Sunderland’s history in the League Cup is not exactly one to shout highly from the rooftops about given it’s a competition they have never won and only twice reached the final in. But is it a competition the club should overlook?
With new head coach Régis Le Bris now at the helm at the Stadium of Light, the priorities this season will undoubtedly fall elsewhere over the course of the next 12 months as Sunderland strive to make amends for what was a forgetful 2023-24 Championship campaign – a campaign which also brought about disappointment in both the League Cup and FA Cup with exits at the first hurdle.
While the FA Cup third round tie with Newcastle United brought about its own issues, both on and off the field, the League Cup exit to League Two’s Crewe Alexandra was equally as humbling in the first week of last season.
Tony Mowbray made 10 changes to the side who were beaten by Ipswich Town 48-hours earlier in the Championship opener, something which has become commonplace among teams with this competition over recent years. But while the opportunity to blood fringe players, or hand an emerging academy talent a senior opportunity, is prevalent, the neglect often shown to the League Cup is misplaced, as Sunderland can attest to.
Sunderland have only gone beyond round four in the League Cup three times since the turn of the millennium almost a quarter-of-a-century ago, but each of those three seasons have been mirrored by requisite league success, which suggests there does not have to be a ‘one or the other’ mentality when it comes to domestic league aspirations and cup competitions.
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In the 2000-01 season, Sunderland reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup where they were beaten 2-1 by Crystal Palace but that did not dislodge their second season back in the Premier League, in a time where the early rounds of the competition were still decided across two legs. Sunderland saw off Luton Town, twice, Bristol Rovers and Manchester United to book their spot in the quarter-final where they were beaten at Selhurst Park.
That defeat was just Sunderland’s sixth of the season, with Peter Reid’s side on the fringes of the top four in the Premier League before a run of form over the Christmas period after that quarter-final exit saw them climb as high as second in the league table at the end of January. In that regard, Sunderland’s League Cup exploits certainly did no harm to their stunning first half of the season – Sunderland would also get their own back on Crystal Palace when eliminating them from the third round of the FA Cup.
Sunderland then had to wait 13 years to reach the quarter-final stage or beyond again in the League Cup in 2014 when making it all the way to the final against Manchester City at Wembley.
In contrast to Sunderland’s 2000-01 season, Sunderland had endured a hugely difficult first half to their Premier League campaign, with relegation a distinct possibility. But the League Cup offered something of a distraction for Gustavo Poyet’s side having wrestled victory away from a possible early exit against Milton Keynes Dons, to building up a head of steam with wins over Chelsea and Manchester United in the latter stages.
Sunderland’s semi-final success over David Moyes’ Manchester United on penalties at Old Trafford remains one of the club’s great nights in recent history, with over 9,000 travelling supporters in attendance to witness the club reach a Wembley cup final for the first time since 1992’s FA Cup final. Equally, the final at Wembley provided Sunderland supporters with some incredible memories after Fabio Borini’s iconic goal had given them the lead before the class and riches of Manchester City showed their superiority to take the game away from Sunderland in the second half to clinch the first part of a league and cup double that season.
Although Sunderland’s form was sent into a tailspin after that final, it became a campaign to remember as Poyet masterminded a great escape over the course of the final month of the season to retain the club’s top flight status – a season undoubtedly made more memorable due to their League Cup exploits.
The only other time Sunderland have advanced to the latter stages of the League Cup since 2000 came in the club’s promotion-winning campaign of 2021-22 where Lee Johnson steered his side to the quarter-finals. Sunderland were drawn away in all five ties, including to higher level opposition in Blackpool and Queens Park Rangers, before finally being rewarded with a Premier League tie and a trip to Arsenal.
This was another cup campaign which did not necessarily prove a distraction to Sunderland who ended the year top of the League One table following their 5-1 defeat at Arsenal and would eventually go on to gain promotion back to the Championship via the play-offs. Backed by over 5,000 supporters at the Emirates Stadium, it was a refreshing reminder of what visits to the Premier League are like after the club’s relegation in 2017 – and with Nathan Broadhead’s clever finish to reduce the deficit to 2-1, it provided another enjoyable moment for supporters.
During his two seasons in charge of Lorient, Le Bris failed to go beyond the round of 16 in the Coupe de France, but although the first round trip to Preston North End in the Carabao Cup will not be top of his list of priorities when arriving into the role next week, particularly with the tie falling just days before what will be his first taste of a home league game at the Stadium of Light against Sheffield Wednesday, the trip to Deepdale will provide a good platform to lay down an earlier marker of intent.
Sunderland’s early form of three successive defeats in league and cup last season led to concern among supporters, something which Le Bris will be keen to avoid given the prolonged nature of his appointment and the need to quickly arrest Sunderland’s downward momentum from last season carrying over into the new campaign.
The temptation for Le Bris to rotate his squad will be present, particularly on the back of an opening day trip to Cardiff City, and there is some merit in that as shown with Chris Rigg’s impact in last season’s first round tie with Crewe when becoming the club’s youngest ever goalscorer. Add to that the emerging talent within the club’s academy ranks and a first round cup tie lends itself to giving those players some senior experience, but there’s no reason for Sunderland to go out with a whimper as has been the case in four of the last six first round ties in the League Cup.
Are Sunderland going to win the competition? It’s unlikely. As a matter of fact, you have to go back to 2013 and Bradford City for the last time a team outside of the top-flight contested the final when losing 5-0 to Swansea City, such is the stranglehold the Premier League’s elite clubs have on the competition with Manchester City winning six of the 11 finals since then, along with Manchester United (2), Liverpool (2) and Chelsea. But that’s not to say Sunderland can’t go on a run in the competition towards the latter stages, nor is it to say it will be to the detriment of their league campaign.
Sunderland need an element of resurgence this season under new head coach Le Bris, and an early cup run could be just the ticket.
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