John Wilson says…
I think most people would have Ross Stewart in their list of favourite League One players. What a buy that lad was. He became almost a cult hero for us, scoring goals from all angles and all variations.
One of the best scouting finds, even amongst the present scouting finds, he’ll always be welcomed back to the Stadium of Light.
My second choice would be Aiden McGeady. Whenever we needed some magic or some spark from somewhere, Aiden would often be that spark. It was a pleasure to watch his trickery, often when there was no other joy to be had. Thank you, Geeds.
My third choice would be Alex Pritchard. A diminutive figure, but with a great footballing brain. He could spot a pass and keep the game ticking. A clever player who always gave everything for the side. It was the right decision to let him go when we did, but he was certainly a cut above in League One.
Three great players we had at that level – but I’m so glad we’ve moved on!
Mark Wood says…
In no particular order, I’m going to go for:
Ross Stewart
The Loch Ness Drogba had no easy task in our last season in League One, as he had to fill the boots of Charlie Wyke, who, in finally getting his act together on his own last year on Wearside, had hit 30 goals in all competitions in 2020-21. Not only did he fill Wyke’s shooting boots, he immediately showed he was an upgrade in his overall play. He could hold the ball up and lead the line, he had some pace to get behind defenders, he was good in the air – all the things that Wyke, who was more of a poacher, wasn’t that great at (sorry, Charlie). We reckoned in Stewart we had the best striker in League One, and we were probably right. In the short space of time he was fit in the Championship, he was just as effective.
Alex Pritchard
This will probably be a controversial choice for some due to the nature of his departure from Wearside, but when he joined in the summer of 2021, he was a former £10 million Premier League player who had been run out of Huddersfield, and we had picked him up on a free transfer. No fee, no gamble in that respect, but he was still a risk, as the way his career was going at that point, he could have disappeared from the footballing radar if it had gone badly on Wearside. Instead, it wasn’t long before reports were coming from training that he looked like a Premier League player, and once fully fit, he became a key player for us throughout a season in which we were eventually promoted. I remember we played Arsenal at the Emirates, and in a game where we ended up getting turned over 5-1 in the end, he was the one who really gave the home team a game. He was a class No.10 in League One, with so much of our attacking play coming through him.
Aiden McGeady
I was tempted to go for Dion Sanderson, who I thought was a class act in his brief run in the team, but that would be a total disservice to McGeady, who carried Sunderland for a lot of his time when he was in the first team. While my first two choices get all the glory for their one season which got us promoted, McGeady provided the bread-and-butter in that respect for much of the three years before – even if Phil Parkinson banished him for a year.
In our first season in League One, it was his play and a fair few goals from Josh Maja which made a difference to a pretty average team. He was our creative threat, the talisman in Jack Ross’s team, and I’ll never forget his stunning free-kick to put us ahead at Wembley against Portsmouth. Phil Parkinson treated him appallingly because, for all that anyone can make of it, they just couldn’t get on together, but when he came back under Lee Johnson, he showed us what had been missing from our play. His annihilation of Doncaster full-back Brad Halliday in a 4-1 win at the Stadium of Light in February 2021 was as complete a wing performance as you will ever see.
Cal Mills says…
League One was a dark time in our history, but luckily there were some shining lights whilst in the doldrums of English football. In no particular order, my top three favourite players from that era are Ross Stewart, Patrick Roberts, and Bailey Wright.
Ross Stewart
Ross Stewart, AKA The Loch Ness Drogba, was an absolute bargain from Ross County. Not sure the fee even reached a quarter of a million pounds. He did have a pretty immediate effect with a header away to Accrington Stanley. That summer, we lost our 30-goal-a-season striker in Charlie Wyke, but his departure was quickly forgotten about as The Scottish Drogba was bagging goals for fun with an excellent array of finishing! His goals propelled us up the league and into the Championship, where, if he wasn’t struck by injury and we’d had him for THAT play-off run, I feel we’d have been promoted to the Premier League sooner than we eventually were.
Patrick Roberts
Patrick Roberts, AKA Mini Messi. Some called him a cheat code in League One, and it’s hard to argue that. Fleet of foot, excellent close ball control, and a penchant for a nutmeg, he lit up the league. It was always funny to see someone line up with number 77 on the back of their shirts like a Big-Time Billy, but with how he would take the game to the opposition, it was quickly forgiven. He filled a void left by McGeady, in my opinion. An unbelievably creative player who could find space in a phone box with Gemma Collins. The injury-time equaliser away to Sheffield Wednesday, sending us to Wembley, will never be forgotten. Much like Ross Stewart, he carried that form on into the Championship, and we got to see arguably the best link-up play with Amad since Gray and Johnson!
Bailey Wright
Bailey Wright. Absolutely no-nonsense defender that you could rely on nine times out of ten. I think if he himself didn’t finish the game with a bandage round his head, he saw it as a disappointment! To get him on an initial loan from Bristol City, at the time, was a stroke of genius, as he was a fan favourite and ever-present in The Robins’ starting eleven. From tough tackles to long diagonal passes, he just looked a cut above other defenders in League One. His first season was cut short by injury and Covid, but for the remainder of our time in the league, he was an absolute stalwart at the back. Great to see him having an excellent career over in Singapore, where last season he scored seven goals as a centre-back! He didn’t score as many with us, but what he was signed to do, he did with ease.
