Success has continued to grow at the Academy of Light as Sunderland under-12s became the latest young side to win a national tournament.
Just two months after coming runners-up in the Premier League Truce Finals, the young Black Cats clinched the Premier League Futsal crown in Birmingham.
After finishing top of the qualification group at the start of the year, seeing off Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and Manchester United, the under-12s then travelled to the West Midlands for finals in February.
There, the lads finished third in their group but went on to defeat Cardiff City in the semi-final and then Derby County 5-1 to lift the crown.
Speaking to safc.com about the achievement, foundation phase lead coach, Finbarr Lynch, said: “The lads were terrific throughout the tournament and especially in the final.
“It’s an absolutely great achievement for them. They’ve played some really top clubs to get to where they are and along the way they played some great football.
“It’s fantastic for the lads and of course the club to be able to beat top clubs and top academies.
“Before Christmas, the lads were in Belgium at the Truce Finals and they came second in that after losing in the final.
“We played the likes of Lyon, Lens and Hertha Berlin before losing to Cardiff City in the final. That was a 9v9 tournament and it was the first time we’d ever got to the final because in previous years we’d only got to the semis.
“It was a great experience, though. To play against different opposition, different formats and different nationalities it was really, really good.”
“It says a lot about the sort of academy we have here at Sunderland. We go to a lot of tournaments now and people are expecting us to quite well. Hopefully, it continues in the future.”
