Luke O’Nien has explained exactly why he ‘fell in love’ with Sunderland after reaching 250 appearances for the club.
It only seems like five minutes ago that Luke O’Nien‘s car journey up to Wearside was well documented, having spent the previous three years in League Two with Wycombe Wanderers.
After a rough start, the 29-year-old quickly became a fan favourite and his versatility meant he was a regular under most managers.
O’Nien was named in the League One Team of the Season for the 2020-21 campaign, before helping the Black Cats win promotion to the Championship at the fourth time of asking.
The defender has now spent five and a half years at the Stadium of Light and has become only the third player this millennium to reach 250 appearances for the club – joining John O’Shea and Lee Cattermole.
O’Nien has become ‘Mr Sunderland’ over the years and has formed such a special bond with the supporters, even if he can be subject to criticism at times.
The utility player has really made Sunderland his home though and has admitted that he has well and truly fallen in love with the club.
When asked why, O’Nien told Sunderland Nation: “You grew up loving the club from the get-go because you’re a fan and I’ve kind of developed that. I’ve fallen in love through playing. But why is that? That’s a good question.
“I don’t think it’s just a singular answer. I think there’s many, many reasons. I think, for example, you drive into the stadium and you see the stadium appear… that moment in isolation is special. Then you pull up and the fans are outside… you go into a game and there’s a few hundred fans here wanting to have a picture.
“There’s a moment in isolation and you go downstairs, get into the changing rooms and then you walk out the tunnel for like a match in the atmosphere. That moment in isolation is special.
“Then taken to a fact that you score a goal or you win a tackle and the crowd go nuts. I think it’s the accumulation of so many moments that are just so uniquely special all put together.
“And I think that will be the formula for why I fell in love with the club and maybe yourself as well. There’s so many individual events that are filled with so much emotion that once you get that tiny taste of what it could be if you get it right, that’s like a drug that I think people keep coming back for.
“And for a player, it might be that winning moment or that tackle or that goal that wins the game. For the fans it would be the same thing… that tackle that they can cheer or the goal that can win the game.
“I think we’re all doing it in the same way, but it’s like a drug that I think everyone gets a taste of at first, and then you’ve got the hope of it’s going to happen any moment now and it does happen and once you have that one moment I think you’re hooked.”
Have we all fallen in love with Luke O’Nien too?
Luke O’Nien has far from the most talented player in the Sunderland squad, but he is undeniably one of the most hard-working and committed.
The defender has played wherever he is put and has now formed a ‘solid’ partnership with Dan Ballard, while he arguably deserves more credit for the performances he has put in as of late.
He is one of the most likeable men in football and we are so lucky to have him, while the young players will certainly be lucky to have him guiding them too. There is no denying that he will be a brilliant coach one day – that is if he isn’t doing punditry for Sky Sports.