
Only two Atkinsons have ever played for Sunderland, and they share a birthday!
BRIAN
Former Sunderland defender Brian Atkinson was born in County Durham on this day in 1971. He made 169 appearances for the lads and was part of the side that lost to Liverpool in the 1992 F.A. Cup final. He played for 13 years and made just shy of 400 league and cup appearances in his career. He was capped six times at u-21 level for England and was part of the squad that won the prestigious Toulon tournament in 1991.
He made his Sunderland debut in 1989 against Plymouth Argyle in the cup in front of a meagre Roker Park crowd of 8,003, the second-lowest post-war attendance. And as those supporters were filtering through the turnstiles they might have missed Atkinson putting the ball in the net two minutes in, though an offside call ruled it out. He held his own in the midfield on his debut and we triumphed 2-1 courtesy of a Gordon Armstrong brace. He was a highly rated player and won a Supporters’ Association Young Player of the Season Award but injuries, as well as the form of Paul Bracewell and the signing of Steve Agnew meant that his first team opportunities were restricted.
In 1996, Atkinson dropped down the leagues in order to play for Carlisle United but only made a few appearances before he moved permanently to his home-town club, Darlington. He played for the club for six years and finished his career in 2002. After that, Atkinson spent his time involved with north east football and became assistant manager of County Durham sides Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor, before moving back to Darlo as assistant in 2012 as the club reformed in non-league as Darlington 1888.
After several years with Darlington and a stint with York City as an analyst, Brian returned to the Northern League as assistant manager. His coaching experience beyond his roles as assistant including work with Darlington’s Centre of Excellence and also at ex-Sunderland player Martin Gray’s Football Academy. He has over a decade of experience working within colleges, teaching sport, whilst also managing and is currently manager of West Auckland FC. He already has worked there as assistant, overseeing the teams rise from the Durham Alliance League to the Ebac Northern League Division One and he was also involved in their 2010-11 Division Two championship winning campaign.
He must have a deep love for the North of England, having never left it as a player or manager, which is something entirely commendable – never too far away from a panackelty or pink slice. Despite his Sunderland career never really getting off the ground, he has enjoyed a long career in north-eastern football and is a non-league stalwart as a coach to this day.
PAUL
Also born this day, this time in 1966 in Chester-le-Street, is Paul Atkinson who excelled as a youngster and joined us from Pelton Boys Club as an associate schoolboy in 1981. A childhood Sunderland fan, he made his first-team debut in the Gore Trophy on the Isle of Man, scoring against an Isle of Man XI on August 5th 1983. He’d have appeared a day earlier, but the ferry broke down, meaning that we were stuck in Lancashire along with St Mirren and Burnley. A tricky, pacey winger, Paul emerged as our star or the tournament as he followed up that 5-1 win with the only goal in the 36th minute against Burnley. He repeated the feat, again in the 36th minute, in the final against St Mirren as we took the trophy home and had a potential star in our ranks, aged only 17.
He made his league debut, alongside Paul Bracewell, in a 1-1 draw at home to Norwich on the opening day of the 83-84 season, but didn’t turn professional until November, not long after scoring his first goal, against Wolves. Already an England Youth player (eventually amassing 18 caps), he ended the season with that single goal in eight appearances, and over the following three campaigns played 40 games as the club suffered two relegations in three seasons. In the 87-88 campaign, he was a crucial member of the squad that roared out of Division Three at the first time of asking, scoring five times in 28 games.
However, that was his last campaign in the stripes, as we sold him to Port Vale for a paltry £20,000 in the summer of 1988. He started life in Burslem at an impressive pace, scoring three times in four league games before disaster struck, as he suffered an injury which would ultimately end his career. Over the three seasons he was there, he managed only six games despite attempts at recuperation via loans at Stafford United in early 1989 and Hartlepool a year later. His eleven appearances for Pools proved to be his last in the professional game, as medical advice forced his retirement in 1991, aged only 25. There followed a brief spell at Gateshead before the boots were put away for good, but Paul has remained a Sunderland fan who is immensely proud of his 76 appearances and seven goals for the Lads.