How Luke O'Nien became the unlikely hero in the battle to rediscover Sunderland's soul
For all the splendour of Elliot Embleton’s opener or the raw emotion that accompanied Ross Stewart’s clincher, for many Sunderland fans the enduring image of the League One play-off final was the roar that followed Luke O’Nien’s late tackle in the centre of the pitch.
For all that we probably all fancied ourselves as brilliant players at some point in our life, there was just something so much more relatable about O’Nien’s reaction there. In that moment he was all of us. He was the years of hurt and the outpouring of pride in our identity, the ghosts of the past finally exorcised in the middle of the pitch that has caused us so much pain.
I suppose, in many ways, O’Nien actually was one of us on that day. It was hard not to mentally juxtapose the image of his elation then with him being slumped on the same pitch, his bloodied head bandaged after the play-off final defeat to Charlton four years earlier.
In many ways Luke O’Nien has embodied Sunderland’s recent battle for the club’s soul, and his own journey has mirrored the one we have all undertaken since the club sank into League One.
As the club looked out into the unknown, O’Nien was what emerged from it. None of us had heard of him and he had never played at League One level either. The thing about O’Nien, though, was that unbeknownst to us, and probably him, he was exactly what we had – in sheer desperation – been asking for.
Years of watching our club abused and disrespected by very talented yet very dishonest footballers had stripped us of hope and trust until all we had left was one simple plea: Just give us players who give their all – we don’t even care how good they are.
Enter Luke O’Nien.
In all honesty, as supporters we probably haven’t been quite as faithful to that as we should have been. O’Nien has had spells when he has had to take the brunt for some criticism. He started the 2021/22 season in central midfield and, probably by his own admission, he wasn’t performing there. The squad was slowly becoming more technical with the likes of Corry Evans, Dan Neil and Eliott Embleton vying for the same position and, because of that, O’Nien’s weaknesses stood out a bit.
Still, the passion remained. The honesty did too. Perhaps most admirably of all, the mental strength to take that criticism on the chin and not allow it to break him. We have seen far more talented and well-paid players crumble into oblivion in similar circumstances.
Not O’Nien, though. In fact, O’Nien was playing every week with a badly damaged shoulder that literally popped out of its socket routinely during matches. Him falling heavily after a typically committed challenge that he must have known put his shoulder at risk, wandering to the touchline, getting it popped back in, and continuing to play was becoming a common feature of Sunderland matches at one point.
He did eventually surrender and underwent shoulder surgery, but he was back to play a crucial role in central midfield as Sunderland finally hauled themselves out of League One at the fourth time of asking.
This season, O’Nien once again found his place under threat. He didn’t start the season in the team, despite his strong finish to the previous campaign. When his chance did come, it came in central defence. Again, though, he has proven his value and forced many - myself included if I am honest - to re-evaluate whether the club has outgrown him.
That is what makes Luke O’Nien so relatable to this club and all of us who love it. He is never the most fancied player, and is written off far more often than is fair, but his relentless passion and utterly uncompromising pride in the shirt he loves has elevated him to something quite special in football.
Sure, we all say that 100% effort and total commitment is the very least a player should be able to give, but how many have you seen who actually do it? Really think about it. I have supported Sunderland for 35 years now, and it’s certainly not many. Kevin Ball was certainly one but I am struggling to think of any others.
For many of us, the last six months have seen us finally feel able to reconnect and identify with the club we love. We have felt that what we are watching is recognisably Sunderland and the qualities shown on the pitch are reflective of what we believe our club to be at its core: honesty, endeavour, passion, commitment, and an unrelenting desire to compete – even in the final minute of a Wembley final we are comfortably winning.
Luke O’Nien is not the best player we have. In fact, if everything goes to plan, he will likely reach his ceiling at Sunderland sooner than most. However, it’s hard to imagine a player who has done more in the fight to re-establish Sunderland’s soul and give us all our football club back.
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