OTD: CHRIS RIGG DEBUT

On this day in 2023, midfielder Chris Rigg made his debut for Sunderland aged just 15 in a 2-1 FA Cup win versus Shrewsbury Town.

Born in Hebburn, Rigg is actually a fan of our bitter rivals Newcastle United but despite this he joined our academy whilst at primary school. The attacking midfielder made his debut for our under-18s in 2021 aged just 14.

The 2022/23 campaign was the season that he was really brought to the attention of Sunderland fans though. Rigg was first named in a senior squad on New Years’ Day 2023, away to Blackpool, and then a few days later came off the bench away to Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup to make his debut at the age of 15. He made an immediate impact as well as one of his shots led to a corner that caused our equaliser late on in stoppage time. We’d go on to find another goal before the final whistle for a dramatic late turnaround and memorable debut. Of course, this caught the eye of the media and wider footballing world but it was in the fourth round away to Fulham that he really made headlines, albeit for an offside goal. With the game’s score against top-half Premier League opposition being 1-1 in the dying embers, most of the 6,000 Sunderland fans in attendance and those watching at home were more than happy with the performance and were content with it going to a replay. In the last minute, Rigg capitalised from a cross and sparked wild scenes in the away end but unfortunately it wasn’t to be and it was chalked off for an offside. Videos of this goal were shared widely on social media and Tony Mowbray was asked about playing a 15-year-old against top flight opposition. Mowbray was adamant that it wasn’t a publicity stunt and that he was just good enough to play. He made one more appearance for the first team that season, coming off the bench for the replay against Fulham which we lost 3-2. Academy wise, Rigg made his debut for the under-21s during this season as well so it was important on multiple fronts.

Pre-season 2023-24 was a good time for the now 16-year-old, he scored a late winner against South Shields and the opener in a 3-1 win against San Antonio in Texas and overall he made a great case for himself to be included more in the first team, which is exactly what he would go on to do in the end. Rigg would make 22 appearances across the Championship and League Cup in total and he chipped in with three goals. His first ever senior goal was an equaliser versus Crewe Alexandra to take the game to penalties in the first round of the EFL Cup. He’d find another early on into the season by taking advantage of some wonderful work by Jewison Bennette to score our fifth in a 5-0 romping of recently relegated Southampton at the Stadium of Light. These strikes made him the youngest ever goalscorer for Sunderland in both the league and League Cup and also the youngest goalscorer in League Cup history. His third and final goal provided the one and only bright spark as we slumped to a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Blackburn Rovers. It was a terrible season for Sunderland but a fantastic one individually for Chris Rigg.

In the 2024/25 season, he featured in 47 of our 51 competitive games with highlights including a winning goal at home to Middlesbrough via a backheel flick at a difficult angle and assisting the winner away to Swansea City as we came back from two goals down to win 3-2. In total, he managed four goals and one assist. Those goals mean he has now surpassed Gareth Bale's record for most goals scored in the Championship prior to turning 18 years old. He came off of the bench in both legs of the play-off semi final against Coventry City and then started in the final against Sheffield United as we earned promotion to the Premier League.

With an abundance of new midfielders joining the club in the 2025 summer transfer window, in a bid to ensure our survival in the Premier League, it was pretty accepted that Rigg's game time would be more limited than in the previous season. Still, at the time of writing, he's played 10 games this campaign and started against Huddersfield Town in the League Cup and Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brighton and Hove Albion and Leeds United in the league. Given the players ahead of him in the pecking order, that's pretty good going. Still aged just 18, his involvement is sure to only increase as time goes on. If game time does become too scarce for his liking, he could go out on loan too but a season away from frontline action largely might help him in the long run by preventing burnout.

His international career is burgeoning as well, he’s been capped at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19 level so far for England. He’s captained the under-16s, under-17s and under-18s and represented the under-17s at both a World Cup and a European Championship.