Every debut carries a strange mixture of hope, expectation and the quiet suspicion that it might embarrass you at any moment.
Mine has arrived in slightly surreal circumstances. I tend to write stuff (and even draw things) when I’m on the train from London and back for home games. Just for shits and giggles, for the lads I go to the match with. My mate Geoff suggested I send one of my missives to Roker Report and then Gavin asked for volunteers. Before you know it, here I am – making my debut, invited to join the RR Contributors team.
My first cap!
It means, for the first time, I’m not just watching Sunderland stories unfold. I’m being asked to write them.
Heck! First-match nerves or what?!
The timing feels spot on because the last twelve months have been something to write home about, haven’t they? Less like real football and more like a comic book – something lifted from the pages of Roy of the Rovers.
For those of a certain vintage, you’ll know Roy Race was football’s ultimate comic book hero. Every week, he and Melchester Rovers overcame impossible odds, won improbable matches and delivered endings so dramatic they barely felt legal. The phrase “Roy of the Rovers stuff” has become shorthand for the unreal.
Ring any bells?
Roy of the Rovers? Well, certainly Rég of the Rokers!
A play-off semi-final comeback against Coventry. Wembley victory. Premier League promotion. Seven debutants against West Ham on opening day. Two derby wins over the Visitors. European qualification on the final day against Chelsea. Til the End.
Even Roy Race might have suggested toning it down a bit!
But before that, there is my own debut at Sunderland. Unusual, to say the least.
My first Sunderland experience wasn’t watching the team. Back in 1970, on a dull, windy, rainy winter’s afternoon at Roker Park, my Dad, my Uncle John and I found ourselves enlisted into one of my Dad’s more optimistic ventures.
Selling pies outside the ground.
A dead cert. This time next year we’ll be millionaires…
So my first appearance at Sunderland AFC was inauspicious and forgettable. One quickly disappeared from Roker Park, the other eventually slipped into Division Two.
Either way, that was my introduction to Sunderland. Despite the weather and the cold – and the pies – I was hooked.
Sunderland til I die.
And it got me thinking about debuts – those first appearances that linger in my memory for reasons good, bad, historic or simply strange.
Here are just a few of mine. I hope they bring back memories of your own and perhaps bring others to mind…
The Youngest
Not so much from my personal experience, more from research, Derek Forster made his Sunderland debut in 1964 at just 15 years and 185 days old. I must admit I thought it was Riggy, but no – Derek is still the youngest player ever to represent the club.
While I was pulling on my shorts for infant school, Derek Forster was pulling on his in preparation to stand in front of professional footballing forwards in a First Division league match.
Brave lad – respect.
More recently, you’ll all relate to seeing Chris Rigg become Sunderland’s youngest outfield player. A debut that felt less like an appearance and more like the beginning of something special.
And he’s graduated to the Premier League, hasn’t he… and now Europe!
The Debuts Less Ordinary
The strangest thing about debuts is how ordinary they often look at the time.
Jordan Henderson’s first appearance barely registered beyond Wearside. Our local lad stepping into senior football. As you know very well, Jordan would go on to captain his beloved Sunderland, then Liverpool and, wow, England, lifting the Premier League and Champions League along the way.
Still time for him to write another chapter at the SoL?
Jordan Pickford followed a similar path. Another academy graduate. Another quiet debut. Another career that only made sense in hindsight.
History rarely announces itself.
And Jordan, you’ll always be welcome back.
The Dream Debut
Do you remember Niall Quinn’s Sunderland debut in 1996?
It was close to perfect.
Signed for a club-record fee at the time, Reidy’s new man scored twice against Nottingham Forest in a 4 – 1 away win and immediately justified our anticipation.
Some players need time.
Quinn needed ninety minutes.
A legend, a chairman and a wearer of disco pants.
Super Kevin Phillips
Kevin Phillips announced himself in ideal fashion, scoring in Sunderland’s first competitive match at the Stadium of Light.
The crucial goal in the 84th minute.
Sunderland 3 – 1 Manchester City.
What a start.
A symbolic beginning.
A five-foot-seven stick of dynamite, “Super Kev” would go on to win the Golden Boot and European Golden Shoe – the first English player to do so.
Super Kev is one of Sunderland’s great modern forwards and, happily, he’s still with us as an advocate and pundit.
The Record Holder
Every debutant hopes for a second appearance – me included!
Jimmy Montgomery got 626 more.
His first match became the foundation of a club-record 627 appearances, an FA Cup triumph (still the greatest all-time save for me), and a place in Sunderland history that still feels unmatched.
I’m proud to sit in “his” stand.
Number One is Gary Rowell
Some debuts don’t just introduce a player – they set a tone. They make an indelible mark on your heart.
Seaham-born Gary Rowell, a Sunderland apprentice, scored twice on his full league debut in 1975 against Manchester City at Roker Park. He had previously scored as a substitute against Oxford – his “first” debut, I guess.
Instant impact.
Instant connection.
And, of course, an iconic hat-trick against the Visitors.
Difficult to top that, eh?
And although he’s moved on to higher endeavours, for many Sunderland supporters there is still a sense that we all live in a Gary Rowell world – where chances feel inevitable and something is always about to happen.
The West Ham Seven
Man, this season!
What a game!
What a start!
When Sunderland returned to the Premier League against West Ham last August, seven players made their debuts from the start.
Roefs, Reinildo, Xhaka, Diarra, Sadiki, Talbi, Adingra.
Alderete on the bench… soon on the field of play.
Who are they? Will they work together?
Nobody knew.
Nobody knew they would become heroes.
Nobody knew they would become cult figures.
Nobody knew their names would be sung loud and proud for the next twelve months.
And beyond.
That’s the strange beauty of a debut, isn’t it?
Everything is still possible.
Every story unwritten.
Every chapter blank.
Every outcome open.
And Sunderland, for all their chaos and reinvention over the years, have always lived in that space.
Forever beginning again.
As I started thinking about Roy of the Rovers, I realised something simpler.
The last year hasn’t really felt like Roy of the Rovers at all.
It’s felt more like Rég of the Rokers.
Régis Le Bris, in his debut season as Sunderland head coach, has overseen a campaign built on clarity, belief, consistency and momentum – The Project.
One that started strongly and continues to grow rather than unravel.
As for my own debut with Roker Report, I’m sure comparisons with the first appearances of Quinn, Phillips, Rowell and Montgomery won’t be made.
But let’s just say I’m thrilled to be in the team.
And if Sunderland have taught me anything over the last year, it’s this…
You never really know what a debut is the beginning of.
