The Sunderland majority owner reacted to the club’s promotion on Instagram the day after the game…
Sunderland co-owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus marked the club’s emotional return to the Premier League with a heartfelt tribute to his late father, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, in a touching Instagram post.
Just hours after Sunderland’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Sheffield United in the Championship play-off final at Wembley, Louis-Dreyfus posted a powerful black-and-white image of his father wearing an Olympique de Marseille shirt, standing pitchside at the French club he once owned. Alongside the photo, the caption read:
“Premier League. This one’s for you. Your love for the game lives on. We miss you.” Kyril Louis-Dreyfus wrote with a picture of his father posted to the Sunderland owner’s Instagram account on Sunday afternoon after the win the previous day at Wembley.
Robert Louis-Dreyfus was the majority owner of Marseille between 1996 and 2009 and helped rebuild the club during a challenging period. Kyril Louis-Dreyfus became Sunderland’s majority shareholder in 2022, aged just 23, and has since overseen a period of transformation at the Stadium of Light, helping to reshape the club’s infrastructure and identity alongside the club’s leadership. Under head coach Régis Le Bris, the Black Cats have defied expectations with one of the youngest squads in Championship history, culminating in a fairytale ending at Wembley.
What Régis Le Bris said about Sunderland’s stunning win
Teenager Tommy Watson etched his name into Sunderland folklore with a dramatic 95th-minute winner at Wembley, sealing promotion to the Premier League and breaking Sheffield United hearts in the Championship play-off final.
The 19-year-old, who will join Brighton & Hove Albion this summer, produced a moment of magic late on, cutting inside and curling a precise low strike beyond Michael Cooper to complete an unforgettable comeback and send the Black Cats back to the top flight for the first time since 2018. It was a stunning finale to a contest in which Sunderland had struggled to assert themselves for long spells, but Watson’s late heroics turned the tide and sparked wild celebrations among the red and white faithful.
“It’s a fantastic scenario for us, again,” Le Bris said. “Like the semi-final, just absolutely fantastic. Tough for the coaches and fans probably but again we showed strong character. Even when we were not dominant, even when we have struggled as a squad, we stay connected and stick to our plan. Then later in the game, you feel that maybe can change the momentum. This was the case today.
“We lost Luke early, and a substitution too. At the same time, I was comfortable to make this sub because we knew Meps was ready. He has been really impressive this season, as a player but also as a person and as a pro. When he came out of the team ahead of the semi finals, he told me, ‘I will stay connected with the group, don’t worry’. He showed today that this behaviour was really important for the squad. We switched him with Ballard because they targeted this side with Kieffer Moore, so we managed this.”
