Born on this day in 1993 is former Sunderland midfielder, Max Power. Born in Birkenhead, this Scouser made 137 appearances and scored 13 goals in total for the Black Cats.
Power’s first club was local team Tranmere Rovers where he made 109 appearances from 2011-2015 before moving to Wigan Athletic.
He first came to Sunderland on loan in August 2018 making twelve appearances and scoring two goals. During this time, he also somehow managed to get three red cards against Oxford United, Bradford City and Walsall. Power loved the North East so much that his loan became permanent in January 2019 with a two and a half year contract and he was officially a part of the Sunderland squad. While at Sunderland, he played in the EFL Trophy Final in 2019 and the League One playoff finals of the same year. He also captained the lads in the 2020-21 season.
For a lot of the younger fans out there some of his goals might be the most memorable, he didn’t score many, but when he did they were usually thunderbastards.
His most memorable moment with SAFC must have been when he lifted the trophy in a crowdless Wembley Stadium when we won the EFL Trophy Final in 2021, our first Wembley victory in nearly 50 years. This match against Power’s old team the Tranmere Rovers was one of his final matches for the club since in May 2021, he announced his departure from the club. He said that “to captain this club was a huge honour and privilege”. He then went back to Wigan Athletic who were (along with Sunderland) promoted to the Championship in the 2021-22 season.
During his time on Wearside, Max Power was highly influential and was a great captain of the squad. He easily adapted after injuries from Conor McLaughlin and Luke O’Nien meant Power had to move to full-back in the 2020-21 season but thanks to his versatility, the team didn’t suffer as a result of his move.
He also shut Joey Barton up in February 2020 with a 97th minute equaliser against Fleetwood Town. Power unfortunately never saw us promoted in these three years (no matter how close we got) but we will be sure to remember his time with us when we play Wigan Athletic in the Championship.
