During Sunderland’s 1998/1999 season opener against QPR, there was a moment when Niall Quinn nodded down a long, aerial pass from Chris Makin into the path of Allan Johnston whilst holding off one of the visitors’ defenders as casually as you or I would hold a pub door open.
Although well-struck, Johnston’s subsequent half-volley was gathered by the Hoops’ goalkeeper but the knockdown was Quinn at his best: immense strength with his back to goal and the defender left without a hope in hell of preventing
the big forward from getting to the ball first.
Of course, Quinn had far more to his game than just strength and aerial dominance, but those attributes certainly helped and when you added his chest control and finishing ability on the deck (No cheeky references to the Irishman having “good feet for a big man”, if you please), the package was completed. Quinn was the perfect spearhead for the era and in many ways he still sets a high bar for those of a red and white persuasion.
In the years that followed, Sunderland didn’t lack for strikers of a certain build: tall, broad-shouldered and with a bit of power to boot. Unfortunately, too many of them were misses.
Kevin Kyle never really hit a sustained run of form and to this day, I maintain that the real Tore Andre Flo was abducted by aliens, leaving us to sign his doppelgänger during the summer of 2002. In actual fact, I think there’s an argument to say that until we swapped Stern John for one Kenwyne Jones in 2007, the signing of a genuine, dynamic, all-round target man eluded us.
Jones’ career at Sunderland was by turns exciting and frustrating but there’s no doubt that he could lead a line at this level and an early goal against Reading, turning a defender in one sharp movement before lashing the ball into the bottom corner, was an early indication of what the Trinidad international could and often would bring to the table.
And now, in Brian Brobbey, we have what I believe is the kind of striker whose ability and unique attributes deserve to be spoken about in the same sentence.
Quinn’s goals and all-round play propelled Sunderland into the Premier League and two seventh-place finishes, whereas Jones proved to be an inspired signing during our crucial 2007/2008 season, yet the former Ajax striker played a huge role in helping the Lads into Europe during 2025/2026, with that late strike at St James’ Park the crowning moment of his maiden campaign on Wearside.
For too long, Sunderland’s strikers only periodically struck fear into the opposition. Brobbey does it as a matter of course, rendering top quality Premier League centre halves ineffectual, and were he to get the benefit of referees’ decisions more often, God only knows what the end result would be!
Everyone knows that the less likely you are to lose physical duels in this league (particularly as a striker), the more chance you have of being competitive and when Brobbey left the Etihad Stadium having given the home defence the kind of examination that few other forwards will this season — and bagging a hat trick in the process — the message couldn’t have been any clearer: “Good luck to all that decide to engage with the Dutch international”.
Perhaps inevitably, the silence of the international break was temporarily filled with a rumour that Juventus might be interested in signing Brobbey next summer.
Yes, the proposed fee was borderline laughable and nowhere near reflective of his value, but you can understand why the Italian aristocrats and potentially other sides around Europe might be interested in luring him away from the Stadium of Light.
I would suggest that Brobbey’s finishing could actually be even more accomplished than it already is and that there have been occasions where he’s made excellent chances look a touch harder than they really were, but I also think that’s offset by what you get on the upside. His mere presence on the team sheet seems to give everyone a major lift and like Quinn and Jones, he’s most definitely found a place in the affections of Sunderland fans, and for good reason.
Unlike a certain nearby fanbase, Sunderland fans don’t tend to mythologize certain shirt numbers.
Instead, we elevate those that wear them to hero status if they deliver the goods when it matters, and when you consider just what he brings to the team and the way in which he goes about his business, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to suggest that Brobbey is in fairly elite company at Sunderland — the kind of centre forward that you’d hate to play against but would absolutely love to have in your team.
