When on Sunday afternoon the sound of a ship’s horn came from the loudspeakers in the Stage of Light sounds, a technician dims the stadium lights. A second later, Sunderland supporters hold up red and white paper. Deafening noise makes way for a sacred silence during the climax, a light and fireworks show. The return of the derby against Newcastle United in the Premier League touches the soul of tens of thousands of fans.
In Sunderland everyone now identifies with the club. Thanks to Swiss owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, optimism is flourishing. And yet the population of the coastal town in Northeast England normally embraces prosperity with a hug. The heyday of the city on the North Sea came to a standstill decades before the spectators in the stadium were born. Misery, poverty and hopelessness have marked the national character for generations. Pessimism is ingrained in their bones, meaning even promotion to the Premier League was viewed with suspicion.
This resignation with a life on the margins is also woven into the club identity. The name of the stadium refers to a mining lamp, the symbol of a disappeared industry. There is also trouble attached to the electronic horn before kick-off. The yards in Sunderland, once the UK’s leading shipbuilder, have closed. From grandstand songs like Things Can Only Get Better drips self-mockery about the struggle with existence.
Deep-rooted rivalry
Despite the deep-rooted rivalry, neighboring Newcastle United was very similar to Sunderland in this respect. For both clubs, mutual matches were like a battle between two tragicomic figures. ‘Neighbors in irrelevance’ a journalist from the region once aptly described this phenomenon. The winner of the derby could call himself the least worst of the two.
An incident that was as bizarre as it was funny aptly typified the status of pitiful bunglers. In 2013, Newcastle United supporter Barry Rogerson punched police horse Bud after a defeat against Sunderland. The man was given a twelve-month prison sentence for hitting the animal. His wife wrote in the boulevard newspaper The Mirror recording her bewilderment. “If I leave him alone on the street once, he does something like that.”
The takeover of Newcastle United by Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund in 2021 seemed to herald the end of their shared fate. When Magpies fans dressed as sheikhs greeted the arrival of the petrodollars, Sunderland was playing for the fourth season in a row in League One, the third professional tier in England. The chance to ever again defy rivals Newcastle at the Stadium of Light against the grim backdrop of wealth seemed lost.
Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus (left) greets fans before the derby.
Photo Scott Heppell / Reuters
But behind the scenes, a revolution was quietly taking place at this sporting low point. Swiss Kyril Louis-Dreyfus took over the club from Stewart Donald, the target of ridicule in the Netflix documentary, at the age of 22 Sunderland ‘Til I Die. The makers of the series followed the club in the 2017/18 season, when Sunderland had just been relegated from the Premier League. Instead of a PR film about a heroic return, the viewer was presented with a black book.
Under Stewart, loathed by the supporters, Sunderland plummeted to League One. When he sold his shares to Louis-Dreyfus in 2021, the Swiss did not immediately make the fans’ hearts beat faster. Dreyfus was the 22-year-old son of the late Robert Dreyfus, a former CEO of Adidas, and Margarita, a French-Russian billionaire. What could a very young heir bring to a desperately ill club?
Dreyfus was not just a rich man’s son. Guided by his father Robert, owner of Olympique Marseille before his death, he learned the secrets of the football world from the inside. Moreover, Dreyfus had a good brain. He obtained a master’s degree in Sports and business management from the University of Leeds. Kyril also led an E-sports company.
Against the trend
Sunderland were immediately promoted to the Championship a few months after the completion of the takeover. This jump was more the result of luck than it was the hand of Dreyfus. The fruits of his network and analytical thinking only fully emerged last year. He bucked the trend of English clubs in the Championship by not throwing money around, but leaning on the youth academy and talents from abroad.
The appointment of trainer Régis Le Bris in the summer of 2024 was in line with this strategy. The Frenchman had never worked at the top, but excelled as a coach of youth teams. With a talent team from Lorient (under 17 years) he became champion of France. Players from this group later left for clubs such as Chelsea and AS Roma. At Sunderland he showed his worth by achieving promotion with a team with an average age of 22.
Dutch Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs rules the air.
Photo Andy Buchanan / AFP
Immediately after the play-off final at Wembley against Sheffield United, Dreyfus switched to an already developed plan. Attracting director of football Florent Ghisolfi, ex-TD of AS Roma and an acquaintance of Dreyfus, was an essential part of this. He was tasked with recruiting international level players. With an advanced data system and scouts for the crafts at his disposal, a metamorphosis followed.
Players from all over came to Sunderland for almost 200 million euros. Not, as it soon turned out, by name but by potential. For example, Ghisolfi and sports director Kristjaan Speaman surprised by buying goalkeeper Robin Roefs from NEC. The 22-year-old Dutchman had only played forty matches in the Eredivisie and was not on the lists of Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord. He immediately became a revelation at Sunderland this season.
The signing of Brian Brobbey (Ajax) and Lutsharel Geertruida (RB Leipzig) also raised eyebrows. Once seen as permanent fixtures for the Dutch national team, they were now regarded as failed players. At Sunderland they gradually regained their flair. Brobbey, barely fit at Ajax, is considered one of the public heroes. Dreyfus himself arranged the cork on which the collection of depreciated or youthful players would float.
Indispensable power
The chairman, in consultation with Le Bris, Speakman and Ghisolfi, ruled that enforcement could only be achieved with a purified leader. Their eye fell on Granit Xhaka, the 33-year-old playmaker of the Swiss national team. The midfielder was still under contract with Bayer Leverkusen, where the recently appointed coach Erik ten Hag turned him into an indispensable force. After a telephone conversation with Dreyfus, Xhaka left for England.
The class of Xhaka, who struggled to control his emotions as an Arsenal player, immediately came to the surface. Trainer Le Bris used him as a right-hand man on and off the field. Older and calmer, the other players ate from his hand. Where Xhaka went, the rest followed. The fact that Sunderland can cautiously dream of European football after Sunday’s 1-0 win over Newcastle United is largely thanks to him.
Sunderland fans celebrate the win over Newcastle United.
Photo Lee Smith / Reuters
The supporters in the Stadium of Light chanted his name for minutes after the final whistle. Months ago, pundits and respected newspapers mentioned like TheTelegraph and The Times already ‘by far’ the purchase of the year in the Premier League. Dreyfus is also gradually receiving more praise for his sophisticated and economical strategy. Sunderland wasted almost a billion euros on TV money before his arrival. He drew a line under that era.
In that sense, the success in the first performance of the derby against Newcastle United after promotion marks more than just a sporting highlight. Sunderland, in seventh place in the rankings, sets the self-esteem of its supporters and the rhythm of the city’s residents more broadly. Cynicism gives way to sincere hope. In northeast England this is equivalent to an earthquake.
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