On this day in 1891, Johnny Campbell scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 over Aston Villa in the Football League at Newcastle Road. He was born into a footballing family in Renton, Dumbartonshire in 1870. His brother, Robert Campbell, was also involved with Sunderland as manager. Johnny was a forward who, by all accounts, was celebrated for his no nonsense approach and his powerful and accurate shooting ability. Before joining the lads, he had a great career at his now defunct hometown team, Renton...

On this day in 1980, former Sunderland midfielder Steed Malbranque was born in Mouscron, Belgium. He made 112 appearances for the club scoring twice between 2008 and 2011. Despite not being a goal scorer, when he hit the back of the net it was often spectacular as was the case in a memorable 4-1 victory against Hull City in December 2008. Malbranque was Man of the Match that day and played a huge part in the first back-to-back victories of the 2008/09 season under Ricky Sbragia, following on...

On this day in 1988 former Sunderland goalkeeper Tony Norman made his debut for the club in a 4-0 home win against Portsmouth. Norman began his career at Burnley and was a Wales schoolboy. Over his four years at the club he found game time hard to come by, largely kept out of the side by the promising young England U23s 'keeper Alan Stephenson. The restricted first team appearances at Burnley led to a £30,000 move to Hull City. Both teams were in the Third Division at the time but the...