PLAYED FOR BOTH…

It’s at times like this that it’s traditional to produce a piece entitled “They Played For Both” and list everyone who’s worn the shirts of both us and our opponents, this time, Everton.

Of course, the fact that England’s number one is one of us and joined Everton from SAFC adds to the interest, but in recent times there are 22 who’ve made the journey, either directly or by more a more circuitous route, from Goodison to Wearside and by “recent times” I mean “that I can remember.” Why not list them, I thought, and for those that send a shiver down your spine, I apologise while for those who make you smile, I say “you’re welcome.”

Here we go, then, in loose chronological order and with no attempt to suggest a formation…

Back in the 1991 we took Peter Beagrie on loan, with the tricky wide-man proving popular with the fans, mainly because of his somersaulting celebrations. Only 5 games and one goal, but an entertaining hit.

Three years later Ian Snodin came on loan and he worked hard in his brief stint in our midfield. 6 games, no goals, but a minor hit.

In March of the same campaign (before the days of transfer windows) we were struggling at the wrong end of Division One, so we shelled out £600,000 for Brett Angell, who made his debut in Mick Buxton’s last game as we lost 0-2 at Barnsley while playing the ineligible Dominic Matteo at the back. His wages put Phil Gray in the huff, but new gaffer Peter Reid steered us to safety while Big Bad Brett played in every remaining game without scoring or looking likely to. In our defeat at Bolton, our Ian (aged nine) complained that Brett’s first touch went further than we went on holiday. He wasn’t wrong, although there was a goal in three appearances the following season before we shipped him out on loan to Sheff U and WBA, then flogged him to Stockport. 11 games (subbed five times), 1 goal. Miss.

With us having missed out in the playoffs in 1998, we brought Gavin McCann in for £500,000 and eased him into things as we stormed to promotion, with half of his 14 appearances coming from the bench. Once in the Prem, he really came into his own and won an England cap in 2001. After 135 whole-hearted appearances, he was sold to Villa in 2003. (In)famously broke a turnstile at Wembley when going to watch Spennymoor in 2013. 135 games, 13 goals. Hit.

As part of the promotion celebrations in ’99, we signed tricky winger John Oster, who looked a lot shorter than his reported 5’9”, but had a fair temper on him, collecting a couple of reds for squaring up to opponents. In his six years at the SoL, he was loaned out four times as his performances dipped and he managed to shoot Mark Maley in the eye with an air rifle. While on loan at Leeds, he “misbehaved” at their Christmas party, then his time with us ended after he was arrested for fighting outside the Studio nightclub in Durham in 2004. Off to Burnley he went. His popularity with us was summed up when he made a sub appearance at Gillingham with us winning 4-0 – my mate walked out in protest. 91 games, 6 goals. Miss.

In 2000 we brought in Don Hutchison, who might only have stayed for one full season and left in, shall we say, strained financial circumstances after a couple of games in the next campaign, but he oozed class and helped establish us as a proper Prem side. His quick free-kick at West Ham and his equaliser at Sid James are part of Sunderland folklore. 39 games, 10 goals. Hit.

With Sorensen, AKA Tommy One, established as our number one, we needed good back-up, and that came in the form of Norwegian Thomas Myhre, AKA Tommy Two, who arrived in 2002 after a season at Besiktas. In his three seasons on Wearside, he had a 71% win rate, which is pretty impressive. 42 games, no goals (bah!). Hit.

A year after Myhre’s departure, in came Alan Stubbs to fill in at centre half, but he quickly got on the wrong side of the fans by saying that he wanted Everton to win when he played against them for us, which probably precipitated his swift return. Please, please don’t google his current photo. 11 games, 1 goal, a great big miss.

After a year at Spurs, much-travelled French forward Louis Saha came to us in August 2012 on a one year deal, but only lasted five goal-free months before a mutual parting of the ways and an eventual move to Lazio. 14 games (12 as a sub), no goals. Miss.

A month after Saha’s arrival, James McFadden had a trial with us and for some reason we decided to give him a go, if only on a three month contract. He came off the bench three times, failed to make an impact, and was away at the same time as Saha. Blink and you missed him, basically. 3 games, no goals. Miss.

Right, let’s get this over with. A big signing was promised in 2014, and it duly arrived in the shape of Jack Rodwell. After making his name at Everton, he’d given up on first team football by joining Man City, another of our Ian’s wise observations. On paper, a great signing. On grass, another thing altogether. Injuries, attitude, a pantomime villain role in the Sunderland ‘til I Die docu-series. Famously having a run of 39 starts (37 with us) and not winning any, he became a figure of derision as the club struggled on and off the field. After our relegation in 2017, he only played twice and scored once, before Blackburn took him on and he somehow earned a move back to the Prem with Sheff Utd before going to Australia. 76 games, 7 goals. Miss.

