AARON Connolly knew he was joining a big club when he signed for Sunderland. As he readily admits now, though, he did not quite realise the scale of the leap he was taking.
Sometimes, you actually have to see and feel something to truly understand what it’s all about.
Connolly has played for big clubs in the past – Brighton, Luton, Middlesbrough, Venezia, Hull – and has been around football for long enough to appreciate that all supporters feel they are part of something special.
At Sunderland, however, things are just that little bit different. And it didn’t take Connolly long to understand why.
“I think there were really three moments when I properly realised the size of the club,” said the 24-year-old, who joined Sunderland as a free agent in late September. “First, it was when my dad was driving me up here. I was watching the Middlesbrough game on my phone, and you could just see the atmosphere.
“Then, there was the Leeds home game. Then, I was in the gym, and I think I saw four different people wearing Sunderland shirts. It’s a massive, massive club, and it’s something I underestimated before I came here.”
Connolly also admits that, prior to moving to Wearside, he did not fully appreciate the depth of quality within the Sunderland squad.
Given that the Black Cats finished last season in 16th position, after a thoroughly wretched second half to the campaign, his ignorance was understandable. Within a few days of training at the Academy of Light, however, he quickly understood that he was joining a club with realistic ambitions of winning promotion.
As the first three months of the season have illustrated, Sunderland boast one of the most exciting young squads in the country. Chris Rigg, 17. Jobe Bellingham, 19. Dan Neil, a veteran at 22. Dennis Cirkin, the same age. Sometimes, with Tommy Watson the latest academy product to force his way into the first-team group at the age of just 18, it feels as though the list is endless, and while Connolly had not truly appreciated the level of the talent around him when he first started working under Regis Le Bris, he knows all about it now.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “There’s Riggy, Jobe, then Romaine (Mundle) at 21, Trai (Hume), Dennis, it’s mental how many talented young players are here.
“Before I came here, you’d seen how talented they are playing against them, but then you see them day in, day out and the work they put in. Then, you see the size of the club, and I had no idea to be honest. I knew it was a big club but it's only when you come here you truly realise.
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“I'm only 24, but I feel ancient. I’m usually the youngest in the changing room, I have been at Brighton, Hull and Middlesbrough. But now I have people like Riggy, who was born in 2007, and that’s crazy to me.
“Hopefully, I can help them as much as I can. I’ve had experience at the highest level. I’m sure they’ll play at that level, hopefully at this club, and the more I settle, the more I can help.”
Connolly’s bedding-in process is now pretty much complete, with the Irish international having made his first Sunderland start in this month’s goalless draw at Preston and featured in some capacity in the last six league games.
The striker finds himself battling with Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda for a place in the starting line-up, but insists he is more than happy with the competition around him.
He had that at Brighton, when his emergence onto the first-team scene coincided with the Seagulls successfully establishing themselves as a rising Premier League force. His Premier League debut, in which he scored twice in a 3-0 win over Tottenham, saw him playing in a Brighton team that featured the likes of Lewis Dunk, Dan Burn and Pascal Gross. The following season, he played alongside Ben White, Leandro Trossard and Alexis Mac Allister. He knows what a successful squad looks like, and clearly believes the current group at Sunderland is pretty much operating at a Premier League level.
“It’s right up there (with the groups he played with at Brighton),” he said. “And these are experienced players despite their age. The likes of Jobe and Dennis have played a lot of football, then there’s someone like Patrick Roberts, who has played for Manchester City. The comparison is obvious - young, hungry talent, ready to play at the highest level.”
Since leaving Brighton, of course, Connolly’s career has not gone to plan. On joining Sunderland, the forward took the brave decision to speak openly about the challenges he has faced in the last seven years – mental difficulties, alcoholism, a lack of self-worth.
Thanks to an intense period of therapy in the summer, he has moved on to a much better place, and only last week, he reached out on social media to help support a Sunderland fan who was experiencing mental issues. He wants to be a positive role model, a mentor for those in need, and by being so open about his own low points, he has already helped break down some of the barriers that can often prevent those who are suffering, particularly if they are young men, from seeking out the help they require.
“The whole point is that you don’t hear it (footballers talking so openly),” said Connolly. “I don’t know how many footballers in the game or the Championship are having similar problems, but there are bound to be more than just me that are struggling with it.
“In one recent game, a player from the opposition side came up to me and said, ‘Well done, that interview was so brave’. It's just little things like that. Others don't need to come out publicly like I did, but if some people benefit from it, then I'll take a lot from that.”
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