Sunderland 'Til I Die (2018) s02e05 Episode Script
The Time for Men
1
-[indistinct chatter]
-[man 1] Traitors!
Traitors!
Traitors!
[crowd chanting and jeering]
[man 1] Traitors!
Traitors!
-Traitors!
-[chanting and jeering continues]
[crowd chants indistinctly]
It's a working-class city,
as everybody knows.
You know, most of these people
are working-class people
who support Brexit.
[man 2 shouting] Leave means leave!
-Leave means leave!
-[crowd yelling indistinctly]
God forbid, I hope it doesn't happen,
but everybody's got their opinion.
[crowd shouts]
Here we go, here we go, here we go ♪
[mellow music playing]
[Peter] We might be in Europe,
we might be out of Europe, nobody knows.
[indistinct chatter]
And on top of that,
we've got the massive uncertainty
of whether we're going to get promoted
or not, which is
I mean, it's a big--
It's massive to the city if Sunderland's
a successful football team.
-[crowd shouts]
-Everything, the whole city
at the minute's up in the air.
Nobody seems to know
where we're going to be,
what's going to happen,
and that's the uncertainty of everything.
[cheering swells, then fades]
[mellow music fades]
-["Shipyards" by The Lake Poets playing]
-On the river ♪
Where they used to build the boats ♪
By the harbor wall
The place you loved the most ♪
I can see you there alone ♪
But, oh, you know ♪
I'll be there ♪
Soon ♪
All your life
You worked your fingers to the bone ♪
You worked hard
For every little thing you owned ♪
That you gave away for years ♪
As if you'd known ♪
[trains rumbling]
They were calling out ♪
But if you could see me now ♪
And if you could see me now ♪
I hope that I'm making you proud ♪
I hope that I'm making you proud ♪
Proud ♪
[birds chirping]
[Stewart] I don't know how much money
we're going to need.
Because the reality of the situation is,
if the worst happens and we don't go up,
our wage bill is is way too high
for League One.
And if we get promoted,
we're going up
with a wage bill that I think
realistically is probably £10 million more
than any other team that--
that's gone up from this league.
It would almost be easier
from a financial planning perspective
if you were mid-table,
knowing you weren't going up,
or running away with it obviously,
and knowing that you're planning
for the Championship.
It doesn't make it easy, where we are.
No, but the teams at the top of League One
have got a six million budget.
Next year, ours starts at
-we're still at 14.
-Yeah.
And if we go up, as I said, we're 18.
-The issue is, our 18 is already spent.
-Yeah, I know. I know.
Um
-Yeah.
-[puffs air]
In my head, we need £10 million more
every year, to have a go.
-No.
-I think we need a budget of 20
-Twenty spent well.
-Yeah. I agree.
[puffs air] It's just not sustainable.
Not in the Championship.
When you've got a player on
50 grand a week for another three years,
and you're not going up this year,
there's no sustainability in that.
You know, there have been some interesting
indicative offers come in
for the club and you think, "Well"
You know. [clears throat]
[stammers] When you analyze that,
you think, "We are sat on an asset here."
The difficult challenge
about getting £20 million
from an investor is
-what they want for that £20 million.
-A pound of flesh and some, yeah.
It'll always feel that we've worked
really hard to get the project going
and then passed it on to somebody else
to finish it off.
And they won't finish it
like we want to finish it.
But we might not be able
to financially finish it,
-and we have to recognize that.
-Yeah.
-I think everybody does.
-Um
I think everybody does.
Yes, but you can get carried away
with how good it feels.
[tense music playing]
Yeah.
The challenge is how we do it.
-We get an investor
-Yeah.
-or we have to sell.
-Yeah.
[tense music fades]
We are the Sunderland ♪
The Sunderland boot boys ♪
We are mental or we are mad ♪
We are the loyalest
Football supporters ♪
The world has ever had ♪
[Stewart] Hey!
-[rock music playing]
-[crowd chants indistinctly]
So today, it's derby day
for the Checkatrade Trophy.
Sunderland will play
Newcastle under-21's team.
Eh So in theory, we're two
we're two games away
from a national final
in the Checkatrade Trophy,
so it's brilliant.
[crowd chants enthusiastically]
Newcastle ♪
[Barnes] So the derby
that's not a derby
that is a derby is underway,
with Newcastle getting us underway
in the light blue strip.
[Barnes] I've loved this competition
ever since I first got involved with it.
It's a chance for teams
in the lower divisions
to play a final at Wembley,
which they were never going to get
in the FA Cup or the League Cup.
[crowd chants and cheers]
-Come on! Come on, lads, ha'way!
-[crowd applauds]
[Barnes] Driven in, and it's
-Goal!
-[cheering swells]
Sunderland score.
Who got the touch?
Was it O'Nien?
Suddenly, the second half has come alive.
[commentator 2] Goal!
[Barnes] Into the top corner!
[commentator 2] Charlie
[Barnes] The corner
floated into Charlie Wyke,
and this time he made no mistake.
Out here for Maguire,
-and Maguire drives it in.
-[commentator 2] Goal!
-[crowd cheers]
-[Barnes] Chris Maguire,
-bottom corner, 3-0.
-[commentator 2 laughs]
[Barnes] Kimpioka knocks it into
the bottom corner.
[crowd chants and cheers]
[rock music fades]
[birds chirping]
[man] All right, Michelle,
get the kettle on.
[faucet runs]
-I'll give you the Wembley cup.
-Shall I dare to dream?
-Yeah. Definitely. Dare to dream.
-Nice cup of tea.
[newscaster] Sunderland making
a strong bid for an immediate return
to the Championship,
last night beating Newcastle under-21 team
to reach the quarterfinals
of the EFL Trophy
[woman] Any trophy
that they're entered into,
-um, at the end of the day
-[newscaster continues]
it's a trip to Wembley.
It's a good habit to get into, isn't it,
winning?
-Yeah. Absolutely.
-Winning games,
it's a good habit to get into, so
If it can help with the league form
because you're doing well
in a cup competition,
then I'm all for it.
I would just love us to win something
in my lifetime.
[mellow music plays]
It's not going to be the Premier League,
I'm sure. Um
The misery the fans have been through
of late--
Yeah, it'll be really, really good
for the fans, for the club, for the city,
to win something.
[Barnes] Supporters in the North East,
not just Sunderland,
have a great love of cup football.
[device rattling]
Ha'way the lads. [chuckles]
So many Sunderland fans are brought up
on the 1973 story.
[crowd chants and cheers in the distance]
[cheering swells]
The last time they actually won anything.
But I think there's a generation now
that wants to move on, in a sense,
and win another cup.
They want to create another story.
[seagulls cawing]
The club needs to reinvent itself.
Part of Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven
coming in and the season
they're having in League One
is part of that reinvention.
[birds cawing]
[Charlie] The North East
gets an awful lot of bad press
from people who've never been here before,
but on mornings like this,
you just think, I'm lucky to be here,
'cause it's just absolutely beautiful.
-[mellow music fades]
-Um, and you know,
there's no way that when I'm in the South
I have this kind of lifestyle.
London is London is a world apart.
You know, when I go down there,
and when you talk to people
about Sunderland and the North East,
they get this glazed look in their face,
just like, "Yeah, but they're English
and poor, and I don't want to even
have to think about them,
they're the people who voted for Brexit,"
and all this type of stuff.
I think for Sunderland to make the final
of the Checkatrade Trophy
would be a day of immense joy.
With an enormous crowd
and with, you know, live TV
-[tense music playing]
-it'd almost just say to themselves
first, and to the rest of the country,
second, "We're back."
