OTD: VARGA DEBUT

On this day in 2000, Stanislav Varga made his debut for Sunderland in a 1-0 win against Arsenal at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland were looking to build on a really successful 1999/2000 campaign (we finished 7th), however many people were sceptical and thought that we'd set the bar too high. Stanislav Varga was one of six new additions and he faced a tough debut against Arsenal. But he didn’t fail to impress. This Arsenal side featured all the greats: Thierry Henry, Patrick Viera, Dennis Bergkamp and many more. So, it was going to be a really hard game for the Lads. Not to mention, before the game Kevin Phillips was presented with the Golden Boot he won the previous year.

Arsenal began the game well and it looked like they were more likely to get a goal. Ray Parlour missed a sitter and the Gunners failed to break the deadlock. Then goalkeeper Thomas Sorenson picked up an injury and Jurgen Macho became the second debutant of the day. The Lads defended really well and new man Varga was immense. If you remain tight at the back then you maximise your chances of winning the game and that’s what happened. A Michael Gray cross was headed away by former Arsenal man Niall Quinn and the Lads were ahead.

Wenger brought on an abundance of quality players such as Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp, so his side were pushing for an equaliser. But, late drama struck and Patrick Viera was sent off in the 90th minute for throwing an elbow at Darren Williams. It was clearly our day and Sunderland won all three points. Varga was man of the match, it was a phenomenal debut for the Slovakian.

Following his debut, he scored his first Sunderland goal in January 2001 against West Ham United in a 2-0 victory. Varga spent the end of the 01/02 campaign out on loan at West Bromwich Albion, helping the Baggies to automatic promotion to the Premier League. Competition from the likes of Joachim Björklund and Jody Craddock led to his release in 2003 but he was quickly picked up by a Celtic team managed by future Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill.

In his first season at Celtic he won the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup, the second season saw him win another Scottish Cup and his final year saw another Premier League win and a Scottish League Cup for good measure.

Roy Keane brought him back to Sunderland in the summer of 2006 as part of a joint deal for him and another Celtic player, Ross Wallace, for a combined fee of £1.1 million. He was part of the squad who won the Championship in 2007 but halfway through the 07/08 campaign he was loaned out to Burnley for a month due to falling behind Nyron Nosworthy in the pecking order. At the end of the season, he was released and subsequently retired from playing.

Internationally, he picked up 54 caps for Slovakia and scored two goals. Since hanging up his boots, he's pursued a mangerial career with clubs mainly in his home country but also in Poland. In 2016, he led Tatran Prešov to promotion to the top flight of Slovakian football via the second tier title and in 2022 he won promotion to Slovakia's top league again, this time by finishing runners up with Dukla Banská Bystrica. He has been out of work since 2024.