Sunderland's Stadium of Light factor could really give them a promotion advantage: View | OneFootball

Sunderland's home support against Sheffield Wednesday was sublime. If they keep that up, they will be strong promotion contenders.

Sunderland have got off to a flying start in the Championship this season.

Excitement is in the air around the Stadium of Light at the moment as the Black Cats have entered an exciting era under new manager Regis Le Bris.

The Frenchman arrived in June to take the vacant managerial role, after a two-year spell with Lorient in his home country.

Their young squad is full of incredible talent, and there is real belief that this is Sunderland's year.

The likes of Jack Clarke, Jobe Bellingham and Dan Neil, just to name a few, have the ability to help the Black Cats over the line and achieve promotion to the Premier League after a 7-year absence.

Sunderland's opener this season saw the club travel to South Wales for a meeting with Erol Bulut's Cardiff City. Luke O'Nien opened the scoring before Jack Clarke wrapped it up late on to give the Black Cats the all important three points on opening day.

It was an impressive performance, but nothing compared to their display on the following weekend as they welcomed Sheffield Wednesday to the Stadium of Light for their first home fixture of the campaign.

Sunderland's home advantage was made very clear from the start as the Black Cats faithful got right behind their team under new boss, Regis Le Bris.

Sunderland supporters helped their side thrash Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday's opening game of the 2024/25 campaign saw them absolutely dominate Wayne Rooney's Plymouth Argyle by four goals to nil, so there was a huge amount of optimism at the club, especially with exciting coach, Danny Rohl in charge.

With that in mind, their clash with Sunderland last weekend was expected to be a tight contest, with both clubs going into the game full of confidence. However, it could not have gone any differently.

After 24 minutes, the Black Cats were shockingly 3-0 up, through goals from Eliezer Mayenda, Dennis Cirkin and Luke O'Nien. The Stadium of Light was absolutely rocking, even before kick-off, so when their side went three goals up against a strong Sheffield Wednesday lineup, the noise was deafening.

Mayenda scored his second of the afternoon shortly after half-time, meaning the game finished 4-0 to the hosts. The Owls were stunned after such a promising opening fixture on the weekend prior, and the Black Cats were over the moon.

The home crowd at the Stadium of Light were electric from minute one on Sunday, creating plenty of noise at the slightest of things and forcing Sheffield Wednesday into making mistakes.

Sunderland have always been a club that relies on its supporters for success, and now more than ever, the Black Cats need their home crowd to be on their side.

There is a lot to be excited about at the Stadium of Light currently. Their squad is full of promising youth, and under manager Regis Le Bris, who is well-known for working with youngsters, their potential may be about to be fully unlocked.

Sunday's thrashing over Sheffield Wednesday was a prime example of how the Sunderland faithful can get behind their team and create noise to help their side over the line. They made a well-organised Owls team look panicked and totally inexperienced, as they were under a lot of pressure from the home crowd's noise.

The Stadium of Light is clearly a horrible place to go and play for visiting teams, so Sunderland need to use that to their advantage this season as they aim for a long-awaited return to the Premier League.