Born on this day is former Sunderland youngster Michael Bridges. The striker had a lengthy career of twenty years, although it was marred by injury.
Bridges made his debut in a 0-0 draw with Port Vale at just 17 years old. In the 1996/97 season, the forward emerged as one of the Premier League’s hottest young prospects. However, he was kept out of the side by Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips which meant Bridges was mostly limited to substitute appearances. Peter Reid’s men were relegated, and the following seasons didn’t plan out as Bridges probably expected. Bridges still couldn’t break into the starting 11 properly, but looked impressive whenever he was on the pitch.
Leeds United swooped for the out-of-favour attacker in a surprising £5 million move. He was electric at Elland Road, scoring a hat trick in his second game. He helped United finish 3rd in the Premier League and qualify for Europe.
However, it all started to go downhill from there. Bridges was injured in a Champions League match with Besiktas and only played ten matches over the next four years in a Leeds shirt. In the last six months of his Leeds career, he was loaned to Newcastle United. However, he only played six times and failed to score. He was released by Leeds in 2004.
He re-joined the lads on loan from Bolton, but looked a shadow of his former self. Injuries had clearly taken its toll on the forward’s body, although he famously scored a late winner against Stoke City.
Later in his career, he moved to Australia to play for Sydney FC before Newcastle Jets. Michael Bridges was a huge “what if” player who had seen his career hampered by recurring injury troubles.
