Sunderland will begin their new Europa League campaign this evening in Leiria, Portugal, nearly 50 years after their last European outing ended in Lisbon. This season’s journey starts about 90 miles north of the Portuguese capital due to the unusual circumstances surrounding their opponents, Torreense.

Torreense, a second-tier Portuguese team, earned their spot in the Europa League by surprising many in the Portuguese Cup, where they defeated the reigning champions Sporting. However, their home ground in Torres Vedras is considered too small to host a European fixture, prompting the relocation of the match to Leiria’s larger stadium.

Ahead of the match, Sunderland’s squad, led by manager Regis Le Bris, arrived in Portugal via private jet and checked into a luxury hotel in Lisbon. Alongside them, a significant number of Sunderland supporters, known as “Mackems,” traveled for the occasion, marking a departure from the more modest circumstances of the club’s previous European involvement.

One of the players, Micky Horswill, who was part of Sunderland’s continental campaigns in the early 1970s, shared reflections on his experiences. Horswill recounted a vivid memory from his first European match, a 2-0 victory in Hungary against Vasas. He described the surprise of seeing his grandmother, Phyllis, unexpectedly arrive to watch the game, despite never having traveled outside their home village of Annfield Plain before. He credited his often hard-working family for making the trip possible.

Horswill noted how unfamiliar they were with European teams at the time, saying there was no opportunity for detailed scouting or prior knowledge of their opponents. Their preparation relied largely on assessing players on the field, with particular attention paid to potential key figures during matches.

He also shared personal anecdotes about his family’s support, contrasting his mother’s reluctance to watch him play—walking out during early scrapes on the field—with his grandmother’s dedicated following of his career. Horswill praised Bob Stokoe, Sunderland’s legendary manager during that era, while suggesting Le Bris could become the club’s greatest manager should he guide the team as far as Aston Villa did in their recent Europa League run.

“If this guy can get us into the final or somewhere near, it would be a great run. These are the heroes now,” Horswill said, emphasizing the high hopes for the current squad’s campaign in continental competition.