There are some photographs that just capture a hugely significant moment. Ever since the departure of Patrick Roberts on loan to Birmingham was announced, this one has understandably been doing the rounds on social media.
I don’t know whether those players were deliberately chosen to pose together, or whether it was just a coincidence that they all happened to be in the same area of the Wembley pitch at the same time. However it came to be, it is an image that captured something special.
Patrick Roberts, Anthony Patterson, Dan Neil, Dennis Cirkin, Luke O’Nien and Trai Hume share a unique bond - they all appeared for Sunderland in League One, and were part of the team that finally delivered Premier League football back to Sunderland AFC.
That other players contributed hugely during those years is undeniable. Without Ross Stewart, Alex Pritchard, Danny Batth, Bailey Wright, Cory Evans, Elliott Embleton, Jack Clarke and Lynden Gooch, who knows how long we may have languished in League One.
Equally Eli Mayenda, Wilson Isidor, Jobe, Enzo Le Fée, Tommy Watson, Romaine Mundle, Chris Rigg and particularly Dan Ballard deserve their place in the club’s history books for the part they played in the Championship Playoff success.
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 21: Patrick Roberts of Sunderland during the Sky Bet League One Play-Off Final match between Sunderland and Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley Stadium on May 21, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 21: Patrick Roberts of Sunderland during the Sky Bet League One Play-Off Final match between Sunderland and Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley Stadium on May 21, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)
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But Paddy, Patto, Captain Dan, Dennis, Luke and Trai deserve a special place reserved for them, in that club history. They were there in the hard days of Accrington, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Morecambe, Crewe and Shrewsbury. They, more than anyone, deserved that moment together on the pitch at Wembley in May.
They may not all have played against Wycombe in that rarest of occasions - a Sunderland victory at Wembley - but they were part of the reason we got there.
Three years later, all six played a crucial part in the side that qualified for the playoffs, and secured promotion to the Premier League.
And Patrick Roberts has become the first of those ‘6 musketeers’ to fall victim to the success he helped to deliver. The news of his departure to Birmingham was hard to take - without his defence-splitting pass to Eliezer Mayenda, we may not be a Premier League side. But, if the reports are true, he knew his playing opportunities this season would be limited and wanted the chance to play regularly elsewhere.
Of the others, Trai Hume has made a superb start to his career in the Premier League, Patto appears willing to stay and compete with Robin Roefs for the keeper’s jersey, and Luke has a new contract, and is ensuring the expensive new recruits are embedded in the club ethos that has brought us so far.
Only the futures of Dan Neil and Dennis Cirkin appear uncertain - Kristjaan Speakman appears hopeful that both will agree new contracts and extend their stay at the club.
Whatever happens, those 6 players have earned a special place in the modern history of Sunderland AFC. I hope it is an image that will be replicated the next time the club is looking to revamp one of the concourses to pay homage players we revere.
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