-[rain patters]
-[thunder rumbles]
[man] It hasn't happened yet,
but if they do get to a final,
-they will go down there in droves.
-[host] Mm-hmm.
You know, if they get 39, 40,000 tickets,
they'll all go
because they're enjoying the success.
Obviously, they want to get promoted,
I think that's first and foremost
and priority number one.
But if you could pick a trophy up
in the same season
as well as getting promoted,
I mean, that would be special.
[Ian] All right, Aiden?
Keep the magic going, mate. Jack.
All the best, mate.
Good luck tonight, man.
All right, Duncan?
Massive, massive game tonight.
Semifinal, 90 minutes away from Wembley.
[Charlie] It's unbelievably nerve-racking.
And if you're going to make it to Wembley,
you have to win games
all sorts of different ways,
and tonight it's a ding-dong.
-[suspenseful music playing]
-[crowd buzzes]
Ooh, the lights are going down,
are you ready for it?
Aye, come on!
-[whistle blows]
-[Barnes] Bristol Rovers
get this cup tie underway.
[crowd shouting]
[crowd chants indistinctly]
[crowd oohs]
[shouting swells]
Come on, lads. Concentration.
[crowd cheers and chants]
[Barnes] McGeady now, trying to find a way
into the penalty area.
[intensifies] Onto his right!
[crowd shouts]
Ooh!
[crowd oohs and applauds]
[fans yell indistinctly]
[Peter] McGeady's playing out of his skin,
McGeady.
He's too good for this league, man.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd oohs]
Fucking hell. Come on, lads!
[Barnes] Here's Power.
-Finding Grigg!
-[Ian] Go on, then!
[crowd roars]
Yes! Go on!
[crowd yelling and cheering]
-Will Grigg!
-[Charlie] What a goal.
What a goal.
[crowd cheers gregariously]
[Barnes] McGeady now,
pulling it back for Gooch.
-Gooch shoots, parried by the keeper!
-[crowd oohs]
-Morgan--
-[commentator 2] Get in!
-Yes!
-[fan cheer]
[Morgan cheers]
[fans cheer and applaud]
-[final whistle blows]
-[crowd roars]
[Barnes] Michael Salisbury blows.
Confirmation, Sunderland reach Wembley.
They will play Portsmouth
in the final of the Checkatrade Trophy,
the Football League Trophy.
An opportunity for Sunderland
to win silverware at Wembley.
[crowd cheering]
[Charlie] Whatever happens in the final
I just wanted us to experience
that day at Wembley,
together as a club,
almost as like the
the culmination of all the work
that's gone on the last nine months.
To say, "Right,
all of us together,
at Wembley on a cup final day."
It's just going to be so special.
Que sera, sera ♪
Que sera, sera ♪
Whatever will be, will be ♪
We're going to Wembley ♪
Que sera, sera ♪
[woman] Tea and coffee,
especially first thing in the morning
after a day like yesterday,
um, is very important.
It's just been so busy.
We've done just short of 30,000
registrations
-in the space of 36 hours yesterday.
-[worker murmurs on phone]
[Lorna] The Wembley game is a big
it's a big deal, it's been a few years
since we've been there.
So I think this is the only thing
keeping us going at the moment,
is the strong teas and coffees
that everybody's, uh
everybody's making.
-[mellow music playing]
-[machine ticks]
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Wembley is Wembley,
it doesn't matter
if it's the Checkatrade Trophy or what,
it's massive.
It's got to be done,
you've gotta be there,
just gotta be there.
Trying any way possible
to get your hands on a ticket.
And that's why everyone's here today,
basically.
[fans laugh]
[woman] Not missing Wembley, are we?
[chuckles] No.
It's probably a chance in a lifetime
for my 12-year-old.
Um
[indistinct chatter]
[man 2] It's a real community spirit
when we're out there.
Regardless I think of whether
we get tickets or not
-We'll still be going down.
-we'll go down. Yeah.
[woman 2]
It's a big sense of pride, really.
If Sunderland get to Wembley
and actually win,
it just means everything.
It just makes everyone proud
and everyone a bit happier and
Yeah.
[mellow music fades]
[Tony] Right, okay, a final at Wembley.
Now
Look, it's big commercially.
I mean, the Checkatrade
People look at it like like it's a
it's an inconvenience
when you're in the group stages.
But, Charlie, you've been to the final
twice with your hometown team.
-[Charlie] Yeah.
-It's a big deal.
You can probably end up making around
a million quid on the day,
um, between retail and
and your ticketing.
So, um, we just want to make sure
that all our ducks are in a row.
-[man] We've got--
-What would be our preference?
[man] Capacity to sell
to every season ticket holder.
-[Tony] Yeah, which is great.
-Irrespective of who the opponent is.
[man 2] Is there any chance
of introducing a phase
for non-season-card-holders
that have been to Checkatrade games?
-So we had fans that had gone--
-[Charlie] Love the idea,
but I want to get back on to my idea
-'cause I want to make more money.
-Yeah, of course.
[stammers] If you get
an extra 3,000 people
[Chris] Mm-hmm.
spending 20 quid,
because they want to make sure of
their cup final ticket,
then we make 60,000 quid.
We must be seen to be fair,
but at the same time,
we must act in a businesslike way
and make as much money as possible,
because that means
the business can flourish.
Right? So
[in interview] We're aiming for revenues
this year of over £18 million.
So for a one-off injection of £1 million,
that's really meaningful. [stammers]
I mean, it pays for half of Will Grigg.
[Stewart] It was pretty apparent,
even from owning the club
after a couple of months,
that we would need to talk to people
about how we fund the long-term plan.
And I've been doing that.
When you get to the stadium,
if you've been there before, you think,
-"This is big and special." Go on.
-[investor 1] Thanks.
But, um
You don't-- You don't get to see
a football academy, do you?
No. Far from it. Far, far from it.
So you don't expect it,
and the academy itself is just
it's just fantastic.
[stammers] I think the advantage is,
because we're aligned on what we would do
on the football side,
which is the biggest,
most important thing,
we can carry on.
[mellow music playing]
I've got a couple of options
and, of course, the issue is
that we want to raise a lot of funding.
So these people will want a big stake.
Um
And I don't have a problem
with a big stake, but losing control
[stammers] is not something
I really want to do.
But I do want to own enough
of the football club
to feel I can influence it.
-And to feel that my voice can be heard.
-[mellow music fades]
-[investor 2] Thanks again.
-Enjoy your weekend. Make the most of it.
[birds chirping]
-[indistinct chatter]
-[birds twitter]
[indistinct conversation]
[rock music playing]
[Jack] Being around the players today,
I think I sensed that
there's optimism, there's confidence,
and there's a real steely determination,
I think, about them.
[indistinct chatter]
There has been that little extra bit
of quality this week,
there's a little bit extra.
You can see the players
are desperate to be involved.
[Aiden] It's going to be
a massive occasion for the club.
[indistinct chatter]
It's going to be one of those games,
I think, that everyone wants to play in.
It could be a great season, you know,
come the end of it, if, uh
if we win the Checkatrade
and then get promoted.
That was the goal
and that was the
the thing everyone set out to achieve
at the start of the season.
-[man] Spot on. Are we all right
-[Luke] I always believed I could
keep progressing.
Um, a lot of people have helped me
to this day
and, you know,
when I step out onto that pitch,
I'm not just stepping out there
for myself.
You know, my family, my friends,
the managers that've given me my chance.
I'm out there for them as well,
so, um
I'm going to enjoy that day.
