On 20 October 2018, Sunderland travelled to Shrewsbury in a League One fixture and eventually ran out comfortable 2-0 winners. It wasn’t without a couple of scares along the way, but the game was significant for another reason: Luke O’Nien scored his first goal for the club that day.
In a week when Luke led the team out as skipper for our first away UEFA League tie, today’s OTD is in homage to him. A man who, despite adversity, has never given up and has handed us some very memorable moments through the years.
When O’Nien signed on for Sunderland, there was little fanfare and little to suggest he would become the man he is today. In what would become typical Luke fashion, there was drama from day one.
He’d been released by Watford following their promotion to the Premier League in May 2015, having been with them at youth level since 2003. A couple of loan spells at Wealdstone had seen him pick up a Ryman Premier title, and a season in Conference South saw them finish mid-table. The lack of a contract offer was a surprise to him. He’d been expecting to carry on at Watford, but with nothing else on the horizon, his dad wrote to every Football League club asking for a trial. Nobody replied. Then, after a recommendation from someone at Wealdstone, he was offered a trial at Wycombe Wanderers. Luke himself says, “Day one was a fitness test. I ran until I was the last one standing.” He impressed in an in-house game, and things had gone well. In July 2015, Luke signed a one-year contract with the League Two side on a low wage “so I could prove myself”.
He played there until the end of the 2017-18 season, when Wycombe secured promotion to League One. The 2017 Community Player of the Season then packed his car with everything he owned and drove up to the North East to join a side that had just been relegated from the Championship. Sunderland were in crisis. Back-to-back relegations had put them in the third tier for only the second time in their history, and the Netflix documentary had shown the whole world just how bad things were.
Luke O’Nien made his Sunderland debut on 4 August against Charlton Athletic, ready to prove that this was where he belonged. He started the game, then got hooked at half-time following a nervy, poor first-half showing, with the Lads 1-0 down. We went on to win the game 2-1 with a last-minute winner. Maybe this wasn’t going to turn out well; the side performed much better once our new number 32 came off. To be fair, Jack Ross had made a tactical switch, bringing on striker Jerome Sinclair for Luke, so maybe it wasn’t all down to his performance, but it’s not the greatest accolade to have on your debut.
The first half of the season was littered with indifferent performances, and O’Nien was struggling to make any major impact in midfield. However, this changed when manager Ross asked Luke if he could play right-back following injuries to his back line in November. When asked, Luke insisted he was a great right-back, essentially lying to get himself back in the team. Performances improved, and by the turn of the year, he was first choice, putting in 7/10 and 8/10 displays every week. His gamble to put himself forward at right-back had paid off, and he was voted Young Player of the Year at the end of the season.
During the play-off semi-final at Fratton Park, Luke was pushed into the crowd following a run up the line and was kicked and jostled by some Portsmouth fans. He didn’t retaliate and brushed the incident off. “I’ve seen my little cousin hit harder than that,” he said, then refused to press charges.
The subsequent play-off final at Wembley was heartbreaking, and Sunderland missed out on promotion at the first time of asking against Charlton. O’Nien had made 40 appearances and weighed in with five goals over the course of 2018-19.
The league campaign for 2019-20 got off to a poor start, and by Christmas, we sat in 15th place. Jack Ross had been sacked in October and replaced by Phil Parkinson, but through all of this bad form and managerial disruption, Luke had continued to be one of the only bright spots. Form improved, but the season was cut short due to COVID-19, with Sunderland sitting in seventh place.
The following season was a milestone moment for both Luke and the club as a whole. We secured another play-off qualification after finishing fourth, but suffered another play-off defeat. The EFL Trophy final against Tranmere became our first Wembley win since 1973. While some may argue a club of this size should be aiming higher, a win is a win. If nothing else, this achievement proved we could win at Wembley after all that time, and McGeady’s pass for Gooch to finish was a very good goal. It’s a big shame nobody was there to see it due to lockdown restrictions, but Luke now had a Papa Johns winners’ medal to add to the collection. He was named in the EFL League One Team of the Season, an excellent achievement, and was rewarded that summer with a new three-year contract extension.
