Luke O’Nien delivers inspirational message after making landmark Sunderland appearance in Sheff Wed win
The Sunderland stalwart celebrated making his 300th appearance in Friday’s win against Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
There were emotional scenes in the away dressing room at Hillsborough as Sunderland stalwart Luke O’Nien was honoured for making his 300th Black Cats appearance.
Surrounded by his team-mates as they celebrated their hard-earned 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday, the former Wycombe Wanderers defended was handed a framed home shirt with his name and the number 300 printed on the back. Since moving to Wearside during the summer of 2018, O’Nien has seen it all after helping the Black Cats to promotion into the Championship with a play-off final win against his old club Wycombe and was part of the side that lifted the Papa Johns Trophy with a 1-0 Wembley win against Tranmere Rovers.
After working under seven permanent Black Cats managers, O’Nien remains a trusted figure under current boss Regis Le Bris, who paid his own tribute to the versatile defender in the aftermath of Friday night’s win.
He told the club website: “Luke brings energy, first and foremost. If we were to define Luke, that would be a perfect word. He wants to learn, and even after 300 appearances for the Club, he still has that desire to improve. He’s a role model and always connected to the team. His behaviour has a really positive impact on our young squad, especially when you consider how we want to work every day and continue to improve. Luke is a great example of the learning process every footballer must go through.”
