OTD: PATTO BORN

Born on this day in the year 2000 is our current number one and local lad, Anthony Patterson.

He’s been with the club since the academy and made his way up the ranks, making his debut for the first team in the EFL Trophy in November 2020 against Fleetwood. We lost that game 2-1 but the experience gained will have gone a long way.

In 2021 he signed a new contract extension taking him until 2023 with the option of another year. Later that year he went on loan to Notts County after we signed Ron-Thorben Hoffmann from Bayern Munich on loan. However, he was only at Notts County until January because he was recalled due us suffering injuries to our keepers at the time.

When he first stepped on the pitch you could see some nerves, as you would expect from a 21-year-old playing for his hometown club with promotion on the line. His first game back was at Wycombe, infamous for their physically imposing style of play. They definitely targetted Patto, loading the box during set pieces and blocking him on corners. Over the course of the season, though, he became more and more comfortable and looked like a really promising keeper for us. So much so that once our former first choice keepers came back to fitness, Alex Neil was still selecting Patto in between the sticks.

The shot stopper was now firmly established as our number one. His save against Oxford was sensational. Patterson of course won promotion with Sunderland in the 21/22 campaign, and his save against Sam Vokes in our play-off final victory against Wycombe was crucial in ensuring we'd go up.

The academy graduates stellar performances granted him the opportunity to be Sunderland's number one for the 22/23 campaign. He played every Championship game of the 2022/23 season as we successfully qualified for the play-offs once more. He was also awarded the North East Football Writers’ Association Young Player of the Year for 2022.

In that season, Gareth Southgate was reportedly keeping tabs on him for the England squad and he made his debut for England U21s in June 2023 against Japan.

Since then, it's admittedly been more of a mixed bag for Patto. He still pulls off great saves and is reliable between the sticks, but we've seen the odd error - particularly when it comes to distribution and also command of the box. However, right now he seems to be confident again and it's always great to see local lads from the North East smashing it in the first team. Happy birthday, Patto!