Inside Sunderland's remarkable start to the Championship season: How they did it and what lies ahead

Sunderland’s 2-1 win over Watford on Sunday maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign, and lifted Mel Reay’s side to second in the early Championship table.

It represents a significant turnaround from what was a disappointing season last time out, and lifted hopes for what might be possible in the months ahead.

So what’s changed and what’s been the secret? Here, Phil Smith takes a closer look…

The early success of the hybrid model

Sunderland moved to a hybrid model in the summer, meaning their current squad is a mix of players on full and part-time contracts.

While the club will clearly need to move to a fully professional model in the long run if they are to remain competitive, the hybrid model made sense as a way of easing the transition. Some of the squad’s more experienced players have developed significant careers away from football, and as such the move to professionalism at this stage doesn’t work for their own personal circumstances. Moving to a full-time operation in one summer would have seen Mel Reay lose too much vital experience, both on and off the pitch, all at once.

The hybrid model has allowed those players to remain while allowing many of the younger players to turn professional. The importance of this, Reay will tell you, cannot be

understated. It allows the players to fully benefit from the club’s impressive operation at the Academy of Light, in every area from nutrition to sport science. The contact time between coaching staff and players has increased significantly, allowing for greater and improved individual analysis.

It also means the team are no longer handing a massive advantage to their opposition because of their limited recovery, with most players previously going into work the day after a game.

On the eve of the season Reay told The Echo the model was working better than she had initially expected, because the vast majority of the part-time players have been able to take part in just about every session anyway.

Sunderland now also train earlier in the day, rather than in the evenings as was the case when part time and this has naturally helped the team integrate into the club far better.

Much of this is clearly the bare minimum that should be expected for a team with long-term WSL ambitions, and represents Sunderland catching up rather than pulling ahead of their divisional rivals. 

It may well be the case that the benefits of this improved infrastructure aren’t actually seen fully until deeper in the campaign, and particularly when the Conti Cup begins and the schedule becomes significantly more challenging. The added professionalism should at that point help Sunderland improve on last season, both in terms of their fitness and also their individual performance as the impact of more regular and more focused coaching can show.

In terms of their fast start to the season, the primary factor is probably a more straightforward one..

Recruitment success

By far the biggest impact of the move towards professionalism is that it has offered Reay the chance to recruit from outside of the north east, and in the opening weeks of the season it has proved a game changer.

Externally there was some genuine fear over the summer months that this season would be a battle against the drop for Sunderland.

Primarily that was because there are now two relegation places in the Championship, rather than one. Last season, that would have seen the Black Cats drop back into the National League pyramid.

The other was a significant squad turnover that saw a number of regulars from Reay’s starting XI last year depart.

Some of that was expected and inevitable given the disappointing results last season, but the scale of change was surprising to many. Neve Herron and Abby Holmes, for example, were offered full-time deals but opted to move elsewhere. Danielle Brown, one of Reay’s most consistent performers over the previous two campaigns, opted to move abroad for family reasons.

There were big gaps left in the side, and the pressure was on to recruit well. Reay offered an upbeat verdict on the calibre of player recruited in pre-season, her main concern not being whether they would contribute to an improved season but how quickly the new-look side would gel in light of the significant turnover.

The early results have been outstanding, perhaps best highlighted in midfield. Sunderland are currently operating in a 4-3-3 system with three new additions in the heart of the pitch. Natasha Fenton operates at the base of the trio, with Katie Kitching and Jenna Dear bringing an impressive athleticism further ahead. Dear and Fenton had a pedigree that always suggested they would be excellent additions but Kitching has been nothing short of a revelation, a box-to-box midfielder who is outrunning just about every opponent in her path.

All over the pitch, new additions have made an impact. Mary McAteer has been a matchwinner off the right flank, while Amy Goddard has formed a strong partnership with Brianna Westrup in defence. 

Sunderland aren’t just producing better results than last year, but are playing with a significantly improved style. They have the pace and energy to play a counter-attacking or high-pressing style at times, but most notable is how much more comfortable they are on the ball. The local core of the side remains largely in place, but the experience Reay has been able to add means youth internationals such as Katy Watson and Grace Ede can be gradually introduced when the time is right.

The season ahead - and beyond

In her pre-match press conference this week, Reay made absolutely clear that Sunderland’s goals for the season have not changed despite their good form.

Sunderland’s form is impressive but no one is under any illusions about the scale of the task ahead. The division is much improved from last year, and Sunday’s opponents Birmingham City are a good example of a side who have started slowly but whose budget and strength means they will inevitably improve.

While Sunderland have shown that they can compete with any side on any given day, they at this stage of their squad development probably lack the depth of some of their rivals. That leaves a little vulnerable to injuries and the primary goal over the course of this 22-game season remains to consolidate in this division. Even with 11 points already on the board, there is a lot of work to do and some dips are inevitable.

It’s also undoubtedly the case that the club is still very much trying to develop both on and off the pitch. Though many clubs are increasingly playing at their main ground, Sunderland continue to play at Eppleton. They were ahead of the curve in many ways in previously putting on fixtures at the Stadium of Light, but the limited attendances meant an atmosphere that negated home advantage. In such a competitive division, players and staff prefer the intimacy of Eppleton, where they can feel the home support far more keenly. There is clearly a ceiling in terms of how far the club can grow at Eppleton given its accessibility and size, but the view internally is that the club aren’t there yet.

Growing attendances at the venue is an ongoing project, though last weekend’s was the best yet. This is encouraging given that the club have raised prices this year and ended free access for men’s season-card holders, reflecting a wider trend in the game to try and not undervalue the women’s game. 

Sunderland’s hope is that the significantly improved product on the pitch can help build that regular support.

The long-term challenge for Sunderland is similar to that facing the men’s side, as they try to grow sustainably while competing with other sides benefiting from the vast riches of the Premier League. That competition will get more fierce as this season develops and even more so in the campaigns ahead as more and more top-tier sides begin to invest heavily in their women’s teams. 

Sunderland aren’t yet anywhere near where they would like to be, and the need for continued investment from the ownership is obvious, but the early signs are that big steps forward have been taken in the last six months.

No one is getting carried away after just five fixtures, but the fear that Sunderland were beginning to get left behind have been significantly allayed.