Sunderland's Wembley win finally brought their four-year stay in League One to an end, as the Black Cats secured promotion to the Championship. Head coach Alex Neil picked up the baton in February from Lee Johnson, and the Scot led Sunderland to their first play-off success in front of more than 46,000 red and white fans under the arch.
It was a season that also saw Sunderland reach the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup, but exit the FA Cup at the first hurdle and bow out of the EFL Trophy - which they won last season - at the second round stage. Between them, Neil and Johnson used 47 players in all competitions - the majority of them under Johnson's tenure, when the club was competing in the cup competitions alongside the league campaign.
Among them were breakout stars from the club's academy, such as Dan Neil and Anthony Patterson, loan stars such as Nathan Broadhead and Callum Doyle, and quality signings such as Alex Pritchard, Corry Evans, and Patrick Roberts. There were also a handful of players who fell short of expectations, with Jermain Defoe's much-trumpeted return to the club fallling flat.
