Can the Spartans Make Playoffs?

The Sunderland Spartans finish 2024 with a 2-1 record in the North Eastern 2 with sights set on a playoff spot in 2025.

The Spartans started the year with a 48-13 defeat to the Sheffield Sabres , followed by back-to-back victories over the York St John Jaguars 52-14 at home and 12-8 away putting the Spartans second in North Eastern 2.

The Sabres have a record of 3-0, putting them top of the table with the York Centurions in third with a record of 0-1 with the Jaguars sat bottom on 0-3.

This means that Sunderland must win just one of their last two fixtures of the season to make the playoffs with a home game against the Centurions and an away game against the Sabres to come next year, putting playoff chances in the hands of the Spartans.

However, if the Spartans are to lose their next two it means the Centurions would be able to leapfrog them into second place to make the playoffs themselves.

Whoever finishes in second would have a difficult playoff run ahead of them as they would be likely to play a second division winner.

It’s very likely that the Sabres will finish top of North Eastern 2 as they have shown no signs of slowing down their form. The Sabres were also tipped to be comfortable favourites to top the table at the start of the season by Sportank

As it stands, the Derby Braves hold the best record in division two, sat at 4-0 in Midlands 2 with four other teams holding a record of 3-0 with, including the Sheffield Sabres.

If the Spartans are to make the playoffs, it would be a meteoric rise from where they were last year as they finished the 2023/2024 season 0-7 with Quarterback Aaron Wall previously describing last season as “year zero”.

The Spartans almost folded and likely wouldn’t exist if Misba Islam hadn’t taken over as head coach, along with his backroom staff.

When asked about the difference the new coaching setup has made, vice president, Vithunya Chandrakanthan said: “Two seasons ago we faced a year where we had very little to no coaches, where players had to almost teach each other. We then started fresh when Misba came forward and was willing to put his time in to help a team he was once part of.

“With that, Misba knows the wider adult football community and built a coaching team of familiar faces with everyone bar one coach being an ex-player.

“This gives us the opportunity to have our own positional coaches as well as an offensive and defensive coordinator.”

The Spartans play the Sabres in Sheffield on January 26, with a date for their re-arranged home game against York Centurions unconfirmed.