The 2021-22 season will live long in the memory. Some superb moments, yet another visit to Wembley for a play-off final, and this time we emerged as winners. Unfortunately for Luke O’Nien, a shoulder injury and subsequent operation had kept him out for four months from November. The injury itself had first appeared in December 2020 following a dislocation, but only caused a six-week lay-off at the time. When it flared up again in pre-season, Luke had, in typical Luke fashion, played on in pain despite the problem. At one point, he had popped his shoulder back in twice during a game, determined not to let it stop him playing. Eventually, this caught up with him, and a long recovery period was inevitable.
Once again, showing character beyond any normal mortal, he returned to the side as a substitute against Fleetwood on 8 March, coming on in the 71st minute at 1-1 and scoring just eleven minutes later. His celebration was emotional, right in front of the fans, showing just how much he had missed being involved.
Following promotion through the play-offs, Luke O’Nien became a Championship player on 31 July 2022 in a 1-1 draw at home against Coventry. He was almost ever-present during a season that saw us, once again, reach the play-offs. This was a season in which he would cement his place in the hearts of Sunderland fans. Along with a number of standout footballing performances, O’Nien’s character as a joker, motivator and all-round good guy was impossible to miss.
When Amad scored our second goal against Huddersfield in November, he was lying face down on the floor celebrating. Luke suddenly appears in shot, sliding across the pitch, arms by his side, coming to a halt right in front of the scorer. Absolutely hilarious. In the following February, against Bristol City, he received a booking for climbing on to Alex Scott and getting a piggyback ride across the pitch. A month later, against Norwich, he kissed Jacob Sørensen on the mouth following an altercation behind the goal. It didn’t go down too well with the City man at the time, but I’m sure he sees the funny side now. All of this adds up to a man who wears his heart on his sleeve and is as committed as possible to making a difference. He can be seen as the class clown at times, but there’s no ignoring Luke O’Nien.
His character is surely summed up by the incident in the summer of 2023 when, while walking along the beach at Seaburn, he came across a dog that had got into trouble after being submerged. Pulled out of the sea by its owner, she was struggling to resuscitate it when O’Nien came running over. He started pumping the dog’s chest, effectively performing CPR until it coughed up a load of seawater. They then rubbed and moved the dog around to get it going again and, miraculously, after a difficult night, “Elmo”, the German Pointer, fully recovered. Luke hung around with his family for a while afterwards to make sure all was OK.
In August 2024, Luke O’Nien was named club captain. It was the culmination of his footballing contributions, his character on and off the pitch, and his influence in the dressing room. There are numerous stories circulating about his keenness to help out around the AoL with the younger players. Extra training, helping to coach the U18s, generally just being a good guy. I’m of the opinion that a coaching and mentoring role is in his future, hopefully within the Sunderland setup. But his playing contribution isn’t over yet.
The injury he sustained very early on in the play-off final in May 2025 could have ruined the day. Less than two minutes had passed when he landed awkwardly while clearing a ball, requiring him to leave the field of play. He didn’t disappear off to hospital; after getting his shoulder strapped up, he watched the rest of the game. When Eliezer Mayenda scored, off he went, running down the touchline right in front of me to join in the celebrations for the goal. The one-armed hug he gave Mayenda let us know that you couldn’t keep him out of it, despite the injury. When, following THAT Tommy Watson strike, we were promoted to the Premier League, there he was on the pitch with everyone else. He hasn’t been labelled “Mr Sunderland” for nothing.
There were doubts that the player who had come from the Ryman Premier, through the Conference to League Two, on to League One and then the Championship could possibly step up to the Premier League. Well, he can. And he did. Although he’s become more of a bit-part player in the Premier League, Luke still comes in and does a job for us whenever he’s needed. Granted, getting sent off five minutes after coming on against Manchester City wasn’t great, but it still is just Luke being Luke. Sometimes frustrating, sometimes superb, moments like the celebrations at the end of the Tyne-Wear derby make him the man he is. Brilliantly, he even asked Andy at the play-off final for a good Roker Report player rating despite having played only 70 seconds.
I’m writing this in the week that Luke O’Nien, still our club captain, led the team out for our first away fixture in European competition for 53 years. We won 2-1 against Torreense, in case you hadn’t heard. He’s also made the most appearances of anyone for Sunderland since we moved from Roker Park – 330 and counting – a period that’s spanned the last 30 years. There’s no telling where we go from here, but I wouldn’t bet on this being anywhere near the end of the Luke O’Nien story. Europa League winner? FA Cup-winning captain? Premier League winner? European Golden Boot? There’s not a lot you’d say was impossible for him. He’s been fighting all his life.