Born on this day is former Sunderland and current Millwall winger, Duncan Watmore. Despite showing huge potential on Wearside, ‘the Roadrunner’ ended up spending more time on the treatment table than on the pitch...
Watmore was picked up as a youngster by Manchester United’s coveted academy, but was released at just 12 years old. He then went to Altrincham, where he made a name for himself in the lower leagues and caught the attention of Sunderland.
Paolo Di Canio signed Watmore in May 2013; the first of many signings by the Italian. He was given his debut in January 2014, replacing Ji Dong Wong in an FA Cup win against Carlisle United. However, at just 19 years old Watmore struggled to break into the side, and joined Terry Butcher’s Hibs side on loan until the end of the season.
The young winger was clearly an intelligent lad who articulated himself extremely well, splitting his time between SAFC and studying Economic and Business Management at Newcastle University.
After impressing for Sunderland’s youth team, Watmore was named 2014/15 U21 Premier League Player of the Season, beating off competition from the likes of Dominic Solanke and Harry Wilson. He managed to score 11 goals in 19 games, despite being loaned to Hibs for part of the season and also missing three months with a broken leg.
Watmore scored on his league debut for the lads, coming off the bench and netting a consolation goal in a 3-1 defeat to Norwich in August 2015. As the season wore on, he would become a regular, appearing from the bench before breaking into the starting 11.
During the Premier League years, Watmore would continue to show glimpses of promise, before regularly being side-lined with persistent injury troubles. He was a player who liked to get his head down and run at players, but never had enough game time to develop his play to the next level.
Watmore’s longest spell of games uninterrupted for Sunderland was a mere 14, in the dreaded 2016/17 season under Moyes. His season was ended prematurely though, suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury after a collision with Christian Fuchs. By the time he returned, we were 2nd off bottom in the Championship...
Many fans expected the winger to have lost a yard of pace after such a serious injury, but he seemed to be the same played when he eventually returned, However, he lasted just six games before suffering the same injury against Millwall.
Upon his next return, Sunderland had once again been relegated and were now under the stewardship of Steward Donald and Charlie Mathven. Fans believed that since Watmore showed great promise in the Premier League, he could become a crucial player two divisions down. He was eased back into the side, understandably, completing just one full game and starting three times in League One.
In a fashion that typically seemed to reflect Watmore’s Sunderland career, his League One highlight was a last-minute equaliser away at Wycombe. The moment was quickly overshadowed in injury time though, with a horror tackle from Marcus Bean ending Watmore’s season once again, and ultimately his Sunderland career.
He was one of the highest earners in the squad- still on a Premier League contract. Despite being a useful player when fit, his horrific injury record meant that it would have made no sense to keep Watmore, who was still only 26.
He officially left Sunderland in June 2020, and after five months without a club joined local rivals Middlesbrough. He did finally put his injury woes behind him, and became a regular player and fan favourite for the Teesside club. Duncan is now at another Championship side Millwall, having signed in January 2023.
