Born on this day in 1981 is former Sunderland and West Ham left back, George McCartney, who made over 200 appearances for the Lads over two spells.
Born in Belfast, McCartney signed into Sunderland's academy as a trainee in the late 1990s, a promising young left back. He would break into Peter Reid's first team squad around 1998. McCartney would play 117 times in the league for Sunderland between 1998 and 2006, playing a crucial part in the promotion seasons under Mick McCarthy but would also be a regular feature in the record low points seasons in the Premier League.
He left Sunderland following relegation to the Championship in 2006, possibly due his acquisition of the nickname "sausages", signing for West Ham United. His time at the Boleyn Ground would only be short lived though, two seasons to be specific, before he returned to the North East for a £4.5m fee.
He would play sporadically in the Premier League for Sunderland under Roy Keane but would fall out of favour when Steve Bruce took the hot seat in 2009, and spent two spells on loan at Leeds United between 2010 and 2011 before returning to London to West Ham for the 2011/12 campaign. He would return to Upton Park permanently in that summer on a free transfer but struggled to make the first team under Big Sam, and would remain there for the rest of his career, retiring in 2014.
Over McCartney's 16 year playing career, he was capped 34 times for Northern Ireland, scoring once on his debut in a 1-0 victory over Iceland. This would be the only professional goal in his career until 2007 when he netted for the Hammers against AS Roma in a friendly. He would've been capped more for the GAWA if he hadn't fallen out with then manager Lawrie Sanchez in 2005, subsequently causing him to 'retire' from international duties, although he would return for his country when Nigel Worthington was appointed manager.
