Sunderland’s Championship campaign ended in one of the most memorable days of the club’s modern history as they beat Sheffield United 2-1 and Wembley.
It concluded a remarkable campaign from Régis Le Bris and his squad, competing for the top two for much of the season and rallying at the crucial moment when those hopes ebbed away. The achievement is all the more impressive when you consider the youth of the squad, and the fact that they had significantly less financial backing than many of their divisional rivals.
The celebrations will continue for a long period yet but Sunderland will also quickly have to begin their preparations for the major challenge of trying to survive and consolidate in the Premier League. With that in mind, we’ve rated the season of every player to make a Championship appearance in search of some clues for the rebuild ahead...
13. Salis Abdul Samed
Never really able to get going on the pitch, unable to make his debut until January and suffering some further setbacks thereafter. One or two important cameos off the bench along the way never seemed to reach full match sharpness. 5 | Getty Images
14. Alan Browne
Not the easiest season to judge. Browne more than played his part when fit and was a big presence in the dressing room, he just wasn’t available for long enough stretches to make a really big push for regular starts. Having arrived during pre-season last year, he’ll hope being on deck from day one next time around allows him to really push to prove himself as a Premier League player. 6.5 | Getty Images
15. Chris Rigg
A quite remarkable first season as a full professional. The youngest ever player to start a play-off final and was in the XI on merit after handling the disappointment of not starting the semi finals with impressive maturity. There were some inevitable signs of fatigue in moments of the second half of the campaign but like so many of Sunderland’s squad, he’s now very well placed to kick on massively in his second campaign. 8.5 | Getty Images
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16. Dan Neil
By his own admission, there was a period of adjustment as he adapted to the demands of captaincy but his form through the middle section of the season was top drawer. Another impressive season of development and watching the improvement in his out-of-possession game has been a joy. Completed his mission of leading Sunderland from League One back to the big time. 8.5 | Getty Images