
Sunderland A.F.C. finished the 1997-1998 League One (now known as the Championship) in third place, qualifying for the promotion playoffs. After losing the first leg of the playoffs 2-1 at Sheffield United, Sunderland needed a win at the Stadium of Light to secure their spot in the final. In front of 40,000 fans, the Black Cats delivered a 2-0 victory.
May 25, 1998
Wembley Stadium, London, UK --- After falling behind 1-0 to Charlton Athletic in the 23rd minute Niall Quinn equalized in the 50th minute. Just 8 minutes later Kevin Phillips scored to make it 2-1. In the 71st minute Clive Mendonca brought Charlton Athletic level to make the score 2-2. Two minutes later, Niall Quinn scored his second goal of the match, making it 3-2. Sunderland tried to see out the victory, but Richard Rufus scored for Charlton in the 85th minute to force extra time. Nicholas Summerbee scored in the 99th minute, and Sunderland were surely going to gain promotion to the Premier League. However, just four minutes later Mendonca scored his third goal of the match to make it 4-4. Extra time ended, and the squads lined up for a penalty shootout. Charlton Athletic shot first in the penalty shootout, and both sides converted their first six penalties. Shaun Newton came up for Charlton and sent the keeper the wrong way, sending his shot right down the middle. Michael Gray, who was born in Sunderland, stepped up to take the side's seventh penalty. Gray seemed to rush his run up, and he sent a weak shot to the right side that was saved. Charlton Athletic gained promotion to the Premier League.
The following season, Sunderland won League One, gaining automatic promotion to the Premier League. The club would remain in the Premier League for the next 10 seasons, and in 2017 they were relegated to the Championship. Their season in the Championship was an utter disaster: the club finished in last placed and was relegated to League One.
May 26, 2019
Wembley Stadium, London, UK --- Sunderland had finished their League One campaign in 5th place, qualifying for promotion playoffs. After defeating Portsmouth 1-0 on aggregate, the club would once again meet Charlton Athletic at Wembley with promotion on the line. After an own goal in the 5th minute, Sunderland found themselves up 1-0, and luck seemed to be on their side. Just four minutes later misfortune struck, and Max Power had to be subbed off with an injury. Charlton Athletic's Ben Purrington scored the equalizer in the 35th minute, and the clubs went in to half time tied at 1, and Sunderland fans were desperate for their manager to make a tactical change, but having just two subs left made that difficult. In the 57th minute, manager Jack Ross subbed on Will Grigg for Chris Maguire, giving Sunderland two strikers up top. Neither side managed to create a quality chance until disaster struck in the 94th minute. Josh Cullen played in a cross from the left hand side that found Patrick Bauer's head. The shot was blocked, but Bauer fired home the rebound, sending Charlton up to the Championship. Sunderland would be spending the 2019-2020 season back in League One.
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