 while Californian Mackem Lynden Gooch treats us to his wonderfully peculiar accent.

But somehow it's Sunderland's long (long, long) suffering supporters who manage to steal the show.

The title of the show is given added poignancy because the final episode refers to the death of Sunderland-mad Ian Wake, a star of the series who sadly passed away in March 2023 just 10 months after he was filmed celebrating at Wembley.

Ian's partner Michelle Barraclough was part of a panel on the Fire Station stage, taking part in a Q&A session after the screening alongside club captain Luke O'Nien and members of the production team. She went down a storm with the audience.

Also referenced is the death of the club's media boss Louise Wanless in June 2021. She was just 52. A Sunderland shirt bearing her name is shown hanging in the Wembley dressing room the following year.

Luke O'Nien said: "I think what's special about the documentary is how much we've all changed and evolved over the years. I look back at the first season to where I am now.

"I've got two kids and was married in the North East. I'm a completely different person. A completely different teammate, in a completely different position as well. I was a midfielder; and not a very good one. Now I'm a centre-back. So the special thing I look back on is the evolution."

Gabe Turner, a Fulwell73 partner, told the Echo: "It's a celebration of us winning at Wembley, which is something most people in this room probably thought would never happen.

"We've all been to all the losses, so it was nice be at one of the wins, then to immortalise it in a season of Sunderland 'Til I Die.

"This season (of the show) is more about the glory; the turnaround. Season one and two were very gloomy. This is about us coming back out into the light, fixing what was broken at the club and moving into a new era.

"It ends with the glory on the pitch at Wembley."

The new Sunderland ‘Til I Die series is now on Netflix as a box set, with series one and two also still available.

Another Fulwell73 boss, Leo Pearlman, also gave the audience the latest on the Crown Works studio plans in Pallion.