Trae Hume: Early ‘anger and disappointment’ prompted the Sunderland defender to prove himself in England

Hume, who was named the 2025 Northern Ireland Player of the Year, believes there are “benefits” in joining the academy team at the earliest opportunity and making senior appearances in the Irish Premier League before making the move.

He added: “If you stay in the League of Ireland you will get to the first team faster and prove yourself.”

“When you get to 16, you can stumble between the first team and 21, but every path is different.

“It just depends on the character and behavior of the player who is doing it, and if you really think you deserve to play,” he added.

Hume’s own journey took him from the Irish Premier League to the Premier League in just four years, and he said the play-off win at Wembley and Sunderland’s start to the season in the Premier League made 2025 the “best year” of his career so far.

“Those moments [in the play-offs] He continued: “And reaching the English Premier League, the start we made and the number of matches I played, was truly a dream.”

“When I first signed in the January window [2022] We were second in League One and I signed hoping that I would play and we would win promotion.

“Obviously I had one of those things and I didn’t play as much as I wanted to.

“It was disappointing at the time, but I finally got a shot at the championship the following year and kept myself in the team and here we are a few years later. The journey has been amazing, and I couldn’t have imagined it any better.”