Former Sunderland chairman and owner Sir Bob Murray reflected on Sunderland’s win at Wembley against Sheffield United
Speaking exclusively to The Echo following Sunderland’s promotion-ending eight-year exile from the top flight, Sir Bob offered glowing praise for the 28-year-old Frenchman’s stewardship since taking control of the club in 2021.
“I spent a little bit of time with him at the after-party,” Murray said. “I was mainly thanking him and congratulating him because it's no mean feat taking over a club in that state and getting it into the Premier League. That is no mean feat, no matter what you think of the guy or whatever it is, that is some achievement.”
Murray, who oversaw Sunderland’s move to the Stadium of Light, helped build the club’s modern identity and oversaw the club’s move to the Academy of Light from their previous training ground, pointed to the prudent financial approach under Louis-Dreyfus as key to the club’s resurgence.
“We haven't prostituted our future,” Murray added. “We're going in a relatively strong situation. We're not in horrendous debt. It's been done very cleverly, in my opinion,” he explained. “There's nothing more competitive than professional football. Every team in the Championship loses money. Some lose £60 million or more. Nobody makes a profit. I think he's done remarkable. I really do. I take my hat off to him.”
Murray also singled out the football knowledge and alignment within the club’s leadership structure, particularly the relationship between Louis-Dreyfus and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, who in just four seasons at the club has overseen a radical overhaul of the squad’s playing staff, filling the club’s ranks with young, hungry and valuable players.
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“Him and Kristjaan are football savvy, which I think is a great thing for the future. They don’t get everything right, but they’re getting a lot right,” he said. “They’re not like Ellis Short and know nowt. They’re not like that or the chancers. They’re football people and they get Sunderland.”
Highlighting their community connection, Sir Bob revealed that Louis-Dreyfus sits on the board of trustees at the Beacon of Light, a charitable foundation built by the Foundation of Light, further evidence of his growing ties to the region. “He’s very supportive. He gets Sunderland. He understands Sunderland. I think it's a fantastic achievement.”
Who is Sir Bob Murray and when did he own Sunderland?
Sir Bob Murray is one of the most influential figures in Sunderland’s modern history, having chaired the club for over two decades between 1986 and 2006. Born in County Durham, Murray is a lifelong Sunderland supporter who oversaw some of the club’s most transformative moments, both on and off the pitch.
His tenure included two promotions to the Premier League and the construction of the Stadium of Light in 1997, replacing Roker Park and ushering in a new era for the club. Under his guidance, Sunderland established themselves as a top-flight outfit at the turn of the millennium, recording back-to-back seventh-place finishes under Peter Reid.
Murray also played a pivotal role in the founding of the Foundation of Light, one of the largest football club-affiliated charities in the UK, and later led the creation of the Beacon of Light, a state-of-the-art community hub in Sunderland focused on education, sport, and wellbeing.
He sold the club later to the Niall Quinn Drumaville Consortium in 2006 but was knighted in 2003 for services to education, business, and charity. Murray also helped build England’s training ground, St George’s Park, and played a hand in helping get the new Wembley project off the ground.
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