Born on this day is former Sunderland midfielder and current Birmingham technical director, Craig Gardner.
Gardner began his career at Aston Villa, making his Premier League debut as a substitute at home to Everton on Boxing Day 2005. His first goal came a few months later in April, scoring in a 3-1 win against Middlesbrough. Under Martin O’Neill at Villa, He often played at right back- a sign of things to come when he eventually made his way to the Stadium of Light.
After 80 appearances in Claret and Blue, Gardner made the switch to Villa’s Midlands rivals Birmingham City. An England under-21 international at the time, he cost the Blues £3 million.
However, Gardner was at St Andrew’s for just a year and a half before Sunderland came calling. The deal was rumoured to be £6 million, with a three-year contract for Birmingham’s top scorer of 2010/11. He followed teammate Seb Larsson, who we signed from Birmingham in the same summer.
Gardner’s first goal in red and white came in a 4-0 drubbing of Stoke at the SoL with his shot deflected by Ryan Shawcross and past Asmir Begovic in goal. However, as the season wore on Gardner fell out of favour with Steve Bruce and was linked with a move away.
The sacking of Steve Bruce, followed by the appointment of Gardner’s former manager O’Neill in December, sparked a change in fortunes for both player and team. The former Villa man was deployed at right back on New Year's Day against Man City amid an injury crisis. As we all know, Ji put City to the sword with a last-second goal...
Throughout that season, and the following season, Gardner played mostly at right back for O’Neill. He scored a number of memorable goals, including several direct free kicks and penalties.
Despite Gardner performing well, and grabbing plenty of goals, Sunderland went on a huge winless run and Paolo Di Canio replaced O’Neill in March 2013. Gardner picked up a suspension in the Italian’s first match in charge, meaning he was unavailable for the Tyne-Wear Derby. However, he still travelled to the game via the Metro, and was seen singing songs with Sunderland fans!
At the end of the 2013/14 season, the midfielder’s contract expired and Gardner joined West Brom, before returning to Birmingham City in 2017. He slowly transitioned into a coaching role, before taking over as caretaker manager following the sacking of Pep Clotet in July 2020. He is now technical director at Birmingham.
