Joy Root @Joyroot575

Touchdown at the AoL 👋

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🫶

❤️ From the heart. What does Sunderland playing in Europe mean to you? 🎙️

🎙️ Both Régis Le Bris and Granit Xhaka will face the media individually today ahead of Wednesday's @EuropaLeague clash... Watch live from 1.30pm BST! 📺 youtube.com/@SunderlandAFC

I Wish You Were Here #1 ❤️ Jack Shields was Sunderland crazy. He followed the Lads home and away, travelling the length and breadth of the country and rarely missing a game. Football was a huge part of Jack’s life. He loved talking about the game, particularly anything Sunderland-related, and he even did a weekly podcast where he could share his thoughts and opinions. Through the darkest days, including the double relegation, Jack always remained positive. He never stopped believing that we would get back to where we belonged - the Premier League. Tragically, Jack passed away just hours after returning home from our final away game of 2024. He never got to see Sunderland promoted back to the Premier League the following season. I can only imagine how delighted he would have been. To see the Lads back in the Premier League, the incredible progress the club has made, and now to be competing in the Europa League - more than 50 years since Sunderland last played in European competition - would have meant absolutely everything to him. It breaks my heart that Jack isn't here to share these moments with us. I know just how much he would have loved every second of it. But I like to think that, on Wednesday night, he'll have the best seat in the house - looking down on the Lads and cheering them on, just as he always did. And if he could send us a little bit of luck from up there, we certainly wouldn't say no. We’ll be thinking of you every step of the way, Jack. Love,
Mam x

🎙️ RLB on the @EuropaLeague opener: 'I am proud. It is a privilege. We are progressing step by step. This is a brilliant moment for the Club, the city and the community...' #UEL

👊 RLB on AZ Alkmaar: 'They have a great history. An interesting team with lots of strengths. The challenge is demanding, but we are ready...' #UEL

❤️ RLB on his journey: 'Did I expect to be in this position when I first started in football? No. However, life works in different ways. Hard work and determination, mixed with the privilege of managing Sunderland in a European competition...' #UEL

🗣️ Granit Xhaka is up next... Stay tuned: youtube.com/@SunderlandAFC 📺

❤️‍🔥 GX on #SAFC: 'My project here is far from done...' #UEL

❤️ GX on the supporters: 'Other Premier League players have told me that when Wise Men Say starts, they are surprised. There is something about Sunderland, it's special. Wednesday night will be no different...' #UEL

Working towards AZ 💪

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Don't quit your day job, Habib 😂

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🆕

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Let's create another special atmosphere tomorrow... ❤️‍🔥

Our European training range is available in-store and online now! 🧡 🛒 shorturl.at/wgTQT

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All smiles from the skipper 🥰

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✈️ Gate 27: Europe Noah Sadiki is first up in our @EuropaLeague Passport Booth 👤

‘The stadium will be on fire tomorrow.’ 🔥 safc.com/news/2026/sept…

Europe, eh? For Sunderland football club and our fans, the arrival there has been a whirlwind journey of exceeded expectations, of hopes beyond hope becoming realities, that has taken us in, a little over four years, from playing in front of 5,831 at Morecambe to a potential 75,000 at the San Siro in Milan. I have friends who believed, in those League One days, that they’d never again see us play in the Premier League in their lifetimes, and that seemed a mindset that was less morbid than realistic. Yet here we are. Our last European adventure had us as the plucky underdogs who’d qualified by winning the FA Cup - much like Torreense this time around - but this time we’ve done it by maintaining our form over a full League season and by being what looks like an established top-flight side. Almost too good to believe, but it’s here and we’re going to enjoy it. We’ve done a pretty good job of being part of the showbiz of the Premier League, of the necessary financial micromanagement, of promoting the club abroad - to the extent that a European competition seems a natural part of our journey. As the club has progressed over recent seasons, so the city has redeveloped to become a great mixture of impressive new architecture and that of preserved and renovated historical nature. SAFC has always been a club of the people - the County Durham club, the club, the club that reflected the fortunes of the city and vice versa, and that could not be more true today. It’s time to show Europe that’s what we’re all about. Football on Wearside has always been a form of release after a week’s hard graft in the shipyards, the glassworks, or down the pits across the county. A chance to forget the daily grind and join your marras in a few hours of escapism - put the world to rights over a couple of pints then focus your energy on roaring the Lads on to victory. It’s happened for generations, and it’s not going to change even if the nature of the daily grind and the football venue have. For coal, glass, and ships read motor manufacture and service industries, for Roker Park read the Stadium of Light. ✍️ @ALS_Fanzine