52 incredible photos of Sunderland fans celebrating play-off win over Coventry City - gallery

Sunderland - and their legion of fans - are heading to Wembley.

Dan Ballard’s late equaliser against Coventry City at the Stadium of Light secured a place at Wembley and the Championship play-off final against Sheffield United.

Ephron Mason-Clark’s goal in the second half levelled the tie and was fair reward for their endeavours, with Sunderland struggling to impose themselves on the game in the normal time.

The introduction of Chris Rigg and Romaine Mundle then helped turn the tide as Sunderland finished extra time with a significantly improved performance. Ballard then leapt highest from an Enzo Le Fee corner to send the Stadium of Light into delirium.

“It was absolutely fantastic,” head coach Regis Le Bris said. “To score this late in the game, with such an important equaliser, and to win the opportunity to play at Wembley is absolutely fantastic. You play football for these emotions, I think. Before that, it was a tough game - Coventry played really good football, I think.

“They were very strong, especially with the ball. They controlled the game. We were between two attitudes, I think. We wanted to protect our lead because we were 1-0 up after the first leg.”

Sunderland have been handed an allocation of 35,531 for their Championship play-off final against Sheffield United at Wembley.

Tickets will go on sale to season card holders at noon on Wednesday, May 14th. All season-card holders will be able to purchase one ticket, with the sale then moving to phase two on Friday, May 16th if any are remaining. In that phase, new 2025-26 season card holders and six-game package holders from this season will be eligible to purchase a ticket. The club have confirmed that tickets will only be available online.

Enjoy our photo gallery via Chris Fryatt, Getty Images and PA.