The 12-year Championship trend Sunderland must overcome to complete dramatic Premier League promotion

Anticipation and excitement has enveloped Wearside as Sunderland prepare for the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final tie against Luton Town.
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The celebrations following a dramatic final day of the season are still ongoing after Tony Mowbray’s Sdunerland snatched the fourth and final play-off spot. A 6,000-strong away following made their way to Deepdale and watched goals from Amad Diallo, Alex Pritchard and Jack Clarke give Sunderland a 3-0 win at Preston North End to keep alive their hopes of claiming a top-six place.

That meant all eyes were on the New Den as Millwall faced a Blackburn Rovers side that also had an outside chance of gatecrashing the play-offs. Despite taking a 3-1 lead into half-time thanks to a brace from former Black Cats forward Duncan Watmore and an Oliver Burke strike, the Lions collapsed during the second-half as a Joe Rankin-Costello goal and two efforts from the departing Ben Brereton-Diaz gave Rovers all three points.

Sunderland fans celebrate their victory at Preston North End.Sunderland fans celebrate their victory at Preston North End.
Sunderland fans celebrate their victory at Preston North End.
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The brace from the Chile international set off wild celebrations from the Black Cats faithful as they quickly turned their focus towards a possible return to the Premier League. Their bid gets underway when Luton travel to the Stadium of Light on Saturday evening for the first leg of the play-off semi-final before Mowbray’s men travel to Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night looking to secure a Wembley date.

Yet history is not on Sunderland’s side as they look to end their six-year absence from the Premier League by coming through the Championship play-offs. In recent years the likes of Brentford, Aston Villa and Fulham have all secured a top flight return by finishing in the first three play-off places before re-establishing themselves alongside English football’s elite.

But not since Blackpool in 2010 has a side finished the regular season in sixth place in the Championship table before safely navigating their way through the play-offs to take their place in the Premier League.

After surprising Nottingham Forest with a 6-4 aggregate win in the semi-final, the Tangerines earned a dramatic 3-2 win against Cardiff City in the final to ensure they joined Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion in claiming promotion into the top tier. Despite making a promising start to the following campaign, Ian Holloway’s side lasted just one season in the Premier League as they were relegated just 12 months after their glorious day under the Wembley arch.

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