A tribute to Luke O’Nien, Sunderland’s newest triple centurion…
Sunderland got back to winning ways with a 1-2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Friday night. Eliezer Mayenda made headlines by bagging a brace to seal the points, but it was a player at the other end of the pitch who also had a night to remember.
In the summer of 2018, Sunderland were in disarray and relegation to League One left us facing an underwhelming transfer window ahead of a first season in the third tier for thirty years.
One of the players signed that summer was a midfielder from Wycombe Wanderers: Luke O’Nien.
A player that almost all Sunderland fans had never heard of, we initially signed him as a midfielder but his debut was perhaps one of the worst we’d seen by a Sunderland player in a while.
He was brought off at half time and if you’d told anyone inside the Stadium of Light that day that he would go on to make three hundred appearances and counting, they may have thought you were mental.
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Sunderland AFC v Hull City AFC – Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Over the years, O’Nien has become a lynchpin of our side.
Through good times and bad, he’s been a positive presence during a mostly disappointing chapter of the club’s history. He’s also been on the pitch for all four of our recent visits to Wembley, sharing the moments we’ve all experienced.
O’Nien isn’t the best player we’ve ever had, but he’s far better than a lot of his critics give him credit for. For some reason, certain sections of our fan base despise him, even though he’s the sort of player we’d needed for some time.
After years of signing mercenaries in the Premier League and a godawful 2017/2018 Championship campaign, Sunderland fans longed for players who cared about the club, and Jack Ross granted us that wish by signing a smiling 23-year-old from Hemel Hempstead.
Ross was the first of seven permanent managers and counting for O’Nien at Sunderland.
During that time, he’s always been a major part of the side and only in one campaign has he appeared less than thirty times. For all these years and all these appearances, there’s plenty of evidence to show that he’s highly thought of and has been for some time.
Sunderland AFC v Watford FC – Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images
We’ve seen O’Nien do some daft things on the pitch but they’re the sort of things that some people wish they could see more of.
There are far fewer ‘characters’ in the modern game and it’s true that he gets under the skin of opposition supporters, but some have even said that he’s good value. I think this is a fair summary and from a personal perspective, Sunderland AFC is a better club with him around.
It may also be time to put to bed the question as to whether O’Nien is a centre back, because the truth is that he just is.
Not only that, he’s one of the best passers in the side and his ability to carry the ball out of defence and up the pitch is invaluable. He’s now played as a centre back more than any other position during his 400+ game career, and he looks more than suited to playing there.
The landmark was reached in South Yorkshire and it was nice to get a win to mark the occasion.
O’Nien’s relationship with this club has been a long and enjoyable one; in fact, his love of Sunderland has been compared to that of Kevin Ball, who also came from hundreds of miles away but made a home on Wearside.
Middlesbrough FC v Sunderland AFC – Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
We won’t have O’Nien forever and as annoying as he may be to some, he’s given us so much of his career and it’s fair to say he isn’t finished yet. Promotion to the Premier League would be the icing on the cake and would also annoy a lot of people who couldn’t imagine him as a top flight footballer.
Playing in three hundred games for a single club is a rare feat in the modern game, but O’Nien has demonstrated that he loves being here.
He joined at our lowest period in decades and there are good reasons why he’s become only the second player post-2000 to play three hundred games for Sunderland. He’s a dog-saving, diving header-making, opposition wind-up merchant, and I’m pleased he’s on our side!
