Sunderland has booked a showdown with Sheffield United for a place in the Premier League.
Dan Ballard bundled in a dramatic goal in stoppage time of extra time to earn Sunderland a 1-1 draw with Coventry and a 3-2 victory on aggregate in the Championship playoff semifinals on Tuesday.
“It’s what dreams are made of, really,” said Ballard, whose mistimed header from a corner went in off the underside of the crossbar. “I can’t remember what happened … It’s some feeling, that.”
Sheffield United had already reached the playoff final at Wembley Stadium by completing a 6-0 aggregate win over Bristol City on Monday.
While Sheffield United is looking to return to the top flight after an absence of just one year, Sunderland hasn’t played in the Premier League since 2017 and has since been the subject of a Netflix series documenting the club’s struggles.
The playoff final is the most lucrative one-off match in world soccer, with Sunderland in line to get an estimated revenue uplift of around 200 million pounds ($260 million) in projected matchday, broadcast and commercial revenue — and much more if the team was to survive the first season back in the top flight.
For Sheffield United, the uplift would be an estimated $180 million as the club is still benefitting from parachute payments from the last time the team was in the Premier League — in the 2023-24 season.
Coventry, managed by Frank Lampard, last played in the Premier League in 2001 and suffered more heartache, having lost to Luton in a penalty shootout in the playoff final in 2023.
Sheffield United and Sunderland finished third and fourth, respectively, at the end of the regular season behind Leeds and Burnley, who secured the two automatic promotion spots.
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