OTD: GAVIN MCCANN BORN

On this day in 1978, former Sunderland midfielder Gavin McCann was born in Blackpool. The one-time England international played a bit-part role in our promotion to the top flight in 1999 and was with the club during our two best seasons in the Premier League, making 135 appearances in total and scoring 13 goals along the way.

McCann came through the youth system at Everton and eventually made his Premier League debut in September 1997 at St James’ Park. A month later, he was handed his first senior start, playing 81 minutes in a 2-0 Merseyside Derby victory. Injuries really limited his chances in his first (and eventually only) season at Goodison Park but he was given a run of five starts in a row in April. In the summer of 1998, Everton brought in a couple of experienced midfield additions and the club were struggling financially so it was decided to allow McCann to leave.

He joined Sunderland for a fee of £500,000 in November 1998, dropping down a division in the hopes of more game time. We’d just painfully missed out on promotion in the previous campaign, losing out to Charlton Athletic in the play-off final on penalties. If all went well then, we’d be challenging for promotion again and he’d be back in the Premier League before long. His Sunderland debut came late in the month he signed, coming off of the bench in a 4-0 away win versus Sheffield United in the league. A first chance to be in from the off came in December, as we beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at the Stadium of Light. After January 1999 though, his opportunities became limited and he’d make 13 appearances in all competitions in his debut campaign on Wearside. In the League Cup semi final first leg against Leicester City, McCann found the back of the net for the first time in his career and for Sunderland, he pulled a goal back after we went 2-0 down at home; we eventually lost 3-2 on aggregate after drawing the second match on the road.

Sunderland eased to the First Division title on 105 points in 1998/99 and, following our promotion, McCann became much more prevalent in the team. He played 26 matches overall in the 1999/2000 season, scoring four and assisting three. In September, he scored in back-to-back wins against Leicester and Derby County, then in November he netted the winner away to Watford and also managed a goal against Manchester United before the New Year. We finished seventh in our first season back in the big time but second season syndrome wouldn’t strike us down as we managed to finish seventh yet again in 2000/01.

McCann was a key part of our team again too, getting his first of three goals that season by scoring a late equaliser away to Arsenal. His other two came in back-to-back matches, firstly getting another late equaliser, this time at home to Aston Villa, before putting us 3-2 up at Stamford Bridge after we’d been 2-1 down and then capping the performance off by assisting our fourth as we won 4-2. On an individual level, he earned his first and only cap for England in February 2001. He featured in the second half of a 3-0 friendly win over Spain.

We struggled in the 2001/02 season, falling down ten places to finish 17th and just four points above the drop. McCann didn’t manage to score or assist at any point but he did play 29 league matches, the most he’d played for Sunderland in any one season so far. The midfielder broke that record in the following season by playing one more league match but we sleepwalked into relegation, only mustering up 19 points and coming dead last. McCann did at least score against Liverpool in the league though, scoring our first in a 2-1 home win. He also scored in the FA Cup against Blackburn Rovers and in a 7-0 drubbing of Cambridge United in the League Cup.

Too good for second tier football by this point, McCann departed for Aston Villa for £2.25 million in July 2003, spending four seasons at Villa Park before moving to Bolton Wanderers in June 2007 for a fee of £1 million. There, he played in the UEFA Cup but was forced to retire in 2010 due to an injury.

Since retirement, he’s set up his own football academy, took up a variety of coaching roles at Bolton and is currently a first-team coach at non-League Hyde United.