Sunderland qualified for Europe for only the second time in their history when they beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Stadium of Light on Sunday to secure a place in the league phase of next season’s Europa League.
When O’Nien joined Sunderland from Wycombe Wanderers in the summer of 2018, they were languishing in League One. At that stage, simply making it back into the Championship looked a tall order given how far the club had plunged.
Two promotions later, and not only has O’Nien helped Sunderland successfully reestablish themselves in the Premier League, he has also contributed to a remarkable season that saw the Black Cats finish seventh in the top-flight table, something that seemed impossible when the 31-year-old was first agreeing to move to Wearside.
“Can I believe we’re going to be playing in Europe? No, listen, I'm speechless for probably the first time in my life,” said O’Nien, who set up Trai Hume’s opening goal in Sunday’s decisive win over Chelsea. “As a kid you dream of playing in the Premier League.
“Then you get there, but then all of a sudden it's like, ‘Oh, now I live in Europe’. These boys have shown us that you can dream bigger, and I just appreciate all of them for showing me that.
“It's incredible. what the owners and the people upstairs have built, and I'm unbelievably honoured that they trusted me to help deliver that. Seeing all the boys come in from all across the world and they trusted the plan, it's special.”
When Sunderland were promoted via the Championship play-offs just over a year ago, most pundits predicted they were destined for an immediate return to the second tier.
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Even when a host of new arrivals were signed last summer, O’Nien admits there was still an understandable scepticism about what might be possible, but once the season began with the likes of Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki, Robin Roefs and Nordi Mukiele settling into the team, it did not take long for a sense that something special was brewing to start to take hold.
“I think at the start of the season, no, we didn’t really imagine it could be like this,” said O’Nien. You don't really know what to expect.
“But don't get me wrong, the boys showed it quickly. It built very quickly when I saw the boys train every single day. When it came back to pre-season, it was just, ‘Go, go, go, go, go’.
“At the start of the season, no [this didn’t seem possible]. But then as you start to train and you start to do pre-season, you build and build and build, and that belief starts to grow. And you know, the boys just showed that throughout the season.
“So yeah, I did believe it as the season kicked off. I saw what this group was capable of and it was just trying to find ways to bring it out.”
On a personal basis, O’Nien spent most of the first half of the season recovering from the shoulder injury that forced him off in the first few minutes of last season’s play-off final.
Even when he returned to full fitness, the defender found himself spending most of his time on the substitutes’ bench, with his first Premier League start not coming until early March.
Since then, though, O’Nien has featured in seven of Sunderland’s ten matches. So does he feel like a Premier League regular now?
“Yes and no,” he said. “I think anybody who says, ‘I knew I was always going to get there’, for me I don't think that's completely true. There are times where you don't. You don't. And that's where you have good people around you to keep you on the right track.
“There's times where you doubt yourself, You don't think you can make the level. But it’s about not spending too long focusing on that narrative, it’s just focusing on the right things.
“Even today, there's elements of doubt in my head as I step out there. But it's just trying to focus on the right things. If it goes well, you enjoy days like this. When it doesn't, you've just got to keep getting better. That's the method that's got me to where I am today – and we'll continue to make it better.”
And while there is understandable jubilation at Sunderland’s successful qualification for the Europa League, O’Nien is confident there will still be more to come in the future.
“It's a season I'll remember for the rest of my life,” he said. “But the coolest part? It's just another start. We're going to celebrate it, but we've got to keep stepping up. We've got to keep delivering.
“I've seen in the last six weeks, the high, high level the boys have shown. I've got to make sure they have that every single day, including myself. We've got to keep stepping up.”