SIMON GRAYSON’S prominent position in Leeds United history has been cemented by his presence on a series of commemorative banners hung outside Elland Road this summer – now the Sunderland boss wants to achieve a similar level of acclaim at the Stadium of Light.

Bedale-bred Grayson was born and raised as a Leeds fan, and spent four seasons in charge of the West Yorkshire club, leading them to promotion from League One in the 2009-10 season.

The success has seen his image included alongside those of Don Revie and Howard Wilkinson on a new series of ‘legends flags’ outside Leeds’ home ground, and while he admits his dismissal from the club still rankles, he was proud to learn of his presence alongside such legendary bosses.

His family remain staunch Leeds fans, but any lingering fondness for his former club will be well and truly forgotten this afternoon when Sunderland host them at the Stadium of Light.

Grayson is fully committed to his new employers, and while his rebuilding job on Wearside remains at an extremely formative stage, he is hoping he will eventually be held in similar regard at Sunderland to the way he is remembered at Leeds.

“Leeds is a big part of my life, and I was successful there,” said the Black Cats boss, who has no new injury problems to contend with this afternoon. “I went there this week to watch their game against Fulham and they have started putting pictures on the outside and it was nice to see my picture there next to Don Revie and Howard Wilkinson.

“That’s how highly regarded you are as a manager and a person there. Hopefully, in another ten years, there might be something like that up here as well.

“I had heard it mentioned they were doing that, and it’s a nice thing for them to do. But there is no statue there yet! Maybe here one day…”

There is no bust of Grayson at Elland Road, but there is a statue of Bob Stokoe outside the Stadium of Light, commemorating one of the most famous days in Sunderland’s history, and one of the most painful in Leeds’.

The 1973 FA Cup final remains a landmark event for both clubs, and while Grayson is too young to remember the game itself given he was only four when Ian Porterfield sent Sunderland supporters into dreamland, it was rammed down his neck on a regular enough basis as he was growing up in North Yorkshire.

“The first few days I was shown around the club, I said I was going to take all the pictures of that game down,” said Grayson. “That’s a tongue-in-cheek joke by the way, I don’t want anyone to misquote me!

“Even when I saw Jimmy Montgomery, I said, ‘I will never forgive you for that save’. It’s just part and parcel of the history of these two great football clubs – a great day for Sunderland supporters and a disappointing one for Leeds, but that was a few years ago now.”

While Sunderland are reacclimatising themselves to the Championship after a ten-year spell in the top-flight, it is now 13 years since Leeds were last in the Premier League.

They have recovered from their spell in League One, but their inability to reclaim a place in the top-flight underlines just how difficult it is for former giants to re-establish themselves after a fall from grace.

The likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest have spent an equally-long spell outside the Premier League, while Aston Villa currently find themselves in the Championship relegation zone, and Grayson accepts Sunderland cannot expect to simply breeze back into the top tier.

“Just because you are a big club, a big name with a big following, it doesn’t give you any guarantees,” he said. “Although if you can get things going, it certainly helps, as I found out at Leeds.

“We got close, but since then they have had a lot of negativity, a lot of change of managers, and no consistency. It’s all about getting that consistency.

“I’m sure if you asked a lot of supporters, they would like to see Sunderland and Leeds back in there (the Premier League), because of the sheer size of the clubs and the fan base. But neither club at this moment in time has the divine right to do that because we are in the Championship competing against all the other clubs as well.”

Sunderland’s promotion prospects would be enhanced if they were able to make another two or three signings before the transfer window closes, but while there is interest in Robert Snodgrass, the Black Cats will struggle to put together a financial package for the West Ham United midfielder.

Snodgrass has been told he is free to leave West Ham this month on either a loan deal or a permanent transfer, and having worked with the 29-year-old during his time at Leeds United, Grayson is keen to be reunited at the Stadium of Light.

There has been contact between the two clubs, but Sunderland are not currently in a position to make a formal move.

Snodgrass cost West Ham £7m when he moved from Hull City in January, and is understood to be earning around £70,000-a-week at the London Stadium.

“When people like him (Snodgrass) become available, you would be foolish not to consider it,” said Grayson. “Again, that would be a deal dictated by finances. Can we do it? Who knows, but we might ask the question.”