Sunderland ’til I Die: Ex-head coach reveals truth about being a manager during filming

Former Sunderland head coach Simon Grayson has opened up on managing the club during the filming of hit Netflix documentary Sunderland ’til I Die.

The fly-on-the-wall show documents the club’s trials and tribulations on and off the pitch, but also highlights their impact on non-football staff, fans and the wider community.

Season One documented their relegation from the Championship in 2017/18 before Season Two documented their bid to win promotion from League One the following year.

The show returns to Netflix on Tuesday (February 13), with Season Three picking up the story in the 2021/22 campaign with Sunderland looking to finally win promotion from League One at the fourth time of asking.

What was it like on the other side of the camera?

Grayson was the club’s manager at the beginning of the 2017/18 campaign and inherited a side that had just been relegated from the Premier League.

With a major squad overhaul needed that summer and turmoil off the field as Ellis Short’s ownership at the club was entering its final year, what was it like for Grayson to try and work under the watchful eye of the Netflix cameras?

“They tried to do it the season before I got there and I think David Moyes stopped it,” Grayson exclusively told Dexerto, on behalf of Bitcoin Casinos. “When I got there after Preston it was already agreed ahead of that season.

Simon Grayson was talking to Dexerto about his time in charge of Sunderland

“The outcome they wanted from the documentary was for them to win promotion back to the Premier League but it didn’t go the way thought it would.

“It was just one of those things that you had to put up with. I couldn’t stop it from happening but I stopped a few things from going out that I didn’t want to be made public.

“The cameras were never allowed in the dressing room, they didn’t come to training too much, because there are certain elements of a football dressing room people don’t need to know about.

“What goes on in the dressing room stays there at times. It wasn’t easy but when these documentaries come out, it’s about how they are produced as well.”

Grayson’s tenure at Sunderland was short-lived. He lasted just 18 games in charge and Sunderland only won one of their opening 15 league matches.

The documentary shows former chief executive Martin Bain take the decision to sack Grayson in the aftermath of a 3-3 draw at home to Bolton Wanderers in October 2017.

However, Grayson was still contracted to film the documentary for the rest of that season and has revealed he had to film scenes after his sacking where he had to act as if he was still Sunderland manager.

“It depends how people perceive you,” he added. “I did an interview that came out and it was on the documentary. People presumed I was doing a presentation on a flip chart an hour and a half before kick-off.

“It was done five hours before a pre-season match and we were doing bullet points reminding the players of what were key elements of the season.

“When I left I was still contracted to do the documentary and they told me to turn up with three different shirts at a hotel in London and did three different interviews as if it was three different months of the season.

“People say I didn’t look too enthusiastic on those interviews. You aren’t going to speak highly of a club that sacked you two months ago.

“I remember watching us score at Norwich and they panned it to me at the bench and I’m sitting on the gold seats at Hull City. Little things like that aren’t great but I don’t disagree with them doing it.”

But while the editing process left Grayson frustrated, he does feel these fly on the wall documentaries hold huge value for football supporters.

“They are a real insight for supporters because you are seeing things you will never see behind the scenes,” he added. “I agree they are a good way to do it but it just depends how they are produced.

“Fulwell 73 were Sunderland supporters but it wasn’t a club documentary. I’m not having a go at Fulwell 73 because they are Sunderland supporters, they can make it out however they want it to be.”

Season three of Sunderland ’til I Die begins on Netflix on Tuesday, February 13.