Born on this day is former Sunderland keeper and Scotland international, Jon McLaughlin. The towering goalkeeper spent two years on Wearside after being brought in by Jack Ross, following our relegation to League One.
McLaughlin broke through with Bradford, making his debut at 18 and played for six years. Quickly becoming a fan favourite at Valley Parade, the Scottish shot stopper appeared in their 2013 League Two Play-Off Final win, earning promotion to League One. He was managed by none other than Phil Parkinson, who later managed McLaughlin at Sunderland.
After a contract dispute, McLaughlin left the club in 2014 where he joined Burton Albion who were in League Two. He won promotion again in his debut season with the Brewers. Burton was where McLaughlin made the most appearances in his career, racking up over 130 games in a three-year stint.
After a year at Hearts, the keeper caught fellow Scot Jack Ross’ eye at Sunderland. Along with other Scottish players such as Chris Maguire and Dylan McGeough, McLaughlin’s aim was promotion at the first time of asking. He made his debut in our home win against Charlton, where Lynden Gooch scored a dramatic late winner to get the Jack Ross era off to a winning start. He was a calming influence at the back, commanding his box extremely well.
He was a major part of the side that just missed out on automatic promotion and made their way to the play-off final. The keeper did the basics well and was certainly underappreciated at the time, certainly in the second season with many fans calling for Lee Burge to start. When Phil Parkinson arrived, he shook things up and decided to bring Burge in for several league games, including Parky’s first match against Wycombe. However, an injury to Burge brought McLaughlin back into the side, and he played for the rest of the season.
When the season was curtailed, and Sunderland missed out on promotion, McLaughlin was allowed to leave on a free transfer to Rangers. This was probably one of Stewart Donald’s biggest mistakes, as we were left with a Lee Burge that looked less than convincing, and we had lost a top League One goalkeeper just to save a bit of money.
At Rangers, McLaughlin kept an outstanding eleven clean sheets in his first twelve matches, which was a record of 92%! He’s backup to Allan McGregor, who at 39 years old is still an excellent keeper who pulls off unbelievable saves for Steven Gerard’s men.
