Happy birthday to former keeper Lionel Perez, the long haired French goalie who became a bit of a cult hero during his time on Wearside. He was one of the first goalkeepers to don short sleeves, sometimes he would even cut standard, long-sleeved goalkeeper shirts to suit his style!
Originally signed as cover for Tony Coton, he ended up as first choice where he impressed, playing 83 games for SAFC and becoming a fans favourite, winning the Supporters' Player of the Year Award, making him the first keeper since Chris Turner to win it. Following Coton's injury, Perez firmly cemented himself as Peter Reid's first choice between the sticks. His debut in 1996 was actually a substitute appearance at The Dell in a 3-0 defeat to Southampton, the game in which Coton sustained that injury.
Perez would make his name at French side Nimes before signing for the relatively big side of Bordeaux but failed to break into the first team there, making only 16 league appearances in three years. He was signed in the summer of 1996 by Peter Reid who was looking for a reasonably good backup keeper.
He would spend two more years at Sunderland, eventually leaving for Newcastle in the summer of 1998 in what, at the time, was a shock move to say the least, the rumour has it that he fell out with Reidy but wished to stay in the North East so opted to sign for our fierce derby rivals as Shay Given, another former SAFC keeper's, understudy. However, he would never make a competitive start for the Magpies, instead being fourth in the pecking order after Given, Steve Harper (who would later sign for Sunderland under Sam Allardyce) and John Karelse. After various loan moves, he reportedly accepted a 95% pay cut to sign for Cambridge United in 2000, where he had spent some time on loan. He ended his career in 2004, earlier than he would've liked to, at Stevenage Borough where he was a first team regular until he broke his leg in the spring, although he'd retain a coaching role until 2006 there.
