OTD: JASON MCATEER BORN

Born on this day is former Republic of Ireland international Jason McAteer, who signed for Sunderland for £1 million in October 2001.

The Birkenhead born midfielder is more well-known for his time at Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers. In fact, he still works closely with LFC TV and is regularly involved in 'legends' events. He began his career at Bolton Wanderers before securing a reported £4.5 million move to Liverpool, where he stayed for four years before being transferred to Blackburn. McAteer didn't win any trophies for the Reds, missing out on an FA Cup in 1996. However, in that same year he did grace the cover of that year's FIFA instalment alongside Frank de Boer, which is something.

He only spent a couple of years at Blackburn before eventually falling out with manager Graeme Souness. He was then sold to us for a fee of £1 million. During his time on Wearside, McAteer played a total of 61 matches, suffering a relegation from the First Division in that time.

We reached the FA Cup semi-final under Mick McCarthy and played Millwall, but lost 1-0 thanks to Tim Cahill. Man United were waiting in the final, played at Wembley of course, and because they were so far ahead in the league it was almost a certainty that the other finalist (us or Millwall) would play European football. McAteer, as some kind of indimidation tactic, stood on the halfway line pre-match and stared at Millwall's Dennis Wise during the warmup. This certainly backfired - Jason kicked Wise around the pitch all game and was eventually sent off for a second yellow card, pretty much killing our hopes of getting back into the game. So, we said goodbye to not only a Wembley final but also the prospect of European football.

He was also part of the side that lost to Crystal Palace over two legs in the 2004 play-off semi-final. He scored five goals in his time at the club but was utterly forgettable overall.

Internationally, McAteer made over a half century of appearances for the RoI and was selected in the famous Jack Charlton squad for the 1994 World Cup. McAteer came on as a substitute in Ireland's iconic 1–0 group stage victory over Italy in the tournament. In the Saipan incident of 2002, he was a vocal opponent of Roy Keane. Brave indeed. He claimed he did 'not always understand his rage." In our next game against Man United, McAteer felt Keano's rage as he took an elbow to the head, which ref Uriah Rennie missed - but he saw the second elbow and Keane was off. "Put that in your next book" was McAteer's response.

After leaving Sunderland, McAteer returned to Birkenhead with Tranmere Rovers, where he played and captained the club before retiring in 2007.