[Will murmurs]
[Will] Throughout my career,
I've never been bothered by the big stage,
big crowds. You know,
I seem to thrive on it.
-[players laugh]
-The dream would be to score the winner
and celebrate with the fans.
-Spot on.
-Cheers.
-Thank you very much. Good to meet you.
-No problem. And you. Thank you.
Ten games remaining. Nine league games,
the final on Sunday.
Got an unbelievably congested
fixture list.
But there's no point in us working
as hard as we have to get to the final
not to win it. Um
It would be wasteful,
and it would hurt and it would be sore.
-[birds chirping]
-[indistinct chatter]
There's so many motivating factors
for us to win on Sunday.
[players murmur]
Where the club has been,
and where we're at now
and where we're trying to get to.
And, um We want to make sure
we do that and win the trophy.
[tense music playing]
[tense music fades]
[indistinct chatter]
[Joyce] Excuse me, do I come around
-and mess with you on the pitch?
-I'm just-- No, you don't, Joyce.
[Joyce] I'll give them my pep talk
before they leave.
They wouldn't dare come back
without that cup.
-[dishes clatter]
-[laughs]
See? I'm getting emotional now.
[sighs]
I've told them all I want to see them
Tuesday morning, cup in hand.
Oh, it'll be magic.
It's just what we need.
-[clattering continues]
-It's just what we need.
-[birds chirping]
-[sentimental music playing]
[tattoo gun buzzes]
It's not a celebration
of us getting promotion.
It's more a celebration of the fact that
I really do think I've got my club back.
Wembley, it's just the home of football,
isn't it?
It's, uh It's the Mecca, basically.
You're right, the tattoo
is not as a celebration of anything
other than the fact
that you've kind of fallen back in love
with the club.
-[cups clink]
-[man] Cheers, here's to Wembley.
[woman] Cheers, here's to Wembley.
I can't quite believe we're going,
actually. [laughs]
Gonna wake up in a minute
and think it's all a dream.
Yeah, it was all a dream,
it's not really happening.
[Andrew]
It's put a feel-good factor on the city,
everyone's looking forward to it.
For this season,
for the turnaround we've had,
to get in the stadium and watch the team
potentially win the cup,
win it, bring it home,
it would be fantastic for them.
-I think everybody's going.
-[barber] I think so.
It's a mass exodus.
-It's sold out now, isn't it?
-[Peter] Yeah.
It's a big weekend for the city,
for Sunderland.
-[barber] Definitely.
-It gets shown all over the world, this.
This is the Wembley look, by the way.
-[barber laughs]
-So make a good job of it.
This is--
-It's going to take years off us, this.
-[barber laughs]
[Ian] Once the city gets behind
the football club
and we start going
in the right direction
[Ian and Michelle murmur]
we can be an unstoppable force.
[sentimental music fades]
[mellow music playing]
[Andrew] Niall, you ready?
Coat on.
[indistinct chatter]
[suitcases clatter]
[Jack] Wembley Stadium is historic,
it's synonymous with English football
and, for supporters, that trip to Wembley,
opportunity to get there
and support your team,
they don't come around all that often.
-[mellow music playing]
-[no audible dialogue]
[players laugh and chatter indistinctly]
[George stammers] Delighted to get through
and get to the final.
Being captain and lifting the trophy,
you know, that would be something
that would stay for you
for the rest of your life.
[train driver] All the very best
to Sunderland.
Good luck for tomorrow,
hopefully you won't need it.
King's Cross our next and final stop,
very, very shortly.
[indistinct chatter]
It's mad!
[distant indistinct shouting]
[fan yells gregariously]
[fans clamoring and cheering]
[cheering and shouting continues]
All the best, mate. Good lad. All right.
Have a beer. Beers all round, eh, lads?
[indistinct chatter]
[fans yelling indistinctly]
[fans yelling enthusiastically]
Cheers, mate.
[fans yell loudly]
Enjoy it, lads.
Come on, and just enjoy it.
Sunderland, Sunderland ♪
Sunderland, Sunderland, Sunderland ♪
Sunderland, Sunderland, Sunderland ♪
Sunderland, Sunderland, Sunderland
Sunderland! ♪
Sunderland! ♪
Sunderland, Sunderland, Sunderland ♪
[mellow music fades]
[crowd chants]
The Sunderland boot boys ♪
We are mental
And we are mad ♪
We are the loyalest
Football supporters
The world has ever had ♪
-Absolutely brilliant.
-[Michelle laughs]
You can hear the atmosphere.
The Wearsiders have taken over
London Town!
-[chanting continues]
-To win, I'd probably give both legs,
my left arm,
and everything I haven't got in the bank.
[Michelle] They need to win a trophy
in my lifetime.
Michelle's never seen Sunderland
win at Wembley.
Which is a big thing
for somebody from Sunderland.
Sunderland on tour, this.
God help them.
They won't know what's hit them.
And it's just starting yet.
Wait about another three hours.
It's just crackers, man.
I'm sure I am
I'm Sunderland 'til I die ♪
Sunderland 'til I die ♪
[Peter] We can talk about football,
but it's not about football at the minute.
It's about the people of Sunderland.
Half of them haven't got nothing.
Half of them haven't got a pot to piss in.
[laughs]
They're here.
I don't know. It's great.
[dramatic music playing]
Cup day!
-Sunderland's going to bring the cup home.
-A drinking day!
-Drinking day.
-[laughs]
It'll be only the second time
I've ever watched them in 21 years.
Twenty-one, 'cause I can't bear
to watch them.
[kids yelling] Come on, Sunderland!
Come on!
-[Stewart] Oh! [laughs]
-Mr. Donald! [laughs]
[Stewart] It's been frantic
and relentless,
but I know in the next half hour
I'm going to start focusing on the game
and, uh,
I'll start to get nervous then 'cause
I've said it doesn't really matter
too much, but it does.
[Barnes] If Sunderland win
the competition,
it'll do a massive boost
for their confidence
for the run-in to the end of the season.
If they were to lose at Wembley,
it might debilitate them,
it might demoralize them.
[players chatter indistinctly]
[Luke] It might be a little bit daunting,
but it's exciting.
And to do it with, you know,
a great bunch of boys,
they're-- they're the things you remember.
[dramatic music fades]
[crowd cheers uproariously]
Absolutely magnificent sight
that this Wembley Stadium
presents itself this afternoon.
-[indistinct intercom chatter]
-85,000,
the attendance, a new record
for the competition.
[intercom chatter continues]
Fascinating game it should be,
they're both evenly matched
in so many ways.
They're neck and neck
in the league table as well.
It's impossible to predict
how this is going to go.
[suspenseful music playing]
[crowd shouting]
-[shouting swells]
-[whistle blows]
Come on!
[screaming] Go on!
We've got a trophy to take home.
[crowd buzzing]
-[ball thuds]
-[crowd cheers]
[crowd oohs]
[crowd applauds]
[fans yell indistinctly]
-[crowd shouts]
-[whistle blows]
[crowd oohs]
Yellow.
[crowd roars]
[crowd shouts]
[crowd applauds]
[Michelle] Oh, look at him, man.
Look at him,
he's magnificent.
Ha'way, kids.
[commentator 2] You've got to say,
Sunderland are bossing the game,
aren't they?
Portsmouth don't know
-if they're coming or going.
-[fan] Man on!
-[crowd shouts]
-Ha'way, ref!
[Barnes] McGeady now.
Tries to go past Burgess.
