Born on this day is Birmingham defender and former SAFC loanee, Dion Sanderson, who impressed for the Lads during the 2020/21 season...
Sanderson came through Wolves’ academy, signing a professional contract in 2018. His competitive debut came in October 2019, in a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the EFL Cup.
On deadline day of January 2020, Sanderson joined Championship side Cardiff City, making his league debut at right back in a 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest. Despite being a centre half by trade, Sanderson would go on to play at full back every time he appeared for Cardiff.
Upon returning to Wolverhampton at the end of the season, Sanderson extended his contract before joining Phil Parkinson’s promotion push. Despite making his debut in a draw with Rochdale, he struggled initially to nail down a place in the team.
The defender was given a fresh start under new manager Lee Johnson, who began to play him more regularly following an injury to Bailey Wright. Sanderson came into his own around February 2021 as Sunderland went on an impressive unbeaten run of 12 games!
Dion earned plaudits for his impressive form, particularly his passing range and composure on the ball. It even led to some Wolves fans wanting him recalled to play for them in the Premier League! His first career goal came during that unbeaten streak, a header in a 2-0 win against Rochdale.
Sanderson suffered a back injury in April though, and his absence was a huge miss to Sunderland's defence. He missed the last six League One games, and we only won one. That’s extremely telling of how important the ball-playing defender was to the side. He was also missing from our unsuccessful play-off campaign where we faced Lincoln in the semis.
Still a Wolves player technically, his summer was filled with speculation. Wolves were reportedly asking for £3 million, whilst Sunderland were only willing to go to a smaller fee. Sanderson eventually signed a new four-year contract at Molineux, and subsequently joined Birmingham City on another loan deal. When Wolves had an injury crisis in January 2022 he was recalled, and after a loan spell with QPR he is now back at Birmingham.
He impressed during his loan at Birmingham, and completed a permanent move to the Blues as a result this summer for a fee of £2.1 million. Sanderson has been a regular since his transfer, playing 21 times so far this season.
