Phil Smith: Sunderland have finally turned around the oil tanker - and now they can show the world

They used to arrive talking about being the one to turn around the oil tanker.

They tended to leave not that long after, the rest of us talking instead about the poisoned chalice.

Sunderland’s presence in the Championship play-off final this afternoon reflects that they are a different club now. No longer a basket-case, the graveyard of established once established footballing names. No longer the club you associate with tears on the tele.

They are the bright young team on the rise, the sleeping giant now undeniably beginning to stir. At long last, the juggernaut is heading firmly in the right direction.

At one point did the oil tanker truly start to turn?

Perhaps it was on that bitterly cold Tuesday night at Shrewsbury Town, when Kyril Louis-Dreyfus was first spotted watching the side and perhaps came to understand the scale of the challenge ahead.

Perhaps it was on the first day of the next season, when Sunderland named a 17-year-old Callum Doyle at centre back and Dan Neil to his left. A signal to young players all over the world not just in their own academy but all over the world that this was the place to be.

Perhaps it was in an empty Wembley Stadium months previous, when the Wembley curse was finally lifted. Perhaps it was at Plymouth, when Ross Stewart made his full debut and truly opened people’s eyes to how good he could be.

Maybe it was after Bolton Wanderers 6-0 Sunderland, when a club realised it had to wise up and toughen up. Maybe it was when Alex Neil was asked about going to play at Sheffield Wednesday and he said, ‘what is there to be scared of, people shouting boo?’ Maybe it was when Tony Mowbray put his trust in Amad, and a world of possibilities opened up and fans who were already falling back in love were now head over heels.

Sunderland fans head to the capital with belief in their team, who haven’t always sparkled but have always fought. Who have dug in, stuck together, ran until there was nothing left in the tank. They also wander up Wembley Way with their eyes wide open - financial realities and squad depth make Sheffield United the rightful favourites here. It might be that in the cold light of day, it’s just a little too soon for this team to take that final step back to the big time.

The feeling this time around is a little different. It’s no longer quite so much oh god what if we lose, even it will feel horrible in that moment. It’s not oh god we can’t take another season of this, what state will the club be in if we don’t get over the line? It’s we are proud to be here, behind and with this young team. We have fought back from our lowest ebb and lived to the tale. We are Sunderland again.

In truth, promotion to the Premier League might not quite be the dream ticket of old. Yes this is still the richest game in world football, but the gap looks only to be growing every year. The winner of this game faces a potentially punishing campaign, battling against the odds week in, week out.

For Sunderland that would be a very welcome problem. The financial boost of a win here today would futureproof their project for the next half a decade, and perhaps more importantly it would give them a fighting chance of keeping this team of such exciting potential together.

They know there is a lot at stake here. The Championship is a ferociously competitive division and you never know who will thrive next season, who might overachieve and whether the players you bring in to replace those who would go will be as good. The division is littered with examples of clubs who couldn’t seize their moment and even now are still counting the cost.

All that can wait, though.

This is a day for Sunderland to celebrate who they are and how far they’ve come. The opportunity for a team of players to write themselves into the club’s history and become legends, the group who led the club back to the promised land. The opportunity for a head coach who took a spectacular leap into the unknown one year ago to join a select group who have led Sunderland to victory on this hallowed turf.

Above all else a chance for nearly 40,000 to revel in their club being back on the rise.

Even when that tanker was turned, the direction has not been linear. It’s Sunderland, how could it? There have been mistakes and heavy defeats and fury and disappointment and setbacks.

But amidst all that the hope has come back and the belief too. The Roker Roar slowly but surely reborn, culminating in that era-defining header from Dan Ballard. That night Sunderland showed the world they are back, a force to be reckoned with again. But the job isn’t done. Can they now take the final step?

Your next Sunderland read: We're just two 'silly' mates who dreamed of playing for Sunderland - now we could win promotion at Wembley