OTD: JOHN OSTER DEBUT

On this day in 1999 John Oster made his debut for Sunderland in a 2-0 win over Watford, our first Premier League game played at the Stadium of Light. The English-born Wales international played for the lads until 2005 after signing from Everton.

Oster began his career as a youngster at Grimsby Town, making his debut in a 3-1 win at Charlton Athletic in 1996. However, the Mariners were relegated from the First Division and Oster was sold for a club record sale of £1.5 million. He was just 18-years-old and joined Everton having played just 25 times in his senior career. It was an ill-fated move, with Oster scoring just three goals in total and just one in the league.

After two years with the Toffees, making 40 appearances in total, Oster came to Wearside in 1999 with Peter Reid paying a fee of over £1 million. He was still just 20-years-old, so fans were expectant of a young player with an exciting future. Oster initially found his way into the first team, with fellow winger Allan Johnston in the middle of a dispute with the club and joining Rangers at the end of the season.

The young winger fell out of favour at Sunderland eventually but the team on the pitch was thriving and Oster could do little to change Reid’s mind and he had a brief loan spell to Barnsley in 2001. In 2002 he accidentally shot youth player Mark Maley in the eye with an air rifle, ending the youngster's career at 21-years-old. The pair reached an out-of-court settlement over the incident in 2007. Reid sent Oster on loan back to Grimsby, where he played regularly, although they were ultimately relegated.

Oster had one pretty successful season on Wearside, under Mick McCarthy in the Championship. The winger was made the focal point of Sunderland’s promotion campaign and even helped the lads reach an FA Cup semi-final.

In 2004 Oster was loaned out once again, this time to Leeds United. However, his loan spell was cut short after he was found guilty of misbehaving at Leeds’ Christmas party.

During the 2004/05 season, the winger was released by Sunderland, after he was arrested for assault outside a nightclub in Durham, and signed for Burnley briefly, before joining Reading in August 2005. He featured regularly for the Royals but was released in 2008 following their relegation from the Premier League. He went on to play some of his best football at Doncaster Rovers, making over 100 appearances in three years. Oster retired in 2015, after a spell under Edgar Davids at Barnet and then playing for Gateshead in the National League.

On the international stage, he was capped 13 times for Wales. Away from playing, he had a brief stint as the assitant manager of non league Whickham for a few months between 2019 and 2020.