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Eleven Of Sunderland's Derby Day Heroes

Just to ease our way into the derby buildup, which will be ramped up as the week progresses, we offer up a gallery of Sunderland heroes from previous derby games.

By SimonWalsh
  • 1. Kevin Phillips A frequent scorer against the Mags, Super Kevin Phillips provided a number of moments which write him into derby folklore. Celebrating in front of them after scoring (above), THAT goal in the rain, and causing a mini-pitch invasion after leading a two goal comeback.
  • 2. Tommy Sorensen Who could ever, EVER forget Tommy Sorensen's save from Alan Shearer in a 2-1 victory. The site of Shearer, hands on head, is still an iconic photograph and Tommy was the reason for it.
  • 3. Niall Quinn Two famous pieces of commentary can help write Quinn into derby folklore, as if he wasn't already in there. First of all the one that still sends shivers down the spine of many a fan "Gray's cross is a cracker for Quinn..." and giving a penalty away (saved by Tommy Sorensen) "Oh Quinny, what were you thinking!"... That goal though in the rain, and him with his arms raised aloft to the supporters in the far, far corner of St. James' Park remains an iconic image. Which we don't have the rights to, but you know it. Google it.
  • 4. Don Hutchison Admittedly someone not too high on everyone's lists, and this is in no particular order as we already said, but before he turned into a money-grabbing dick, Don Hutchison provided us some nice moments, including grabbing an equaliser in another 2-1 win. Made even better when seeing the Geordie-born midfielder celebrating wildly in front of the home fans at St. James' Park (as it was then known).
  • 5. Kevin Ball An inspirational leader, and nearly scorer of the greatest own goal in history. Derby's are known for their passion, and anyone who can put in a challenge near the half-way line so hefty it hits is own crossbar has to go down in the history books as a bit of a hero.
  • 6. Kieran Richardson For all we can argue all day as to whether or not Richardson was a good player or not, that thunderbolt of a freekick against the Mags at home will never be forgotten, and will always put him down in derby folklore. This image here seems to sum things up nicely. An incredible hit. Thank God El-Hadji Diouf didn't take it as was threatened.
  • 7. Gary Rowell Hat-trick against the Mags, at St. James' Park in a 4-1 win. What more can be said or done. We all still live in a Gary Rowell world.
  • 8. Marco Gabbiadini A goalscorer against the Mags in one of the all-time great derby games - The 1990 Play Offs in which we won 2-0 away from home.
  • 9. Eric Gates Ugly as sin, but Marco's partner in crime and fellow goalscorer in that 1990 Play Off. Enough to make it in? Sure is.
  • 10. Bobby Kerr When you think about Bobby, you tend to think of the above image of him raising the FA Cup in one of the all-time greatest finals. However Bobby was also a destroyer of Mags, as in the 1966/67 season he scored twice in a comfortable 3-0 victory.
  • 11. Patrice Carteron Hands up who can remember anything about Patrice Carteron's short stint at Sunderland apart from his goal against Newcastle? Nope, nobody. But if you're only going to do one thing in your career of note, might as well make it something that puts you in good stead on Wearside for the rest of your days. Who knows, a new Patrice could be born this weekend coming...

It's all about one thing this week, and that's the Wear-Tyne derby on Sunday. We're going to be focused on it form every angle possible, and to help kick things off this week we're going with a gallery of derby greats.

It's not been the greatest of times for us in recent history when it comes to the derby, but fortunately on that front everybody loves a trip down memory lane, so this works out quite well for us.

So if you like looking at pictures, this perfect for you. Just navigate left to right to see our gallery of derby heroes, and mouse over the top of the image to see who, what and why they've been chosen. It's not in any particular order either by the way, just enjoy it for what it is.

Who knows, some more Sunderland players might write their name in to this feature for next season with a performance or moment at the weekend. And we sincerely hope they do...

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