[crowd shouts angrily]
[fans yelling indistinctly]
McGeady is, uh,
I think, eyeing this one up.
[hushed] Please. Please.
You could not have a free kick
in a better place than this
for a right-footer.
[whistle blows]
-[ball thuds]
-[music slows]
[crowd erupts in cheers]
[fans screaming]
[Barnes] Fantastic free kick
from Aiden McGeady.
Sunderland take the lead.
[commentator 2]
They fully deserve it as well.
[cheering continues]
[Stewart murmurs]
[players cheering]
Aiden McGeady!
[whistle blows]
[Barnes] Sunderland head in
at the interval
leading a goal to nil.
Sunderland have been dominant
and you've got to say,
the majority of that 45 minutes was played
in Portsmouth's half.
I'd be quite happy if they blew
the full-time whistle right now.
Look, we're 45 minutes away.
We've seen enough games this season
when we've been on top first half
and the game's flipped on its head,
so I'll be interested to see
what their manager does
'cause obviously we were well on top
in that first half,
and then how we react to that.
[crowd cheers in the distance]
-[crowd chants]
-[Barnes] Now Sunderland
get us underway again
in the second half.
[Michelle] Somebody help him!
[Andrew] Push on him. Move for him!
Move for him!
Come on, lad!
-[whistle blows]
-[commentator 2] Silly. Silly.
He was never going to win it.
-And that--
-[Barnes] This is the management
-I'm talking about.
-[commentator 2] Yes.
This is what could let them down.
[whistle blows]
[Barnes] I think the substitution
will be made now by Portsmouth.
[crowd buzzes]
[players shout indistinctly]
[crowd shouting]
[crowd oohs]
Can you sense the nervousness?
[crowd boos]
[Charlie sighs] Very frustrating,
the way we're playing right now.
They're not playing properly,
as if they're gonna score a second.
[Stewart] He's just on his own up there
all the time.
He's so isolated, look at the gap
between him and the rest of the team.
[Andrew] Come on!
Come on!
Challenge that! Challenge that!
Move for him! Move for him!
[crowd shouting]
-[ball clanks on post]
-[crowd oohs]
Wake up!
[Peter] Push on!
[Barnes] Sunderland have to get a grip.
[commentator 2] They've lost their shape,
Sunderland.
We were winning the first ball.
If we weren't getting the first,
we'd get the second ball.
But we seem to be all over the place.
Sunderland seem to be playing
deeper and deeper.
[crowd applauds and cheers]
We've got a gap between
our forward and midfield.
There's a gap there.
He's got to make a change.
He can't let this carry on.
[Barnes] Here come Portsmouth again,
another ball into the box.
It drops here towards Thompson.
Put it over the top.
Change it!
Shh! Sweetheart, you have to calm down.
There's too much resting on this.
What are they doing?
What are they doing?
[crowd applauds]
[Barnes] Substitution for Sunderland.
It's, uh, Grigg.
They've gone very defensive here,
in the sense of protecting their lead
of 1-nil, Sunderland.
[crowd applauds]
[indistinct intercom chatter]
[crowd shouts]
[Peter] Push on. Come on, lads! Push up.
[crowd buzzes]
Come on.
They've got an overload over there.
They've got an overload.
[Barnes] Clarke to the edge
of the Sunderland area.
Trying to find Evans,
who clips it across towards Thompson!
-Oh, it's scored.
-[fans cheer]
Oh, no!
[commentator 2] We've allowed Portsmouth
to dictate the game.
We've just sat back and allowed 'em
chance after chance after chance.
So us. We cannot fucking string
a good match together.
And he's changed the team now.
[tense music playing]
[Barnes] Lowe is going to try
and lob the keeper,
and he's scored.
[fans cheering]
Lowe has lobbed McLaughlin
at the edge of the area.
-Portsmouth take the lead, 2-1.
-[tense music fades]
With only six minutes left.
[commentator 2] Got to defend
better than that, Nick.
[crowd buzzes]
[Barnes] And McLaughlin,
long kick forwards,
looking for Wyke.
It's going to drop away behind
for a goal kick.
[crowd shouting]
Fuck right off.
[Barnes] Portsmouth have got
their flags out
and they are waving them frantically.
Sunderland's fans can only look on.
Just wonder what might have been.
So little time left now
to try and find an equalizer.
[tense music resumes]
Forwards again, to Honeyman.
Honeyman down the right now.
Get it in the box, lads.
[Andrew] Come on, lads!
Go on.
[Barnes] Hume lobs it back in again.
-[Andrew] Come on!
-[Barnes] McGeady here
[crowd shouts]
[shouting] McGeady!
-[Andrew] Yes!
-[crowd roars]
[fans screaming]
Come on!
-Fucking get in! Get it!
-[screaming continues]
[Barnes] It's 2-2!
[men shouting and cheering]
[Barnes] Out of the embers,
somehow Sunderland
have scrambled it home,
with a minute left.
[fan] Come on, lads, get another!
-[whistle blows]
-[Barnes] There's the full-time whistle.
It is penalties here at Wembley.
-What drama.
-[commentator 2 laughs]
[crowd cheers in the distance]
[announcer] Here we go,
it's time for a penalty shoot-out
to decide
the 2019 Checkatrade Trophy final!
[groans nervously]
You just hang on to me.
We'll get through it.
[Barnes] Aiden McGeady comes forwards
here now,
pauses, and sinks it
-in the bottom left corner.
-[crowd cheers]
It crept in, but he's scored.
[crowd buzzes]
Now, Evans
for Portsmouth.
Short run-up from Evans.
-[crowd shouts]
-And he's saved No!
[fans ooh]
Bastard!
[Peter] I thought he'd saved it.
[Barnes] And Cattermole now
is coming forward.
[whistle blows]
[crowd whistling]
Lee Cattermole now. Right-footed.
-Oh, it's saved!
-[fans cheer]
[Peter] I'd have never let him
take a penalty.
[tense music intensifies]
[fans roar]
[crowd cheers]
[whistle blows]
[cheering continues]
[fans yelling indistinctly]
[Barnes] Luke O'Nien now has to score
to keep this penalty shoot-out alive.
Luke O'Nien with his right foot.
Into the corner,
rolls it home.
It's four penalties apiece.
This is it, isn't it?
-If he shoots, it's won.
-Aye.
If they score, it's all over.
It's good night.
Just dive the right way.
[Barnes] Here's Hawkins. Comes forwards.
-And he scores.
-[crowd erupts]
Portsmouth win the Checkatrade Trophy,
5-4 on penalties.
Sunderland's agonizing wait
for a Wembley win carries on.
-[crowd's cheering fades]
-[tense music fades]
[somber music playing]
Didn't deserve that.
[indistinct intercom chatter]
They did work hard.
I just feel for each
and every one of them.
I just love my bairns and I want them
to win all the time.
And I know they can play well.
[crowd cheering]
[announcer yells enthusiastically]
Come on. Give us a hug.
It's not the end of the world.
[Charlie] Both Stu and I are frustrated.
It's the same every single week.
The same slow play after half-time,
the same, go one goal up
and then defend our own penalty box.
Ultimately, as the board,
you appoint the manager
and the manager manages the team.
-[indistinct chatter]
-So, it's up to the manager
to look deep inside himself,
and his coaching staff,
and ask some really tough questions.
We've all got to lift ourselves up
off the canvas
'cause we've now got nine league games
in the space of a month,
and those nine league games will determine
whether or not
the rest of the season
is as disappointing as that,
or that we look back in five weeks' time
and say, "That was the day we decided
that we would definitely get promoted
'cause we didn't want
to feel like that again."
