OTD: DAVID VAUGHAN BORN

David Vaughan first played in a Sunderland shirt on this day in 2011. He made 59 appearances for the club and scored three goals; one more memorable than the other two of course.

Vaughan began his career at Crewe Alexandra, where he made just shy of 200 appearances across the First Division (latterly the Championship) and the Second Division (latterly League One). Dario Gradi was into his unprecedented 17th year as Crewe manager when Vaughan made his first appearance for the club, way back in 2000. At this point, Gradi's side were very much a yo-yo team, gaining promotion to the Championship and then succumbing to relegation the following season pretty cyclically. Crewe’s business model involved promoting youth players to the first team and reaping the profit when a bigger club came in for them. Before Vaughan himself was moved on, players like Danny Murphy, Dean Ashton and Seth Johnson were also sold for decent money. Apparently this way of running a club was commendable as Crewe were named the "Most Admired Club" in the 2006 Football League Awards, despite suffering another relegation to the third tier.

Gradi turned the Welshman from a full back to a left midfielder and this change meant he added goals to his game. Crewe could depend on Vaughan to contribute around five goals a season in either league and he proved reliable if not outstanding. This would prove to be the most productive part of his career in terms of goals as he scored 18 league goals for Crewe and two more in cups, notably including the first goal in an 8-0 Football League Trophy drubbing of Doncaster Rovers and his first ever senior goal against Rotherham United in the FA Cup. In 2007, Vaughan left for Spain, joining Real Sociedad in a reported £300,000 deal.

It was possibly the Welsh connection which made the move possible, with future Sunderland manager Chris Coleman bringing his compatriot over from England. The move didn’t work out and when Coleman resigned, Vaughan struggled for minutes. Overall, he only made nine appearances and scored a solitary goal for the Spanish side.

Vaughan moved back to England after his sojourn in Spain and became Blackpool’s tenth summer signing in 2008, under another future Sunderland manager, Simon Grayson. Blackpool struggled in Vaughan’s first season but in the following campaign, Vaughan was a key part of the Blackpool team that achieved promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history. They had not played in the top flight of English football since 1971. Ian Holloway’s side finished sixth and won the play-offs, beating Cardiff City in the final and achieving the surprise promotion. Vaughan got one goal in the league and one in the League Cup that season.

Blackpool were only in the Premier League for one season but they were always entertaining to watch, no matter whether they were getting hammered or pulling off the occasional shock win. As ever, Holloway’s press conferences were good viewing. Vaughan’s decent performances went under the radar because of the form of Charlie Adam. After enjoying life in the Premier League, both Vaughan and Adam were reluctant to leave and the two left Blackpool within hours of each other, for Sunderland and Liverpool respectively.

Steve Bruce signed Vaughan on a free almost immediately after we had completed the transfers of both Wes Brown and John O'Shea. The additions of Craig Gardner and Sebastian Larsson in the same window meant that the midfield was pretty crowded and Vaughan was a bit-part player for us initially. He played his first match for the Lads on the opening day of the season, coming off the bench against Liverpool . His debut was very much overshadowed by another midfield debut, that of Sebastian Larsson who scored a brilliant goal in the 1-1 draw at Anfield. Vaughan, however, would shine a few games later in our first victory of the season against Stoke City. After a string of games on the bench, he put in a Man of the Match performance in our 4-0 win.

His first goal for the club was a brilliant one, a screamer from 25 yards at home to Blackburn Rovers, a goal which the goalkeeper had no hope of saving at all. His second goal was brilliant too, outside the box the ball fell to him and he arrowed it into the top corner in a 4-1 away win against Wigan Athletic. In fact, each goal he scored for us was brilliant and his third and final one is the pick of the bunch. Away at St James’ Park, and already 2-0 up, Stephane Sessegnon teed up Vaughan who calmly struck the ball with the outside of his foot and watched as it curled into the top corner. It was an unforgettable moment and it sent the away end into raptures. Vaughan was promptly swarmed by substitutes, players and Paolo Di Canio, capping off one of the most iconic games in our history. Good times.

He left for Nottingham Forest in 2013 in an initial loan move but the midfielder never returned to us. He made over 100 appearances before a move to cross-city rivals Notts County. Since retiring in 2019, he has returned to Crewe as academy coach, and is now managing their U18s team, where his career began. In the 2021/22 season, Vaughan played for non-League Nantwich Town. He will always be remembered on Wearside for that goal against the Mags. Even if he was ultimately a forgettable player overall, he holds a special place in our collective memory for that day.