Sunderland players returned to training on Wednesday for the start of pre-season, turning up in small groups at the Academy of Light for the first time since March.
With coronavirus causing the country to go into lockdown and the League One season to be curtailed, Sunderland's players were furloughed and have not trained together since mid-March.
But they returned in small groups as the Black Cats got pre-season under way - leaving themselves six-and-a-half weeks to prepare for the September 12 new season start date.
So what did we learn from the pictures and video from the club from pre-season day one? Here are some of the things we noticed.
The new normal
While Sunderland are able to return, they must do so with the ongoing global pandemic in mind.
In pictures and video from day one players were seen having their temperature checked as they arrived, while footballs were all disinfected throughout the session.
Sunderland returned in small groups although this is not uncommon at the start of pre-season as players undergo fitness tests. It will be interesting to see how quickly Sunderland feel comfortable in increasing the number of players training at any one time.
New training kits
This summer sees the start of Sunderland's new professional relationship with Nike, who are the club's new kit manufacturer.
Despite various mock-ups floating around online in recent days, we're still yet to have an official unveiling of next season's kits.
While we await those, we did get a first look at Sunderland in Nike with the smart new training gear modelled by the players on the training pitches.
It's good to be back
While the players will have no doubt been keeping in contact with one another, nothing quite beats face-to-face interaction.
That was evident as players and coaches all looked delighted to be back.
The fitness training in pre-season is always a footballers least favourite part of being a pro footballer, but you could see the excitement among players are they returned.
The club's Youtube video showed George Dobson in particular sounding excited to see his team-mates again. Meanwhile, pictures showed Chris Maguire giving Charlie Wyke and Lynden Gooch the elbow bump - 2020's answer to the handshake (remember those!?).
Grant Leadbitter's back
While for most it was a first time back since March, it was longer still for club captain Grant Leadbitter.
The 34-year-old took time away from the club last season to deal with personal issues, with the club's supporters showing their support in a heart-warming moment at Oxford as they sang his name from the away end.
It was great to see Leadbitter return to club duties as he was part of the first group in for training on Wednesday morning.
And taking to Instagram after, he posted pictures of himself in training with the caption: "Never give up. Small steps moving forward."
Plenty of running, but the football's are out too
As is usual for the first week or so of pre-season, there was plenty of running, with physical performance coach Nick Allamby tasked with getting the Black Cats players in shape for the start of the new season on September 12.
It wasn't all running though. There was plenty of work with the footballs, with that no doubt taking even more significance than usual pre-season summers, due to the four-month gap since they were last training as a group. Kicking the ball of your wall just isn't the same.
Phil Parkinson watching closely
There's an old iconic image of Roy Keane taking in a Sunderland training session sitting by the hill on top of a ball. His intense concentration on the finer details of what the players are producing is clear.
Parkinson might be a little more relaxed than the Irishman, but he was an interested spectator as his coaches put the players through their paces on day one of pre-season.
Parkinson stuck largely with the same starting XI as much as he could in the new year, but pre-season will see every player given a blank slate and a fresh chance to impress.
Signings are needed, and are coming at last
One day after the players returned for training Aiden O'Brien was revealed to be Sunderland's first signing of the summer - the versatile forward joining on a free after his release from Millwall.
It's just the start for what Parkinson hopes will be a busy summer, with Bailey Wright expected to be confirmed as a permanent signing soon.
The sooner more reinforcements arrive the better, because the training content highlighted how slim Sunderland's squad is looking right now.
Some youngsters involved
Elliot Embleton was heavily involved in training. Parkinson revealed before last season was curtailed that the exciting academy graduate was nearing a return from injury and was very much part of his first-team plans. It's a big season for him as he enters the final year of his current contract.
Anthony Patterson was seen working with Lee Burge and goalkeeper coach Lee Butler. As things stand, it's still expected they'll seek to send him out on loan next term though, as soon as a replacement for Jon McLaughlin is found.
Meanwhile, under-23 players Jake Hackett and Dan Neil were seen involved in day one of training.
Hackett was seen in pictures training alongside Denver Hume, George Dobson, Grant Leadbitter and Luke O'Nien. He spent five months on loan at Whitby Town last season and looks set to get an opportunity to impress.
Neil, meanwhile, has recently been linked with a move away from Wearside, but was spotted on the Youtube video the club put out.
Not seen on day one, but Brandon Taylor has also given Parkinson a boost by agreeing to a 12-month contract extension at the club. He will be expected to get an opportunity in pre-season, as will Jack Diamond who will return from his loan spell at Harrogate Town after playing in Sunday's National League play-off final at Wembley.