[somber music continues]
-[indistinct chatter]
-[man 1] Traitors!
Traitors!
Traitors!
[crowd chanting and jeering]
[man 1] Traitors!
Traitors!
-Traitors!
-[chanting and jeering continues]
[crowd chants indistinctly]
It's a working-class city,
as everybody knows.
You know, most of these people
are working-class people
who support Brexit.
[man 2 shouting] Leave means leave!
-Leave means leave!
-[crowd yelling indistinctly]
God forbid, I hope it doesn't happen,
but everybody's got their opinion.
[crowd shouts]
Here we go, here we go, here we go ♪
[mellow music playing]
[Peter] We might be in Europe,
we might be out of Europe, nobody knows.
[indistinct chatter]
And on top of that,
we've got the massive uncertainty
of whether we're going to get promoted
or not, which is
I mean, it's a big--
It's massive to the city if Sunderland's
a successful football team.
-[crowd shouts]
-Everything, the whole city
at the minute's up in the air.
Nobody seems to know
where we're going to be,
what's going to happen,
and that's the uncertainty of everything.
[cheering swells, then fades]
[mellow music fades]
-["Shipyards" by The Lake Poets playing]
-On the river ♪
Where they used to build the boats ♪
By the harbor wall
The place you loved the most ♪
I can see you there alone ♪
But, oh, you know ♪
I'll be there ♪
Soon ♪
All your life
You worked your fingers to the bone ♪
You worked hard
For every little thing you owned ♪
That you gave away for years ♪
As if you'd known ♪
[trains rumbling]
They were calling out ♪
But if you could see me now ♪
And if you could see me now ♪
I hope that I'm making you proud ♪
I hope that I'm making you proud ♪
Proud ♪
[birds chirping]
[Stewart] I don't know how much money
we're going to need.
Because the reality of the situation is,
if the worst happens and we don't go up,
our wage bill is is way too high
for League One.
And if we get promoted,
we're going up
with a wage bill that I think
realistically is probably £10 million more
than any other team that--
that's gone up from this league.
It would almost be easier
from a financial planning perspective
if you were mid-table,
knowing you weren't going up,
or running away with it obviously,
and knowing that you're planning
for the Championship.
It doesn't make it easy, where we are.
No, but the teams at the top of League One
have got a six million budget.
Next year, ours starts at
-we're still at 14.
-Yeah.
And if we go up, as I said, we're 18.
-The issue is, our 18 is already spent.
-Yeah, I know. I know.
Um
-Yeah.
-[puffs air]
In my head, we need £10 million more
every year, to have a go.
-No.
-I think we need a budget of 20
-Twenty spent well.
-Yeah. I agree.
[puffs air] It's just not sustainable.
Not in the Championship.
When you've got a player on
50 grand a week for another three years,
and you're not going up this year,
there's no sustainability in that.
You know, there have been some interesting
indicative offers come in
for the club and you think, "Well"
You know. [clears throat]
[stammers] When you analyze that,
you think, "We are sat on an asset here."
The difficult challenge
about getting £20 million
from an investor is
-what they want for that £20 million.
-A pound of flesh and some, yeah.
It'll always feel that we've worked
really hard to get the project going
and then passed it on to somebody else
to finish it off.
And they won't finish it
like we want to finish it.
But we might not be able
to financially finish it,
-and we have to recognize that.
-Yeah.
-I think everybody does.
-Um
I think everybody does.
Yes, but you can get carried away
with how good it feels.
[tense music playing]
Yeah.
The challenge is how we do it.
-We get an investor
-Yeah.
-or we have to sell.
-Yeah.
[tense music fades]
We are the Sunderland ♪
The Sunderland boot boys ♪
We are mental or we are mad ♪
We are the loyalest
Football supporters ♪
The world has ever had ♪
[Stewart] Hey!
-[rock music playing]
-[crowd chants indistinctly]
So today, it's derby day
for the Checkatrade Trophy.
Sunderland will play
Newcastle under-21's team.
Eh So in theory, we're two
we're two games away
from a national final
in the Checkatrade Trophy,
so it's brilliant.
[crowd chants enthusiastically]
Newcastle ♪
[Barnes] So the derby
that's not a derby
that is a derby is underway,
with Newcastle getting us underway
in the light blue strip.
[Barnes] I've loved this competition
ever since I first got involved with it.
It's a chance for teams
in the lower divisions
to play a final at Wembley,
which they were never going to get
in the FA Cup or the League Cup.
[crowd chants and cheers]
-Come on! Come on, lads, ha'way!
-[crowd applauds]
[Barnes] Driven in, and it's
-Goal!
-[cheering swells]
Sunderland score.
Who got the touch?
Was it O'Nien?
Suddenly, the second half has come alive.
[commentator 2] Goal!
[Barnes] Into the top corner!
[commentator 2] Charlie
[Barnes] The corner
floated into Charlie Wyke,
and this time he made no mistake.
Out here for Maguire,
-and Maguire drives it in.
-[commentator 2] Goal!
-[crowd cheers]
-[Barnes] Chris Maguire,
-bottom corner, 3-0.
-[commentator 2 laughs]
[Barnes] Kimpioka knocks it into
the bottom corner.
[crowd chants and cheers]
[rock music fades]
[birds chirping]
[man] All right, Michelle,
get the kettle on.
[faucet runs]
-I'll give you the Wembley cup.
-Shall I dare to dream?
-Yeah. Definitely. Dare to dream.
-Nice cup of tea.
[newscaster] Sunderland making
a strong bid for an immediate return
to the Championship,
last night beating Newcastle under-21 team
to reach the quarterfinals
of the EFL Trophy
[woman] Any trophy
that they're entered into,
-um, at the end of the day
-[newscaster continues]
it's a trip to Wembley.
It's a good habit to get into, isn't it,
winning?
-Yeah. Absolutely.
-Winning games,
it's a good habit to get into, so
If it can help with the league form
because you're doing well
in a cup competition,
then I'm all for it.
I would just love us to win something
in my lifetime.
[mellow music plays]
It's not going to be the Premier League,
I'm sure. Um
The misery the fans have been through
of late--
Yeah, it'll be really, really good
for the fans, for the club, for the city,
to win something.
[Barnes] Supporters in the North East,
not just Sunderland,
have a great love of cup football.
[device rattling]
Ha'way the lads. [chuckles]
So many Sunderland fans are brought up
on the 1973 story.
[crowd chants and cheers in the distance]
[cheering swells]
The last time they actually won anything.
But I think there's a generation now
that wants to move on, in a sense,
and win another cup.
They want to create another story.
[seagulls cawing]
The club needs to reinvent itself.
Part of Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven
coming in and the season
they're having in League One
is part of that reinvention.
[birds cawing]
[Charlie] The North East
gets an awful lot of bad press
from people who've never been here before,
but on mornings like this,
you just think, I'm lucky to be here,
'cause it's just absolutely beautiful.
-[mellow music fades]
-Um, and you know,
there's no way that when I'm in the South
I have this kind of lifestyle.
London is London is a world apart.
You know, when I go down there,
and when you talk to people
about Sunderland and the North East,
they get this glazed look in their face,
just like, "Yeah, but they're English
and poor, and I don't want to even
have to think about them,
they're the people who voted for Brexit,"
and all this type of stuff.
I think for Sunderland to make the final
of the Checkatrade Trophy
would be a day of immense joy.
With an enormous crowd
and with, you know, live TV
-[tense music playing]
-it'd almost just say to themselves
first, and to the rest of the country,
second, "We're back."
