Born on this day is Jonny Evans: former loan star, Northern Ireland international and brother of Sunderland captain Corry.
Evans came through Manchester United's famous academy, and his first taste of senior football was during a loan spell in Belgium with Royal Antwerp. He went there with fellow Red Devils (and future Sunderland players) Darron Gibson, Danny Simpson and Fraizer Campbell.
He was still a teenager in December 2006, when Roy Keane used his Man United connections to bring the defender to Wearside. He formed an amazing partnership with Nyron Nosworthy, which was a huge part of our 2006/07 Championship-winning season. We were tenth when Evans arrived, and by the time he'd suffered his first SAFC defeat we were top of the league.
He returned to Manchester that summer following our promotion, after he was awarded Sunderland's Youth Player of the Year award. A post-match chat between Keano and Fergie on Boxing Day led to Evans coming back to Wearside for a second spell. This time his arrival came with Sunderland in the bottom three, but he helped guide us to safety in that 2007/08 season.
Even though his loan spells were both only for half a season, he won the Young Player of the Year on both occasions! Roy Keane's Manchester connections had brought us a cultured defender who showed a composure and calmness far beyond his years. Oh, how we would have loved to keep Jonny permanently. But it was not to be.
Evans would go on to tally 198 games for Man United, with seven goals along the way (including one against us in the 2014 League Cup semi-final. However, he fell out of favour with Louis Van Gaal in 2015 and signed for West Brom for around £8 million. Having won his first silverware with Sunderland, Jonny left United with the 2008 Club World Cup, 2009 and 2010 League Cups, 2010 and 2011 Community Shields, and the 2009, 2011 and 2013 Premier League titles added to his personal trophy collection.
In three seasons at the Hawthorns, the experienced defender was named their Player of the Season in his first year and became club captain, making almost 100 appearances. He then moved to Leicester, who activated a release clause in his contract following the Baggies' relegation. His most recent trophy was an FA Cup win with the Foxes in 2021.
For Northern Ireland, Jonny is one of his country's most decorated players. He's got 100 caps to his name (most of them earned next to his brother Corry) making him only the fourth ever Northern Irishman to reach the milestone.
When Corry Evans signed for SAFC, he had this to say about his brother's influence: "Jonny had a great time here, he loved that period of his career and he’ll always have a soft spot for Sunderland, and likewise myself when I was coming and watching games. I remember Jonny’s debut away to Preston. I was sitting in the away fans at Deepdale and then going back to the Stadium of Light in the Premier League. I think I went up and watched Chelsea at home but I remember thinking then, even from a young age, I must have been fifteen or sixteen, I’d love to come back and play here one day with the fans and the stadium, and the size of the club, and luckily that’s happened. But yeah, he was delighted for me and he told me, "You’ve got to go, it’s just a no-brainer” really."
