Sunderland: A Club Transformed

After just a handful of matches in 2006, it seemed clear that Sunderland, a town and a soccer club in England’s northeast, was going down, ready to drop into a lower-level league. Then, with just ten games to go, the board dismissed the manager, and the stage was set for a miracle. Returning messiah” Niall Quinn took over, and appointed Roy Keane as manager: under his stewardship, Sunderland made an astonishing turnaround. Jonathan Wilson, an acclaimed author and Sunderland native, tells the tale of this meteoric rise with wit, intelligence, and insight. He received unrestricted behind the scenes access, and offers the kind of in-depth analysis that only the very best sports reporters can do. It is a soccer story as dramatic as any in recent years.