BORN ON THIS DAY: JOHN O'SHEA

Born on this day in 1981 is former Sunderland skipper, Champions League winner and multiple Premier League champion John O'Shea.

O'Shea was a serial winner at Manchester United. Twelve years in the North West yielded the following: five Premier League titles, a Champions League trophy, a FIFA Club World Cup, an FA Cup, two League Cups and four Community Shields. When he was negotiating his first Sunderland contract, he apparently insisted on there being a bonus for reaching a cup final. A fine example of his ambition and winning mentality, he did of course go on to captain the Lads to a 2014 trip to Wembley.

Although a centre half by trade, he was versatile and it wasn't unknown for him to play at right back. Sheasy once even filled in between the sticks when Edwin van Der Sar had to go off injured with a broken nose and all of the substitutes had been used! He kept a clean sheet and joked that he wanted van Der Sar's clean sheet bonus in his post-match interview.

Some argued that when he came to Wearside he was past his prime, but the defender's quality and experience proved valuable in those countless relegation dog-fights. It is no coincidence that when fit, John would be almost ever-present for Sunderland under every manager from Steve Bruce to Chris Coleman. A genuine leader both on and off the pitch.

He would score a rare and his final club goal against Derby County in a 4-1 win at Pride Park in 2018 which gave SAFC a glimmer of hope to avoid Championship relegation but it wasn't to be and O'Shea saw his second successive and only career relegations. He left at the end of the season, following his contract expiring and joined Reading. He would play a single season in Berkshire, adding eleven more appearances to take his career total to 684 games with 20 goals, before announcing his retirement on his 38th birthday. John saw out the season and received a guard of honour from all players in his final professional game.

His international career began in 2001 and ended in 2018. The Ireland legend picked up a staggering 118 caps for his country and was captain on plenty of occassions. Perhaps his highlight on the international stage was his 100th cap when he scored a last-minute equaliser away to Germany to earn a crucial point in qualifying for Euro 2016.

Since hanging up his boots, John has had a successful career in coaching. He's worked with the Republic of Ireland, both as assistant manager and caretaker, Stoke with Alex Neil (boo) and Birmingham City with Wayne Rooney.