AliousKristjaan Speakman, Sunderland’s Sporting Director, earned well-deserved praise for a compassionate decision he made in 2023 regarding a former player, a move that still resonates amid the club’s thriving 2024/25 Championship campaign.
Currently sitting fourth in the table, Sunderland appear poised for a play-off spot—a dramatic turnaround from the struggles of the previous season.
Under Regis Le Bris’ predecessor, the Black Cats limped to a 16th-place finish, plagued by managerial instability and a lack of drive within a youthful squad. Much of the blame fell on Speakman, whose choices at the time didn’t always yield success. Yet, one action from 2023 stands out as a testament to his character and leadership.
Mitchell Curry, a former Sunderland player, shed light on Speakman’s generosity in an interview that year. Curry’s journey since leaving Wearside has been unconventional. After limited first-team action—logging just 15 minutes in the 2020/21 League One season despite a prolific U21 record of seven goals in 10 games—he crossed the Atlantic to join Inter Miami’s development squad, a far cry from the North East.
Following two years in the U.S., which included a stint with Hartford, Curry returned to England without a club. It was then that he turned to Speakman and first-team coach Michael Proctor for support.
As recounted to the Sunderland Echo in 2023, Curry explained: “Not many know this, but when I came back from Miami, I contacted Kristjaan Speakman and Proc to ask if I could train with Sunderland for a few weeks.
They welcomed me with open arms—what I thought would be a short stint turned into three months. They were incredible. Later, after Hartford, I reached out again, and Kristjaan didn’t hesitate to say yes, even though he had no obligation.
I ended up staying even longer.” Curry went on to express his gratitude: “I barely played for Sunderland, but they let me use the facilities, train, hit the gym, and even eat there. Without that, I’d have been stuck at a local park. They gave me a professional lifeline.”
Now playing for Whitby Town in the seventh tier after a recent move from Darlington Town, Curry’s career has taken him far from the Stadium of Light. Yet Speakman’s decision reflects a broader shift at Sunderland. Under past ownership, like Stewart Donald’s cost-cutting era, such generosity toward an ex-player might have been unthinkable.
Since Kyril Louis-Dreyfus took the reins, however, the club has embraced a more supportive ethos, with Speakman at the helm of football operations.
For Curry, those opportunities to train at Sunderland likely played a crucial role in keeping his career alive, leaving him with a lasting positive impression of a club that went above and beyond.
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