With David Moyes in charge, it’s not really a surprise that there was a whole bag of Toffees in 2016. Midfielder Steven Pienaar arrived in August, and proved a real lightweight who’d lost his pace, although he did help us win at Bournemouth despite a silly second yellow. His single season saw us relegated to the third tier and he retired after a season in his native South Africa. 17 games, no goals. Miss

Arriving at the same time was Victor Anichebe, a big bustling centre forward who did his best in a struggling side. Unfortunately, his only goals came in one week in November as we beat Hull and Bournemouth (see above) despite playing with a busted rib – when he showed of his bandage, the girls swooned. Season over, he was off to China to earn a few bob. 19 games, 3 goals. Hit/Maybe.

In the January of that awful season, in came midfielder Darron Gibson. What can I say? His performances were disappointing and he had some serious off-field issues. Part-way through his second season, after playing 18 times, he was caught drink-driving and his contract was torn up, 30 games, no goals. Miss.

Arriving on the same day in that worst season in our history was Bryan Oviedo, a classy left back who made his debut in that mad 4-0 win at Palace. In his two seasons with us, he never let us down and could hit a mean free-kick, making him a rare thing at that time– a popular player. Also appearing for Costa Rica, he left us in 2019 for Copenhagen, swapping League One for the Champions League. 77 games, 2 goals. Hit.

A third ex-Toffee was Joleon Lescott, who arrived via Man City, WBA, Villa, and AEK Athens – basically, the vastly experienced England international was dragged out of retirement after an injury ended his time in Greece, to help save Moyes and Sunderland. He didn’t, but only recently scored a hat-trick for Wythenshawe Veterans. 2 games (1 as a sub), no goals. Miss? Impossible to tell.

After the 2017 relegation, defender Tyias Browning arrived on loan and featured for Simon Grayson, who’d bossed him on another loan at Wigan, and then Chris Coleman. His form helped us keep four clean sheets, but then an injury in the 0-6 loss at Villa (sorry, it made me shiver as well) kept him out for the rest of the season. Interestingly (if you like that sort of thing) his Chinese granda meant he’s played for China 35 times during a confusing time (they didn’t know whether he was Chinese or English) in that country with Gunagzhou and Shangai Port. 29 games, no goals. Maybe.

Arriving at the same time was another defender, Brendan Galloway, to date our only Zimbabwean, and the less said the better. 8 games, no goals. Miss.

Forward James Vaughan arrived, via Derby, Leicester, Palace, Norwich, Huddersfield, Birmingham, and Bury (we should have spotted something, really) in July 2017 for a ridiculous £500,000. His workrate couldn’t be questioned, as he charged about like a Mag on free pasty day in Greggs, but there wasn’t much end product. For some reason he celebrated his late goal (followed by an even later one from Honeyman) at Burton in November by giving our fans the cupped ears, which didn’t go down well so we got rid in January 2018 – to Wigan. 27 games, 2 goals. Miss.

Also arriving in July 2017 was the brightest star in those desperate late 2010s, Aiden McGeady. The polar opposite of Vaughan, he was calm, precise, could turn on a sixpence (sorry, 5p piece) and leave defenders on their backsides while hitting all sorts of goals. League One Player of the Month in February 2019, he also made Team of the Year that season, and was Fans’ Player of the Season, despite the heartache of two Wembley defeats in which he’d scored twice. Inexplicably, Phil Parkinson kicked him out of the team and sent him on loan to Charlton in late 2019.McGeadygate has never been fully explained, but thankfully he came back a year later under Lee Johnson, and set up 8 goals in his first 12 games back. By the end of the season, he’d set up most of Charlie Wyke’s goals, including all 4 against Doncaster. It’s a shame they were all scored in empty stadiums. He made the division’s Team of the Season in 2021, but after our promotion in 2022 he was released and he joined Lee Johnson at Hibs before retiring aged 38 last year. 150 games, 36 goals. Hit.

In August 2020 we signed defender Morgan Feeney on a short-term contract, and he scored on his debut in the EFL Trophy, an 8-1 win over Villa U21s. That was it. Apparently the financial implications of the Covid lockdown (nobody at the games, remember?) meant we couldn’t afford to keep him and he left in January 2021 before joining Carlisle. 1 game, 1 goal. The stats say Hit, I say Miss ‘cos I watched it on the telly.

In August 2021 Welsh forward Nathan Broadhead joined us for the season on loan, and helped us turn our campaign around when new gaffer Alex Neil arrived mid-season. His goal in the FA Cup defeat at Arsenal showed what he’s capable of, and he played his part as a late sub in the play-off win over Wycombe. Now strutting his stuff for Wales and Wrexham after a spell at Ipswich. 27 games, 13 goals, Hit.

Last but not least, we replaced Broadhead with Ellis Simms in the summer of 2022 – another season-long loan. He hit the ground running with a brace as we won 3-2 at Ashton Gate, and the partnership with Ross Stewart looked promising. In his next 16 games he was subbed 9 times, but also scored 7 goals before being recalled by Everton just after Christmas. Despite being a big lad, his ability in the air was pretty poor - 6’ 3” and could leap almost that high – however, his strength on the ground made up for this. Sort of. He’s since played 100 times for Coventry (hee hee) and scored 21. 17 games, 7 goals. Hit.