Sunderland beat Tranmere to end Wembley hoodoo and win EFL Trophy
On the concourse at Wembley Park tube station, there were no fans taking their cup final snaps. Wembley Way stood empty. The national anthem echoed around vacant plastic seats. It was a serve-yourself medal ceremony. But perhaps for Sunderland this was the way it had to be. Glory comes in many forms, few stranger than a scruffy 1-0 win over League Two opposition at a deserted Wembley Stadium. But glory this nonetheless was.
Finally, there is another clip to join the worn footage from the 1973 FA Cup final of Ian Porterfield’s goal and Jim Montgomery’s save. It will show the moment 12 minutes into the second half when Aiden McGeady, by far the classiest player in either side, found a path through a thicket of Tranmere bodies and slid his pass along it, allowing Lynden Gooch to run on and sweep his finish high into the net.
“You can feel the power, the velocity of the club,” said the manager, Lee Johnson, “and if we can get it right and get it aligned it can be so powerful, and this can be a little step on the ladder. I know how much heartache the fans have had and I’m just glad to give them something back. Hopefully this is the start of our journey.”
Sunderland had lost seven consecutive finals at Wembley (an FA Cup, two League Cups, three play-offs and a Football League Trophy). In each of them, their fans had been given the north end at Wembley, whereas in 1973 they had the south end. This time, thanks to the pandemic, the issue of the unlucky end never came up. But neither were there the raucous scenes in Trafalgar
Square and Covent Garden that distinguished previous final defeats, those gleeful projections of self, reminders offered to the world – and perhaps also to themselves – that Sunderland, despite everything, still exists.
Since the FA Cup final win against Leeds, the greatest of all FA Cup fairytales, Sunderland’s happiest time at their national stadium probably came at the Football League Centenary Tournament in 1988 (two rounds a day over a weekend, 40-minute matches) when they were in the pen alongside Tranmere fans and celebrated with them as Rovers beat Newcastle in the quarterfinal; Sunderland themselves had lost on penalties to Wigan in the previous round.
There is a moment in the Netflix documentary Sunderland Til I Die in which a woman leaving Wembley after yet another defeat pauses at the top of the steps, turns, and asks the man next to her: “Why can it never be us?” This time it is, and there were none of them there to see it.
It is only the Papa John’s Trophy – a competition that even five years ago Sunderland would have been embarrassed to be in. But it is what they have, it is what was available to them, and, while this might not be how they dreamed of the moment, the curse is finally broken, and the emotional mortgage taken out in 1973 has finally been paid back.
It was not a great performance. Tranmere were the more threatening side for long spells, Luke O’Nien excelled at centre-back, three players needed stitches and the Sunderland keeper Lee Burge made two fine saves, neither in the Montgomery class, but vital nonetheless. But Sunderland have played well at Wembley and lost, and played badly and lost; what matters is that they were good enough.
The 23-year-old Swiss billionaire Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, who sported the old club badge on his lapel, one not used since before he was born, has been owner of Sunderland a little under a month, yet already he has his first trophy. Brian Clough always said that winning the Texaco Cup in 1972 was vital in giving his Derby players the taste of champagne. Sunderland will hope more follows in May with promotion to the Championship. Ending the drought is one thing, but it needs to be the start of something more sustainable. Sunderland never want to be in this competition again.