On this day in 1993, Ian Rodgerson made his SAFC debut in a 2-1 game against Portsmouth, after being sidelined for a while due to an injury sustained when Derek Ferguson crashed his car.
Rodgerson arrived on Wearside from Birmingham as part of Terry Butcher's squad overhaul. He cost £140,000 which back then wasn't a small amount for a footballer. It seemed like a good move at the time: Rodgerson had made almost 100 games in two seasons at Birmingham, had a reputation for being a pacey goal-scoring winger and, to make it even better, all his family were from the North East and die-hard Sunderland fans.
But things didn't get off to the best start, when after a pre-season friendly at Boro Derek Ferguson gave a lift home to all of our new signings (Rodgerson, Andy Melville and Phil Gray). An allegedly drunk Ferguson went the wrong way around a roundabout, writing off his own car and the other car involved.
Each passenger was injured in the crash: they all missed our first game of the season away to Derby. (Gray had to have an emergency operation to remove parts of the windshield from his eye, while Melville got whiplash and Rodgerson dislocated his shoulder.) So that's why despite signing for Sunderland in July, he had to wait until November to make his debut.
Turns out it wasn't worth the wait for Ian, who flattered to deceive against Pompey and was restricted to just two starts and two sub appearances in his first season on Wearside. Part of the problem (as well as Rodgerson simply not looking that good) was that Terry Butcher, who liked Ian, was sacked 20 days after the Portsmouth defeat.
Mick Buxton was a manager who apparently 'didn't fancy him', combined with more injury trouble meant Rodgerson barely featured for us and eventually left for Cardiff before retiring at his boyhood club Hereford United.
