Trai Hume was thrilled to prove Sunderland's doubters wrong as they sensationally snatched a spot in the Europa League on the final day of the Premier League season. 

Sunderland jumped up to seventh on Sunday after beating fellow European hopefuls Chelsea 2-1 at the Stadium of Light, with the Blues also seeing Wesley Fofana sent off. 

The Black Cats led in the 25th minute when Hume volleyed in at Robert Sanchez's near post before Malo Gusto's own goal doubled their advantage early in the second half. 

Chelsea hit back through Cole Palmer's 56th-minute strike, but Fofana saw red six minutes later, as Sunderland held on to spark wild scenes on Wearside at full-time. 

Sunderland ended their first campaign back in the top flight since 2017 on 54 points, the most by a newly-promoted team since Leeds United in 2020-21 (59), while their seventh-place finish is the best by a newly-promoted side since Wolves in 2018-19 (also seventh). 

But, more importantly, European football is back in Sunderland for the first time since 1973-74, just four years after they were playing in the third tier of English football. 

Hume, who joined the club in 2022, has been a pivotal part of their rise through the ranks, and he could not believe what he and his team had achieved this season. 

A steward came and tried to show us the other scores on his phone but the 4G didn't work, but then we found out we had done it," Hume told BBC Match of the Day.

"It hasn't sunk in yet. Coming up to the start of the season, nobody gave us a chance to stay up, let alone Europe.

"We've worked our socks off and fully deserve that. A special mention to the fans who are the heartbeat of the club, and they have been through some tough times.

"We work really hard throughout the week. The fans are amazing, and they gave us the extra boost. This is their home, and we go out and work our socks off for them.

"Last year was emotional for me as it was a dream to play in the Premier League.

"I didn't think we could get here and make Europe, but we have done it. We will give it everything next season."

Sunderland are also one of just three sides that did not lose a single Premier League game when scoring first in 2025-26 (P13 W8 D5), alongside Michael Carrick's Manchester United and Vitor Pereira's Nottingham Forest.

And one of the key components to their success was Granit Xhaka, who returned to England with the Black Cats from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, and he played a crucial role against Chelsea to get his team over the line. 

Xhaka finished with team-high totals for accurate passes (44), passes in the final third (20) and crosses (six), and he echoed the thoughts of Hume at full time. 

"I have no words, it's unbelievable what we did this season," Xhaka added.

"Week-by-week, day-by-day, hard work, belief, commitment from everyone at the club, I'm so thankful we achieved something nobody believed.

"We knew at home everything is possible. We had to do our job first and then [see] what others are doing."