Sunderland’s rise to the top of the Championship last season was one of football’s most remarkable stories. If a fiction writer had written it he would have been ridiculed. Yes I am going to insult your intelligence and tell you the exact story of Sunderland’s rise to the top, and anyways you can’t hear this one enough, making this book a must have buy for any Mackem.

The situation was that Sunderland were relegated from the Premiership in 2006 with a record-low 15 points, as you are all painfully aware of. But then came the saviour in the form of Niall Quinn and the Drumaville consortium who took over the club from Bob Murray and began the slow and steady process of resurrecting Sunderland. However Mr Quinn could not find the ‘world-class’ manager that he wanted so he decided to do the job himself, leading to a lot of ridicule from the media.

Maybe it was justified as Quinny lost the first five games including a very embarrassing Carling Cup defeat to Bury from League Two. Quinn’s reign ended with a home win over West Brom, where the watching Roy Keane all but ready to take over.

After months of persuasion, a quick hand-shake there and quick press conference there Quinn had his man and Roy Keane was paraded to the media as Sunderland’s new manager. Keane was renowned throughout his long and successful career for his uncompromising attitude and his desire to win, something that needed to be instilled at Sunderland, sooner than later.

A lot was made about Keane and Quinn’s spectacular fall-out during the 2002 World Cup but both men showed their maturity and professionalism by uniting and launching Sunderland up the table. Keane’s first game in charge saw his side fight back to claim all three points at Pride Park before annihilating Leeds on their own patch four days later, he had definitely arrived.

However the months that followed weren’t as rosy as Sunderland’s inconsistency started to cost them points with defeats at Norwich, Preston and Palace standing out more than most. The turn of the year saw Sunderland click, going unbeaten for 17 games and charging to the top of the Championship table.

A defeat at Colchester didn’t deter his side as Keane watched them claim the title in style with a superb 5-0 victory over relegated Luton on the final day of the season. The biggest compliment of all for Keane must surely be the praise he received from Ireland and Sunderland legend Charlie Hurley, who said:

“You can feel the buzz is back in Sunderland and you know that Roy really believes it when he says he’s not frightened of Manchester United or Chelsea. Champions next season? Don’t bet against it. He’s a winner. He was a bit of a dirty player now and then but he was a great player and a great leader.”

This book does exactly what you want it to, it re-tells the story exactly how it happened and reminds you of Sunderland’s remarkable rise to the top flight. There’s not much more to say than priced at £10.99 it provides instant joy for any Sunderland fan.

James Henderson