-[rain patters]
-[thunder rumbles]
[man] It hasn't happened yet,
but if they do get to a final,
-they will go down there in droves.
-[host] Mm-hmm.
You know, if they get 39, 40,000 tickets,
they'll all go
because they're enjoying the success.
Obviously, they want to get promoted,
I think that's first and foremost
and priority number one.
But if you could pick a trophy up
in the same season
as well as getting promoted,
I mean, that would be special.
[Ian] All right, Aiden?
Keep the magic going, mate. Jack.
All the best, mate.
Good luck tonight, man.
All right, Duncan?
Massive, massive game tonight.
Semifinal, 90 minutes away from Wembley.
[Charlie] It's unbelievably nerve-racking.
And if you're going to make it to Wembley,
you have to win games
all sorts of different ways,
and tonight it's a ding-dong.
-[suspenseful music playing]
-[crowd buzzes]
Ooh, the lights are going down,
are you ready for it?
Aye, come on!
-[whistle blows]
-[Barnes] Bristol Rovers
get this cup tie underway.
[crowd shouting]
[crowd chants indistinctly]
[crowd oohs]
[shouting swells]
Come on, lads. Concentration.
[crowd cheers and chants]
[Barnes] McGeady now, trying to find a way
into the penalty area.
[intensifies] Onto his right!
[crowd shouts]
Ooh!
[crowd oohs and applauds]
[fans yell indistinctly]
[Peter] McGeady's playing out of his skin,
McGeady.
He's too good for this league, man.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd oohs]
Fucking hell. Come on, lads!
[Barnes] Here's Power.
-Finding Grigg!
-[Ian] Go on, then!
[crowd roars]
Yes! Go on!
[crowd yelling and cheering]
-Will Grigg!
-[Charlie] What a goal.
What a goal.
[crowd cheers gregariously]
[Barnes] McGeady now,
pulling it back for Gooch.
-Gooch shoots, parried by the keeper!
-[crowd oohs]
-Morgan--
-[commentator 2] Get in!
-Yes!
-[fan cheer]
[Morgan cheers]
[fans cheer and applaud]
-[final whistle blows]
-[crowd roars]
[Barnes] Michael Salisbury blows.
Confirmation, Sunderland reach Wembley.
They will play Portsmouth
in the final of the Checkatrade Trophy,
the Football League Trophy.
An opportunity for Sunderland
to win silverware at Wembley.
[crowd cheering]
[Charlie] Whatever happens in the final
I just wanted us to experience
that day at Wembley,
together as a club,
almost as like the
the culmination of all the work
that's gone on the last nine months.
To say, "Right,
all of us together,
at Wembley on a cup final day."
It's just going to be so special.
Que sera, sera ♪
Que sera, sera ♪
Whatever will be, will be ♪
We're going to Wembley ♪
Que sera, sera ♪
[woman] Tea and coffee,
especially first thing in the morning
after a day like yesterday,
um, is very important.
It's just been so busy.
We've done just short of 30,000
registrations
-in the space of 36 hours yesterday.
-[worker murmurs on phone]
[Lorna] The Wembley game is a big
it's a big deal, it's been a few years
since we've been there.
So I think this is the only thing
keeping us going at the moment,
is the strong teas and coffees
that everybody's, uh
everybody's making.
-[mellow music playing]
-[machine ticks]
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Wembley is Wembley,
it doesn't matter
if it's the Checkatrade Trophy or what,
it's massive.
It's got to be done,
you've gotta be there,
just gotta be there.
Trying any way possible
to get your hands on a ticket.
And that's why everyone's here today,
basically.
[fans laugh]
[woman] Not missing Wembley, are we?
[chuckles] No.
It's probably a chance in a lifetime
for my 12-year-old.
Um
[indistinct chatter]
[man 2] It's a real community spirit
when we're out there.
Regardless I think of whether
we get tickets or not
-We'll still be going down.
-we'll go down. Yeah.
[woman 2]
It's a big sense of pride, really.
If Sunderland get to Wembley
and actually win,
it just means everything.
It just makes everyone proud
and everyone a bit happier and
Yeah.
[mellow music fades]
[Tony] Right, okay, a final at Wembley.
Now
Look, it's big commercially.
I mean, the Checkatrade
People look at it like like it's a
it's an inconvenience
when you're in the group stages.
But, Charlie, you've been to the final
twice with your hometown team.
-[Charlie] Yeah.
-It's a big deal.
You can probably end up making around
a million quid on the day,
um, between retail and
and your ticketing.
So, um, we just want to make sure
that all our ducks are in a row.
-[man] We've got--
-What would be our preference?
[man] Capacity to sell
to every season ticket holder.
-[Tony] Yeah, which is great.
-Irrespective of who the opponent is.
[man 2] Is there any chance
of introducing a phase
for non-season-card-holders
that have been to Checkatrade games?
-So we had fans that had gone--
-[Charlie] Love the idea,
but I want to get back on to my idea
-'cause I want to make more money.
-Yeah, of course.
[stammers] If you get
an extra 3,000 people
[Chris] Mm-hmm.
spending 20 quid,
because they want to make sure of
their cup final ticket,
then we make 60,000 quid.
We must be seen to be fair,
but at the same time,
we must act in a businesslike way
and make as much money as possible,
because that means
the business can flourish.
Right? So
[in interview] We're aiming for revenues
this year of over £18 million.
So for a one-off injection of £1 million,
that's really meaningful. [stammers]
I mean, it pays for half of Will Grigg.
[Stewart] It was pretty apparent,
even from owning the club
after a couple of months,
that we would need to talk to people
about how we fund the long-term plan.
And I've been doing that.
When you get to the stadium,
if you've been there before, you think,
-"This is big and special." Go on.
-[investor 1] Thanks.
But, um
You don't-- You don't get to see
a football academy, do you?
No. Far from it. Far, far from it.
So you don't expect it,
and the academy itself is just
it's just fantastic.
[stammers] I think the advantage is,
because we're aligned on what we would do
on the football side,
which is the biggest,
most important thing,
we can carry on.
[mellow music playing]
I've got a couple of options
and, of course, the issue is
that we want to raise a lot of funding.
So these people will want a big stake.
Um
And I don't have a problem
with a big stake, but losing control
[stammers] is not something
I really want to do.
But I do want to own enough
of the football club
to feel I can influence it.
-And to feel that my voice can be heard.
-[mellow music fades]
-[investor 2] Thanks again.
-Enjoy your weekend. Make the most of it.
[birds chirping]
-[indistinct chatter]
-[birds twitter]
[indistinct conversation]
[rock music playing]
[Jack] Being around the players today,
I think I sensed that
there's optimism, there's confidence,
and there's a real steely determination,
I think, about them.
[indistinct chatter]
There has been that little extra bit
of quality this week,
there's a little bit extra.
You can see the players
are desperate to be involved.
[Aiden] It's going to be
a massive occasion for the club.
[indistinct chatter]
It's going to be one of those games,
I think, that everyone wants to play in.
It could be a great season, you know,
come the end of it, if, uh
if we win the Checkatrade
and then get promoted.
That was the goal
and that was the
the thing everyone set out to achieve
at the start of the season.
-[man] Spot on. Are we all right
-[Luke] I always believed I could
keep progressing.
Um, a lot of people have helped me
to this day
and, you know,
when I step out onto that pitch,
I'm not just stepping out there
for myself.
You know, my family, my friends,
the managers that've given me my chance.
I'm out there for them as well,
so, um
I'm going to enjoy that day.
