Little over three years ago Trai Hume was preparing to make the switch from the Irish League to League One. Sunderland had seen enough from the fullback in just 18 months of senior football in Northern Ireland that the Linfield academy graduate had a bright future ahead of him Fast forward to 2025 and Hume is heading to the Premier League with the Black Cats following their dramatic Championship play-off final win over Sheffield United last month. For Hume it's set to be a massive few months for both club and country as he prepares to go toe-to-toe with the best in the business both in the English top flight and in the World Cup qualifiers. "For me, my journey is probably a lot different to a lot of people," said the 23-year-old. "I missed out on going across the water at 16 years of age. I didn't get picked by a lot of clubs and was told I wasn't ready, and things like that. "I came through at Linfield, got pushed into the first-team set up pretty quickly, and I had to adapt to that. "When I went on loan to Ballymena I did very well, came back to Linfield and played there for six months. "Whenever I first moved over to Sunderland they gave me time to adapt and get ready, and whenever I was ready to play I had my chance and thankfully took it. Now I am where I am, and I want to keep on pushing. "For me, it's a dream come true to get my chance to play in the Premier League. "If I'm being honest with you, the couple of days after it probably didn't really hit me, because I was under the consumption of a lot of alcohol. "But, you know, it's one of those moments where you've just got to enjoy it with your team-mates, your friends, your family, and just relish the moment. "It's been a lot of hard work down the years but I've finally got where I want to be. Obviously, next year I've got to work harder to enjoy it even more." Hume knows it will be a tough test for a young Sunderland squad especially given the record of the promoted teams from the Championship in the past two seasons. "It's going to be difficult. No one goes up and wants to come straight back down, but obviously in the past two years, the six teams that have gone up have tried to stay there and they haven’t been able to do that," said Hume. "So, you know, it will be tough, but like I said before, we've got a great togetherness in the team and whenever we do go through tough times we keep the level ahead and try to stick to the job at hand and stay together. "I think that’s all you can really do. We’ll try our best to stay in the Premier League and keep the club where it belongs."
I’ve said it many times, the best thing about a Trai special for me is the utterly emotionless walk away. Stone cold. Never crosses his mind to check the oppo still has both legs attached. Huuuuuuuuuume
I remember watching him for the u21s (or was it the u23 at that time?) shortly after he signed, he played right wing and looked poor, funny how things work out, eh?
Rumour has it he was subbed off because Hume made him **** himself.... Love this image, I call it "The Aftermath".
Hearing premier league left wingers and full backs have been ordering custom made kevlar shin pads for the upcoming season He's going to ruffle a few feathers that's for sure!
