Sunderland 'til he dies! A third-tier player embodies a European cup miracle

The 31-year-old is right. Next term will be O'Nien's ninth at AFC Sunderland, and he is set to feature in the Europa League with the Black Cats. That alone reads like a modern-day fairy tale.

Sunderland in Europe—an event that had not occurred for 53 years—looks like a modern fairytale. Having begun the campaign as a well-funded promoted side, the Black Cats climbed as high as seventh spot thanks to a dramatic 2-1 home win over Chelsea on the final day of the Premier League season. O'Nien was central to that success.

The defender provided the assist for the second goal to make it 2-0, his first in the top flight after a handful of appearances at this level. Although O'Nien has been at Sunderland since 2018, back then the club was still in the third tier and he was far from a star performer.

He has now played 329 competitive matches for the club; only two players who passed away before the turn of the millennium are ahead of him in the club's all-time rankings. O'Nien needs just 23 more matches to take the top spot.

Yet the question remains: will he get them? Manager Regis Le Bris handed him only twelve league starts last term, and it was not until early March that he finally captained the side for a full 90 minutes in the Premier League. That opportunity arose largely because injuries sidelined his rivals for a spell; he went on to make five additional starts before the season closed.

His first start came against Leeds, and he was named Man of the Match—partly because he played well, but mainly because he is "Mr Sunderland", as fans and the club call him.

O'Nien is not a Premier League player; he is a third-tier performer operating at a higher level. His deficiencies in speed, anticipation and decision-making are glaring, and when deployed as a half-back in a back three, those flaws are magnified—earning him ridicule from English football fans on social media.

Yet his worth to the club is defined by far more than ability on the ball. As the sole survivor of the squad profiled in the acclaimed 2018 documentary "Sunderland 'til I Die", he now acts as the glue binding players and supporters together. He is the emotional leader every squad needs, a player whose total commitment makes supporters' hearts race.

For him, that commitment counts for more than any tactical positioning. Finlay Holcroft, a youngster from Sunderland's U18s, recently said of O'Nien: "I firmly believe that Luke is a good role model in all aspects of football. Whether as a leader or simply when you watch him on the pitch and see how he surveys the game, how he talks to the others and helps everyone. Some people don't see that, but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye, especially with Luke."

When O'Nien was Holcroft's age, there was no hint he would one day become the player he is today. "The Europa League was never the dream. Not because I didn't want it, but – to be honest – because I never thought it was possible," he said recently.

He began at Watford FC, but the club eventually called his father to say there would be no contract. His dad then emailed dozens of clubs; only one replied. O'Nien drifted into non-league football with Wealdstone FC in the seventh tier.

That was twelve years ago. Even in 2015, three years before his move to Sunderland, O'Nien was still plying his trade in the sixth tier. He then stepped up two divisions to Wycombe Wanderers. "I will always be indebted to you," O'Nien wrote about these two clubs after a successful season with Sunderland.

After three years and 119 competitive matches for Wycombe, he moved to League Two side Sunderland, fresh from relegation out of the second tier. There, O'Nien experienced the full range of footballing emotions, beginning with a play-off final defeat to Charlton Athletic at the end of his first season. A year later the club finished eighth—its lowest-ever league position.

The tide turned in 2022, with O'Nien now a regular starter; the club secured promotion to the Championship via a play-off final win over his old side, Wycombe. They then consolidated in the second tier before, 12 months ago, sealing their long-awaited return to the Premier League. He managed just eight minutes of action in the dramatic 2-1 play-off final win over Sheffield United in the fifth minute of stoppage time, yet had already racked up 48 appearances for the club.

While the club splashed out more than €210m to prepare for the top flight, O'Nien was handed a reward: a contract extension until 2027, with an option to add a further year.

A European debut now seems inevitable, though he acknowledges he must keep improving to earn it. That progress is essential if he is to realise his ambition of becoming the club's all-time appearance record holder. "I've had some good games, some bad ones and everything in between. I've improved since my first game," he said. "And if I want to reach 350 or more, I need to keep getting better so I don't stay the same player I am right now."