[Will murmurs]
[Will] Throughout my career,
I've never been bothered by the big stage,
big crowds. You know,
I seem to thrive on it.
-[players laugh]
-The dream would be to score the winner
and celebrate with the fans.
-Spot on.
-Cheers.
-Thank you very much. Good to meet you.
-No problem. And you. Thank you.
Ten games remaining. Nine league games,
the final on Sunday.
Got an unbelievably congested
fixture list.
But there's no point in us working
as hard as we have to get to the final
not to win it. Um
It would be wasteful,
and it would hurt and it would be sore.
-[birds chirping]
-[indistinct chatter]
There's so many motivating factors
for us to win on Sunday.
[players murmur]
Where the club has been,
and where we're at now
and where we're trying to get to.
And, um We want to make sure
we do that and win the trophy.
[tense music playing]
[tense music fades]
[indistinct chatter]
[Joyce] Excuse me, do I come around
-and mess with you on the pitch?
-I'm just-- No, you don't, Joyce.
[Joyce] I'll give them my pep talk
before they leave.
They wouldn't dare come back
without that cup.
-[dishes clatter]
-[laughs]
See? I'm getting emotional now.
[sighs]
I've told them all I want to see them
Tuesday morning, cup in hand.
Oh, it'll be magic.
It's just what we need.
-[clattering continues]
-It's just what we need.
-[birds chirping]
-[sentimental music playing]
[tattoo gun buzzes]
It's not a celebration
of us getting promotion.
It's more a celebration of the fact that
I really do think I've got my club back.
Wembley, it's just the home of football,
isn't it?
It's, uh It's the Mecca, basically.
You're right, the tattoo
is not as a celebration of anything
other than the fact
that you've kind of fallen back in love
with the club.
-[cups clink]
-[man] Cheers, here's to Wembley.
[woman] Cheers, here's to Wembley.
I can't quite believe we're going,
actually. [laughs]
Gonna wake up in a minute
and think it's all a dream.
Yeah, it was all a dream,
it's not really happening.
[Andrew]
It's put a feel-good factor on the city,
everyone's looking forward to it.
For this season,
for the turnaround we've had,
to get in the stadium and watch the team
potentially win the cup,
win it, bring it home,
it would be fantastic for them.
-I think everybody's going.
-[barber] I think so.
It's a mass exodus.
-It's sold out now, isn't it?
-[Peter] Yeah.
It's a big weekend for the city,
for Sunderland.
-[barber] Definitely.
-It gets shown all over the world, this.
This is the Wembley look, by the way.
-[barber laughs]
-So make a good job of it.
This is--
-It's going to take years off us, this.
-[barber laughs]
[Ian] Once the city gets behind
the football club
and we start going
in the right direction
[Ian and Michelle murmur]
we can be an unstoppable force.
[sentimental music fades]
[mellow music playing]
[Andrew] Niall, you ready?
Coat on.
[indistinct chatter]
[suitcases clatter]
[Jack] Wembley Stadium is historic,
it's synonymous with English football
and, for supporters, that trip to Wembley,
opportunity to get there
and support your team,
they don't come around all that often.
-[mellow music playing]
-[no audible dialogue]
[players laugh and chatter indistinctly]
[George stammers] Delighted to get through
and get to the final.
Being captain and lifting the trophy,
you know, that would be something
that would stay for you
for the rest of your life.
[train driver] All the very best
to Sunderland.
Good luck for tomorrow,
hopefully you won't need it.
King's Cross our next and final stop,
very, very shortly.
[indistinct chatter]
It's mad!
[distant indistinct shouting]
[fan yells gregariously]
[fans clamoring and cheering]
[cheering and shouting continues]
All the best, mate. Good lad. All right.
Have a beer. Beers all round, eh, lads?
[indistinct chatter]
[fans yelling indistinctly]
[fans yelling enthusiastically]
Cheers, mate.
[fans yell loudly]
Enjoy it, lads.
Come on, and just enjoy it.
Sunderland, Sunderland ♪
Sunderland, Sunderland, Sunderland ♪
Sunderland, Sunderland, Sunderland ♪
Sunderland, Sunderland, Sunderland
Sunderland! ♪
Sunderland! ♪
Sunderland, Sunderland, Sunderland ♪
[mellow music fades]
[crowd chants]
The Sunderland boot boys ♪
We are mental
And we are mad ♪
We are the loyalest
Football supporters
The world has ever had ♪
-Absolutely brilliant.
-[Michelle laughs]
You can hear the atmosphere.
The Wearsiders have taken over
London Town!
-[chanting continues]
-To win, I'd probably give both legs,
my left arm,
and everything I haven't got in the bank.
[Michelle] They need to win a trophy
in my lifetime.
Michelle's never seen Sunderland
win at Wembley.
Which is a big thing
for somebody from Sunderland.
Sunderland on tour, this.
God help them.
They won't know what's hit them.
And it's just starting yet.
Wait about another three hours.
It's just crackers, man.
I'm sure I am
I'm Sunderland 'til I die ♪
Sunderland 'til I die ♪
[Peter] We can talk about football,
but it's not about football at the minute.
It's about the people of Sunderland.
Half of them haven't got nothing.
Half of them haven't got a pot to piss in.
[laughs]
They're here.
I don't know. It's great.
[dramatic music playing]
Cup day!
-Sunderland's going to bring the cup home.
-A drinking day!
-Drinking day.
-[laughs]
It'll be only the second time
I've ever watched them in 21 years.
Twenty-one, 'cause I can't bear
to watch them.
[kids yelling] Come on, Sunderland!
Come on!
-[Stewart] Oh! [laughs]
-Mr. Donald! [laughs]
[Stewart] It's been frantic
and relentless,
but I know in the next half hour
I'm going to start focusing on the game
and, uh,
I'll start to get nervous then 'cause
I've said it doesn't really matter
too much, but it does.
[Barnes] If Sunderland win
the competition,
it'll do a massive boost
for their confidence
for the run-in to the end of the season.
If they were to lose at Wembley,
it might debilitate them,
it might demoralize them.
[players chatter indistinctly]
[Luke] It might be a little bit daunting,
but it's exciting.
And to do it with, you know,
a great bunch of boys,
they're-- they're the things you remember.
[dramatic music fades]
[crowd cheers uproariously]
Absolutely magnificent sight
that this Wembley Stadium
presents itself this afternoon.
-[indistinct intercom chatter]
-85,000,
the attendance, a new record
for the competition.
[intercom chatter continues]
Fascinating game it should be,
they're both evenly matched
in so many ways.
They're neck and neck
in the league table as well.
It's impossible to predict
how this is going to go.
[suspenseful music playing]
[crowd shouting]
-[shouting swells]
-[whistle blows]
Come on!
[screaming] Go on!
We've got a trophy to take home.
[crowd buzzing]
-[ball thuds]
-[crowd cheers]
[crowd oohs]
[crowd applauds]
[fans yell indistinctly]
-[crowd shouts]
-[whistle blows]
[crowd oohs]
Yellow.
[crowd roars]
[crowd shouts]
[crowd applauds]
[Michelle] Oh, look at him, man.
Look at him,
he's magnificent.
Ha'way, kids.
[commentator 2] You've got to say,
Sunderland are bossing the game,
aren't they?
Portsmouth don't know
-if they're coming or going.
-[fan] Man on!
-[crowd shouts]
-Ha'way, ref!
[Barnes] McGeady now.
Tries to go past Burgess.
[crowd shouts angrily]
[fans yelling indistinctly]
McGeady is, uh,
I think, eyeing this one up.
