Sunderland lost ‘greatest play-off final ever’ vs Charlton in 1998, Regis Le Bris’ side must not repeat history

Add as preferred source on Google

Sunderland were beaten on penalties by Charlton Athletic in the 1997/98 Championship play-off final, which many dub the best play-off final of all time.

Sunderland will face Coventry City in the 2024/25 Championship play-offs semi-finals, with the first leg coming at the CBS Arena on Friday evening.

If ever there was a fitting conclusion to the dramatic nature of English football, it is the sometimes heartaching, but always exhilarating play-offs campaign.

In the Black Cats’ case, Sunderland have a barren record in the play-offs, with their 2021/22 League One play-off final win under Alex Neil their only victory under the arches in the promotion-defining competition.

Sunderland faced off in a play-off final dubbed “the greatest ever” to date, and Regis Le Bris’ side will now want a repeat of the club’s heartbreaking history this time around.

• READ MORE: Sunderland fans want club to sign ‘class’ Blackburn Rovers ace

Sunderland lost greatest Championship play-off final ever

Sunderland hearts still sting when discussing the 1997/98 play-off final defeat to Charlton Athletic.

In a clash lauded as the best Championship play-off final ever, Peter Reid’s Sunderland side were beaten 7-6 on penalties by Charlton, after drawing 4-4 following 120 minutes of dramatic football.

Confessed Sunderland fan Clive Mendonca put the Addicks 1-0 up in the first half, before legendary Black Cats duo Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips turned the affair in red-and-white favour.

After 90 minutes, the score was 3-3. Goals in extra time from Sunderland’s Nicky Summerbee and Mendonca’s hat-trick strike condemned the clash to Premier League deciding penalties.

In a fitting tribute to the quality of the game, all thirteen players converted spot-kicks, with many fans in the old Wembley stands wondering ‘when will it end’.

Sunderland hero Michael Gray was the victim of the first miss, with his limp effort trickling into the palms of Addicks goalkeeper Sasa Ilic, to send Charlton into the top flight at the expense of the Black Cats and see Gray in floods of tears consoled by his teammates.

Then-Black Cats boss Reid recently said, via the Sunderland Echo, of that dramatic affair: “Our game against Charlton at Wembley in May 1998 has been described by many as the greatest play-off game of all time. To say that it was dramatic would be an understatement.

“We ended up 4 – 4 after extra time and heartbreakingly lost 7 – 6 on penalties and we missed out on a Premiership place.” 

Reid’s starting eleven for the dramatic Charlton boded some players etched into red-and-white hearts forever as club icons, and Le Bris’ squad has the chance to do the same.

• READ MORE: Expert reveals staggering fee Sunderland would bank from promotion

Sunderland’s starting XI in 1997/98 play-off final compared to predicted XI vs Coventry City

Sunderland will need to be at their best at the CBS Arena on Friday evening, to have any chance of turning the tide on their barren head-to-head record against Coventry, and book a place in a Wembley play-off final again.

27 years on, Le Bris and his squad have the chance to become Sunderland legends alongside Reid, Quinn, Phillips and the like who took the Black Cats 12-yards away from top flight promotion in 1998.

Le Bris’ Sunderland travel to Coventry City on Friday evening before the reverse fixture the following Tuesday night.

In the opposite semi-final clash that would decide Sunderland’s potential final opponents, Sheffield United head to Bristol City on Thursday evening, before the Blades host the Robins on Monday night in the play-off fixtures.