Born on this day is former Sunderland defender and current free agent, Jordan Willis. The defender suffered some major injury setbacks which unfortunately look to have hampered his career.
Willis grew up in Coventry, and was a part of their youth setup. He made his debut in 2011, as a substitute in a 4-2 loss to Southampton. At 17 years old, he became the Sky Blues’ tenth youngest player of all time. His first start came in a 3-2 win over Birmingham in the 2012 League Cup.
Initially, due to his pace and lack of height, he was deployed at right back. He solidified his place in the first team, and when Coventry switched to a back three, he began to play as a centre back. He nailed the position down and in the following season, he was named captain for the first time against Crewe.
After eight years at his boyhood club, the defender came to Sunderland on a free after rejecting a new contract. He arrived alongside Coventry teammate Lee Burge, who at the time seemed like decent competition for Jon McLaughlin (although we would later find out that Burge was nowhere near the elite level of big Jon). Willis’ pace, composure and physicality was a breath of fresh air after having a season of Ozturk, Baldwin and Flanagan. He was an instant fan favourite, and stood in as captain a number of times.
Under Phil Parkinson, Willis was utilised as an overlapping centre-half, similar to how Sheffield United played under Chris Wilder. Perhaps that’s too generous on Parky! The best example of this was in a 4-0 win over Wycombe, where Willis got down the line and fizzed a ball across the box for Denver Hume to finish.
He began to struggle with injury niggles shortly before Parkinson was sacked, but they seemed short term and it wasn’t a major concern. However, when Jordan went off after just 7 minutes against Shrewsbury, everyone knew it looked serious. That match was in February, and he hasn’t played a minute of football since because of a ruptured patella. After a major setback in April, he was given a unique role by Lee Johnson. Seeing as he couldn't get onto the grass, Willis was utilised as a scout, to identify transfer targets and highlight opposition weaknesses.
Sadly for Jordan he wasn't given a new contract in our promotion-winning summer of 2022, and still is without a club. It's a major shame because during his time at Sunderland, he was a real asset at the back and could have had such a successful career in football.
