On 26th July 2017, Lewis Grabban, born in Croydon in 1988, came to Sunderland on a season-long loan from AFC Bournemouth. He would go on to make 20 appearances and score 12 goals during his time here. Not a bad return on paper, but he would leave a pantomime villain.
Journeyman Grabban had previously played for teams such as Crystal Palace, Millwall and Norwich City and, after his time in Sunderland, would go on to play for Aston Villa (also on loan) and Nottingham Forest. His competitive debut for us came on the opening day of the season against Derby County. Sunderland were 1-0 down in the 11th minute but Grabban equalised in the 42nd minute- the match ended in a 1-1 draw. The next weekend, he scored two goals and an own goal against his former club, Norwich City. The Black Cats won 3-1. Unbeaten in our first two games, the future looked bright for Simon Grayson's unlikely group of shoestring budget, low-quality Championship journeymen.
I think we can all agree he was great for us, his goal scoring record speaks for itself. Especially in the Championship, he was at his level and flourishing before he left half way through the season. I reckon if we had him for the entirety of the campaign we’d have stayed up, or at least have had a chance of staying up. Fans complained that he was lazy, and it was infuriating to see him outright refuse to chase down any defenders or track back at all. But his goals made him undroppable, and we'd built all of our survival hopes on Lewis Grabban.
Regardless of how good he might have been in the Championship it doesn’t change his attitude, which was garbage. There’s a reason he's been at 14 different clubs in 17 years. He’ll start well and demand the world, and when he doesn’t get what he wants he spits his dummy and leaves.
Like all good goal-scoring things, Grabban’s time on Wearside had to come to an end. Thanks to his successful spell in Sunderland, he requested to return to his old Premier League team of Bournemouth. He then went to fellow Championship side Aston Villa on loan on 31st January 2018 where he would remain for the rest of the season. During his short time at SAFC, he scored 12 goals, making him Sunderland’s top goal scorer for the doomed 2017-18 season. He scored 20 goals in total during that season including the goals scored at Villa.
After he left Aston Villa at the end of the season, he moved to Championship team Nottingham Forest for the 2018-19 season. He was probably most successful at Forest, making 149 appearances with 56 goals-more than any other club he had played for. At the end of the 2021-22 season, he left after his contract expired and he refused a new one. As well as this, he was called to play for the Jamaican National Team in 2015 but is yet to play for them.
