There is still time this season for the Sunderland players to write themselves into the club’s history books, and earn promotion to the Premier League.
It’s been a long eight years since Sunderland were last in the Premier League. And four of those years were even spent in the third tier of English football.
Times are brighter now. Regis Le Bris has the Black Cats sitting in 4th place of the Championship table, despite a 1-0 defeat at home to Hull City last time out, with a top six finish looking very achievable.
Form of late has tailed off somewhat. Sunderland fans have criticised Le Bris after back-to-back defeats, but the Premier League remains within touching distance.
2017 saw Sunderland’s 10 year stint in the top flight come to an end. The club’s 2016/17 season and playing squad were both very forgettable, but one player who held his own that year was defender Patrick van Aanholt.
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What is former Sunderland man Patrick van Aanholt up to these days?
Van Aanholt, now 34 years old, left the PSV youth academy to join Chelsea’s in 2007. He made two Premier League appearances for the club but was one of the many Chelsea youngsters who’d spend several years of his career out on loan, playing for the likes of Coventry City and Newcastle United among others.
He left the club in 2014 and joined Sunderland on a permanent deal. In three Premier League seasons at the Stadium of Light, the 19-cap Dutch international made 95 total appearances for the Black Cats, scoring nine and assisting nine more too. In the relegation season he scored five in 32 Premier League games.
But the flying full-back would leave for Crystal Palace following the Black Cats’ relegation. He’d spend the next four years at Selhurst Park where he’d go on to rack up 134 total appearances with an impressive 14 goals, then joining Galatasaray in 2021.
After another three years in Turkey, van Aanholt returned to his native Netherlands in 2024 with Sparta Rotterdam. Joining as a free agent last summer, he’s since made 11 Eredivisie appearances without any goal contributions.
The Patrick van Aanholt goal that relegated Newcastle United
In the second-to-last game of the 2015/16 Premier League season, Sunderland beat Everton 3-0 at home to secure their top flight status under Sam Allardyce, and at the same time relegate Newcastle United to the Championship.
Lamine Kone scored twice but it was van Aanholt who opened the scoring with a deft freekick that got the better of Everton Joel Robles, with that goal being van Aanholt’s fourth of the season.
You can watch the goal below…