“David Moyes couldn’t do it, Simon Grayson couldn’t do it, this man Chris Coleman… we love him, we’ve been waiting a long time, but Chris Coleman, top man. We love him.”

The above quotation is taken from episode four of Sunderland ’Til I Die, following our first home victory of 2017, which came just in time to prevent us from going 365 days without a success on home soil.

Not a promotion, a derby win, or even avoiding relegation, we had simply won at the Stadium of Light.

The scene perfectly encapsulates the beautiful irrationality of football fandom and, particularly, what it means to support Sunderland.

We were in the midst of the most depressing era in the club’s history and, little did the gentleman in the clip know, things were about to get worse, much worse. Our win that day would represent 50% of Coleman’s home wins as Sunderland manager, and a painful relegation, followed by four seasons in League One, was to follow.

That night, it did not matter. We had won a game and everything was alright with the world, our new manager was a genius, and all over Wearside the weight of 21 successive league games without a win at home was lifted off our shoulders.

When the gentleman had finished speaking, everyone around the table cheered and clapped, and his mate said, “What a speech that was.” Around the table there was a diverse mix of ages. All will have a unique, personal story of what makes them Sunderland supporters and, no doubt, interesting stories about how they met and how the glue of Sunderland AFC led them to form their friendship group.

In my lifetime following the Lads, this was the reality of being a Sunderland supporter: celebrating the small wins, finding strength in adversity, and showing blind loyalty and devotion.

When we reached the Checkatrade Trophy final in 2019, there was more footage from Netflix showing the players being mobbed by fans upon their arrival in London and, of course, Trafalgar Square had the customary Sunderland takeover.

But even in League One, we grew accustomed to glorious failure, and it was never us celebrating.

Then suddenly it was, and in pretty much the same length of time it took us to get out of the third tier, we got out of the Championship, finished 7th in the Premier League and now look forward to our first European fixture in 53 years.

Supporting Sunderland has gone from being a solemn duty, which you used to curse the misfortune of your postcode and/or your parents for, to something that, for the first time in generations, is bringing joy to people’s lives.

Usually, the higher up the pyramid you go, the hollower and more soulless the experience becomes, and the wider the disconnect between the fans and the players grows.

Régis Le Bris likes to use the word ‘connected’ in his press conferences, and I can’t remember the last time the city, the players, the fans and the club felt this level of connection.

Despite the vast majority of players having no prior connection to the region, they have all bought into what Sunderland means and represents.

The Head Coach and Sporting Director often refer to ‘being Sunderland’ in everything we do. The players relentlessly drive standards, and we have somehow gone from Phil Parkinson telling us that we would ‘take a point at Gillingham all day’ to Granit Xhaka standing in the centre circle, proclaiming: “This is just the beginning and we will want more!”

The atmosphere in the squad is at an all-time high, and you can see on the behind-the-scenes videos how close-knit the bond is throughout the group.

As the football club has flourished on the pitch, the city has continued to thrive, with the Sheepfolds development, the regeneration of the Vaux site, and Keel Square making the city centre an exciting place to be on a matchday.

The sight of thousands of red-and-white-clad supporters sitting outside the pubs as you walk through Keel Square, and seeing everyone cross the new bridge to the Stadium of Light, still gives me goosebumps before a big game.

When I was watching that episode of Sunderland ’Til I Die, I reflected on a whole range of emotions I experienced.

Firstly, I wondered what that group is doing now. Do they still all go to the match? Do they still meet in that pub, probably at that table, every week for a debrief?

Sadly, the morbid thought entered my head, hoping that everybody present was still alive to see days like this after sticking with the club through our hardest times.

Personally, I have experienced the loss of friends and family in the intervening years and, after every derby success, promotion, or big win, they are the people who come to mind.

I wish they had been here to witness the roar, the atmosphere and the emotion of our first day back in Europe, and once again I will raise a glass to them all prior to the AZ Alkmaar game.

Ahead of the game on Wednesday, everyone will have their own plans. Who are they going to the match with? Who are they meeting for a beer, or a soft drink of their choosing? Will they follow the same pre-match ritual, or are they going to make it a special day?

Even in the darkest days of League One, we averaged over 30,000 for all of the seasons played in front of fans. In the Championship, we averaged 39,140 in our first season back, 41,028 the following season, and 40,704 throughout 2024-25.

This is beyond impressive, but for me, the beauty of supporting Sunderland is being part of a community and the role it plays in everyday life.

To give an example from my own circumstances, my Grandad was a regular matchgoer throughout the Roker Park years, especially in the 1950s and 60s.

I was fortunate enough to attend the occasional game with him at the Stadium of Light, but I was raised on him taking me to Durham to watch the reserves and, on Saturday afternoons, you could set your watch by him putting the radio on and listening to the whole match coverage on Radio Newcastle, from the build-up to the post-match show.

My Gran, who was not a football person, would regularly interrupt her own Saturday routine of watching snooker or old musicals to ask him, “How are they getting on?” and “What’s going on with Sunderland?” was often the first question she would ask me when I went to visit them both.

Even at our lowest ebb, football oiled the conversations of everyday life when we caught up with friends, rang family members, filled awkward silences and, to varying degrees, it is something woven into the fabric of who we are.

We have all gone through a lot following this club and, through it, we have all formed friendships, lifelong bonds and connections, and it all means different things to different people.

From back-to-back relegations, seeing us win six league games out of a possible 43, to doing the double over Chelsea and the Mags (okay, we should be used to that).

From our forthcoming fixtures being Accrington Stanley at home and Fleetwood away to AZ Alkmaar at home, with trips to Brussels and Milan to look forward to, there has never been a better time to be a Sunderland fan.

We used to dream of days like this and, in our own way, we all deserve them.

So drink it all in and make our first European adventure in multiple generations one to remember.

Ha’way the lads!