Reid had Sunderland on the crest of a wave in 2001... even a Champions League place seemed within reach

full-backs to give me width. Tactically, I suppose I’d be called a genius these days but I had lost Alan Johnson and Nicky Summerbee, who were my wide men, and I had to adapt. The players bought into it, and we were all swept along by the crowd.”

The one disappointment was that the campaign fizzled out. Reid had created a monster, giving a platform to players who capitalised and moved on.

He said: “There was a theme. I lost Clarky (Lee

Clark) for obvious reasons when I didn’t want to lose him, Micky Bridges, and I didn’t want to lose him. I lost Allan Johnson – I didn’t want to lose him either. Managers have the same problems nowadays. You get a team going and it starts to perform and then players are looking to move on with their contracts running out.

“You’ve got to be one step ahead of the game, but it’s difficult. You know, I had seven years there. I got there when they were fourth from bottom in the Championship. When I left, we were fourth from bottom in the Premier League.

“But there was a new stadium and a new training ground and we’d had some brilliant times – and there were some tears amid all the laughter too.

“We got up in that first season – which was a miracle – and come down with 40 points. Took part in the most famous play-off game ever, and then romped it in the Championship the year after. We then took on everyone at the Stadium of Light and gave them a proper game. The crowds flocked to see us.

“They’ll come back. I believe that clubs operate in cycles. Burnley have been down there. Swansea, Bournemouth... they all came back. Was it two years ago when there was 46,000 at the Stadium of Light on Boxing Day? In League One. There’s not too many clubs could do that.

“When you parallel that with what we were doing and where we were 20 years ago, it just shows what can be done if you can get it going and get a team up there.

“We had it. It was the best of times. Honestly, I cherished every moment of it and I sincerely hope the supporters have something to shout about again. And soon.”