“You can smell success in the air” Peter Reid managed Sunderland to two 7th-place at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats’ joint-highest finish for 71 year last season has them reaching for the passports for the first time since 1973

Granit Xhaka celebrates scoring for Sunderland against Everton.

Peter Reid knows better than most what it takes to lead Sunderland to the upper reaches of English football.

The former Black Cats boss led Sunderland to back-to-back seventh-place Premier League finishes in 2000 and 2001 - a feat that was not matched until last season.

Like Reid, Regis Le Bris followed up promotion to the top flight with an immediate seventh-place finish, but unlike the case of the former Everton midfielder, this was enough to secure European football, marking Sunderland’s first shot at continental competition since their European Cup Winners’ Cup tilt after their 1973 FA Cup victory.

Reid on Sunderland’s return to Europe

Regis Le Bris led Sunderland to Europe (Image credit: Getty Images)

“I was absolutely delighted – to get to Europe is some achievement,” Reid tells FourFourTwo. “It’s a great club and the supporters are unbelievable.

“I went to the Championship play-off final in 2025 – we won, amazing, but I was thinking we’d sort of scraped through and needed to get recruitment right to have any chance of staying up.”

Sunderland sealed their Premier League return with a Wembley play-off final win last year (Image credit: Getty Images)

A busy summer followed the Black Cat’s Wembley victory 12 months ago, with more than £200million being spent on new arrivals, as Reid’s hope that the club got their recruitment right came to fruition.


“I have to say, the recruitment last summer was fantastic,” he continues. “Nordi Mukiele was so strong at the back, and Brian Brobbey was so powerful up front – absolutely fearless.”

Perhaps the most important player brought in last summer was a familiar face to seasoned Premier League viewers, in the form of a certain ex-Arsenal midfielder.

“Then there was the class of Granit Xhaka in midfield. Boy, what a signing he was. Just the calmest, most authoritative player you could have found.

“I went to the game against Newcastle [that Sunderland won 1-0], and there was just this feeling inside the stadium that something special was happening.”

Granit Xhaka was quickly handed the captain's armband last year (Image credit: Getty Images)

Despite last season’s success, several pundits are tipping Sunderland to struggle this season, as they get to grips with balancing domestic and European football.

“You can never tell how a club is going to get on with the balance of Premier League football and Europe,” Reid admits. “Even though we’ve got the basis of a very good side that can compete against most clubs on our day, you need a deep squad.

“But I’m up there often and you can smell success in the air. The future is looking bright.”