[hushed] Please. Please.
You could not have a free kick
in a better place than this
for a right-footer.
[whistle blows]
-[ball thuds]
-[music slows]
[crowd erupts in cheers]
[fans screaming]
[Barnes] Fantastic free kick
from Aiden McGeady.
Sunderland take the lead.
[commentator 2]
They fully deserve it as well.
[cheering continues]
[Stewart murmurs]
[players cheering]
Aiden McGeady!
[whistle blows]
[Barnes] Sunderland head in
at the interval
leading a goal to nil.
Sunderland have been dominant
and you've got to say,
the majority of that 45 minutes was played
in Portsmouth's half.
I'd be quite happy if they blew
the full-time whistle right now.
Look, we're 45 minutes away.
We've seen enough games this season
when we've been on top first half
and the game's flipped on its head,
so I'll be interested to see
what their manager does
'cause obviously we were well on top
in that first half,
and then how we react to that.
[crowd cheers in the distance]
-[crowd chants]
-[Barnes] Now Sunderland
get us underway again
in the second half.
[Michelle] Somebody help him!
[Andrew] Push on him. Move for him!
Move for him!
Come on, lad!
-[whistle blows]
-[commentator 2] Silly. Silly.
He was never going to win it.
-And that--
-[Barnes] This is the management
-I'm talking about.
-[commentator 2] Yes.
This is what could let them down.
[whistle blows]
[Barnes] I think the substitution
will be made now by Portsmouth.
[crowd buzzes]
[players shout indistinctly]
[crowd shouting]
[crowd oohs]
Can you sense the nervousness?
[crowd boos]
[Charlie sighs] Very frustrating,
the way we're playing right now.
They're not playing properly,
as if they're gonna score a second.
[Stewart] He's just on his own up there
all the time.
He's so isolated, look at the gap
between him and the rest of the team.
[Andrew] Come on!
Come on!
Challenge that! Challenge that!
Move for him! Move for him!
[crowd shouting]
-[ball clanks on post]
-[crowd oohs]
Wake up!
[Peter] Push on!
[Barnes] Sunderland have to get a grip.
[commentator 2] They've lost their shape,
Sunderland.
We were winning the first ball.
If we weren't getting the first,
we'd get the second ball.
But we seem to be all over the place.
Sunderland seem to be playing
deeper and deeper.
[crowd applauds and cheers]
We've got a gap between
our forward and midfield.
There's a gap there.
He's got to make a change.
He can't let this carry on.
[Barnes] Here come Portsmouth again,
another ball into the box.
It drops here towards Thompson.
Put it over the top.
Change it!
Shh! Sweetheart, you have to calm down.
There's too much resting on this.
What are they doing?
What are they doing?
[crowd applauds]
[Barnes] Substitution for Sunderland.
It's, uh, Grigg.
They've gone very defensive here,
in the sense of protecting their lead
of 1-nil, Sunderland.
[crowd applauds]
[indistinct intercom chatter]
[crowd shouts]
[Peter] Push on. Come on, lads! Push up.
[crowd buzzes]
Come on.
They've got an overload over there.
They've got an overload.
[Barnes] Clarke to the edge
of the Sunderland area.
Trying to find Evans,
who clips it across towards Thompson!
-Oh, it's scored.
-[fans cheer]
Oh, no!
[commentator 2] We've allowed Portsmouth
to dictate the game.
We've just sat back and allowed 'em
chance after chance after chance.
So us. We cannot fucking string
a good match together.
And he's changed the team now.
[tense music playing]
[Barnes] Lowe is going to try
and lob the keeper,
and he's scored.
[fans cheering]
Lowe has lobbed McLaughlin
at the edge of the area.
-Portsmouth take the lead, 2-1.
-[tense music fades]
With only six minutes left.
[commentator 2] Got to defend
better than that, Nick.
[crowd buzzes]
[Barnes] And McLaughlin,
long kick forwards,
looking for Wyke.
It's going to drop away behind
for a goal kick.
[crowd shouting]
Fuck right off.
[Barnes] Portsmouth have got
their flags out
and they are waving them frantically.
Sunderland's fans can only look on.
Just wonder what might have been.
So little time left now
to try and find an equalizer.
[tense music resumes]
Forwards again, to Honeyman.
Honeyman down the right now.
Get it in the box, lads.
[Andrew] Come on, lads!
Go on.
[Barnes] Hume lobs it back in again.
-[Andrew] Come on!
-[Barnes] McGeady here
[crowd shouts]
[shouting] McGeady!
-[Andrew] Yes!
-[crowd roars]
[fans screaming]
Come on!
-Fucking get in! Get it!
-[screaming continues]
[Barnes] It's 2-2!
[men shouting and cheering]
[Barnes] Out of the embers,
somehow Sunderland
have scrambled it home,
with a minute left.
[fan] Come on, lads, get another!
-[whistle blows]
-[Barnes] There's the full-time whistle.
It is penalties here at Wembley.
-What drama.
-[commentator 2 laughs]
[crowd cheers in the distance]
[announcer] Here we go,
it's time for a penalty shoot-out
to decide
the 2019 Checkatrade Trophy final!
[groans nervously]
You just hang on to me.
We'll get through it.
[Barnes] Aiden McGeady comes forwards
here now,
pauses, and sinks it
-in the bottom left corner.
-[crowd cheers]
It crept in, but he's scored.
[crowd buzzes]
Now, Evans
for Portsmouth.
Short run-up from Evans.
-[crowd shouts]
-And he's saved No!
[fans ooh]
Bastard!
[Peter] I thought he'd saved it.
[Barnes] And Cattermole now
is coming forward.
[whistle blows]
[crowd whistling]
Lee Cattermole now. Right-footed.
-Oh, it's saved!
-[fans cheer]
[Peter] I'd have never let him
take a penalty.
[tense music intensifies]
[fans roar]
[crowd cheers]
[whistle blows]
[cheering continues]
[fans yelling indistinctly]
[Barnes] Luke O'Nien now has to score
to keep this penalty shoot-out alive.
Luke O'Nien with his right foot.
Into the corner,
rolls it home.
It's four penalties apiece.
This is it, isn't it?
-If he shoots, it's won.
-Aye.
If they score, it's all over.
It's good night.
Just dive the right way.
[Barnes] Here's Hawkins. Comes forwards.
-And he scores.
-[crowd erupts]
Portsmouth win the Checkatrade Trophy,
5-4 on penalties.
Sunderland's agonizing wait
for a Wembley win carries on.
-[crowd's cheering fades]
-[tense music fades]
[somber music playing]
Didn't deserve that.
[indistinct intercom chatter]
They did work hard.
I just feel for each
and every one of them.
I just love my bairns and I want them
to win all the time.
And I know they can play well.
[crowd cheering]
[announcer yells enthusiastically]
Come on. Give us a hug.
It's not the end of the world.
[Charlie] Both Stu and I are frustrated.
It's the same every single week.
The same slow play after half-time,
the same, go one goal up
and then defend our own penalty box.
Ultimately, as the board,
you appoint the manager
and the manager manages the team.
-[indistinct chatter]
-So, it's up to the manager
to look deep inside himself,
and his coaching staff,
and ask some really tough questions.
We've all got to lift ourselves up
off the canvas
'cause we've now got nine league games
in the space of a month,
and those nine league games will determine
whether or not
the rest of the season
is as disappointing as that,
or that we look back in five weeks' time
and say, "That was the day we decided
that we would definitely get promoted
'cause we didn't want
to feel like that again."
[somber music continues]