Ellis Short was in the directors’ box, wearing the smile of a billionaire along with his red-and-white club tie. Sitting beside him was his son, also called Ellis – and before you ask, yes, they are American – who had been mascot for a day that began with trepidation, ended with Sunderland vanquished but safe, the departure of Ricky Sbragia as manager and the onset of a new era.

Short’s position as Sunderland’s sole owner will be confirmed this week, an arrangement that officially concludes the Drumaville Consortium’s three-year stewardship at the Stadium of Light. Short is an Irish-Texan businessman who means business; already he is promising a new management structure of international repute and that nervous final days such as these will never again be endured.

Wealth is no guarantee of success, of course – Mike Ashley, for one, can attest to that – but Short already has a solid mix of football and enterprise in the boardroom (where Niall Quinn will remain as chairman) and, unlike his counterpart at Newcastle United, he recognises that a club’s regeneration cannot be achieved on the cheap. Wearside is set for another hectic summer.

The process of recruiting a manager to succeed Sbragia – the Scot will consider a recruitment role at the club and, says Quinn, “has a job for life” – is yet to start, although some names can be ruled out of the running. Neither Steve McClaren, the former England head coach, nor Gordon Strachan, at Celtic, are under consideration. Before his move from Alkmaar to Bayern Munich, Louis van Gaal was a target.

“We haven’t sat down to think about a manager, never mind set up a list,” Quinn said. “But we do need a big name here and someone who will change the mentality of that dressing room. We haven’t got a timescale. We are a massive football club and we need a big man to take on the mantle, to handle the pressure, the task of taking a big club forward. We’ll stop at nothing to ensure this club gets to where it has to go.”

It will be a long journey. Immunity from relegation was celebrated vigorously – as it should be – but Sunderland claimed only a single victory from their last 13 matches and only three in Sbragia’s 19 fixtures as permanent manager. Newcastle’s downfall brought further revelry, yet Quinn and Short’s vision for the club does not encompass frantic supporters clutching radios to their ears late into May.

Short, who was a minority shareholder at the time, invested more than £30 million last summer on players such as Anton Ferdinand, Pascal Chimbonda, El-Hadji Diouf, George McCartney and Steed Malbranque, who have variously disappointed, been injured or been sold, and many of the others have not lived up to their own self-inflated reputations.

“It’s been an incredibly emotional day,” Quinn said. “Ensuring we stayed up was absolutely massive and gives us a new lease of life to build on in the future. Ricky had the guts to take over at a very difficult time when we were already in the bottom three and unexpectedly left without a manager. He’s achieved the goal we set him and the implications of that are absolutely enormous.”

“My decision was all about Sunderland and allowing them to take the next step and get a bigger name, it’s as simple as that,” Sbragia said. “My brief was to keep the club up and we’ve done that, so I’m delighted. It’s not about me. I spoke to Niall about it yesterday. It’s about time we changed the mentality of the club in general, moved up the table and became a force in the Premier League.”

Chelsea, too, have reached the end of an era. This was Guus Hiddink’s last league game in the dugout for Chelsea, although there is a small matter of next weekend’s FA Cup Final to come. Frank Lampard – missing in the Barclays Premier League for the first time this season – will return from a minor knee injury at Wembley, as will Alex. Juliano Belletti was substituted with a thigh complaint.

As it transpired, the match itself was an entertaining irrelevance – Damien Duff’s own goal for Newcastle was hailed as loudly as anything else. Nicolas Anelka’s 47th-minute screamer brought him the division’s Golden Boot and Kieran Richardson equalised before Salomon Kalou and Ashley Cole took Chelsea out of sight. In the final seconds, Kenwyne Jones scored with a fine glancing header.

“I have enjoyed every moment of it,” Hiddink, the interim manager, said. “I have now seen the Premier League from the outside and the inside and I will miss it. It’s the most attractive league in the world, along with Spain’s. I have been at a great club, a great organisation. Chelsea has a good squad and team, but they must improve in depth because to compete on three roads, you need quality all over the place.”

Sunderland (4-2-3-1): M Fulop 6 P Bardsley 6 A Ferdinand 5 C Davenport 5 D Collins 7 D Whitehead 5 T Tainio 6 S Malbranque 7 K Richardson 6 G Leadbitter 7 K Jones 6 Substitutes: A Reid 6 (for Tainio, 65min), D Healy (for Malbranque, 78), D Murphy (for Richardson, 87). Not used: C Edwards, D Cissé, P McShane, N Colgan.

Chelsea (4-3-3): P Cech 4 B Ivanovic 5 J Terry 6 J Bosingwa 6 A Cole 7 M Essien 6 J Belletti 4 J O Mikel 6 D Drogba 6 N Anelka 7 F Malouda 7 Substitutes: M Ballack 6 (for Belletti, 27min), S Kalou 6 (for Essien, 65), M Mancienne (for Mikel, 78). Not used: Hilário, F Di Santo, S Sinclair, M Stoch.

Referee M Halsey Attendance 42,468

Players of the season

Sunderland Kieran Richardson

Selected by England too early, Richardson, 24, is finally producing consistently fine performances in central midfield.

Chelsea Frank Lampard

Arguably the best Premier League player this season. Kept Chelsea going almost single-handedly through their mid-season crisis.