The pint sized striker had everyone on Wearside pissing in their pants with excitement at the fact our new signing from South America had won several titles in the footballing hotbed that was Nicaragua. On first observation of the dwarf like substance, paraded like some kind of freak show at half time against Wimbledon at the SOL, it was obvious from the beginning that Nunez (which is South American for numb nuts) wouldn’t be fit to play a part as E.T., nevermind a top Premiership striker. Rumour has it that the club watched the wrong player, the player’s agent sent in the wrong tape and Nunez himself caused a massive coup, by misleading a top flight English club into giving a farmer’s boy a shot at the big time. Whatever the reason, Nunez must of had some balls to administer severe embarrassment to Sunderland.

The flamboyant Scouse maestro transformed our football club from relegation cowboys to Premiership showmen, with style and panache. I’m sure nobody on Wearside would dispute this. Reidy’s involvement in this top ten mainly involves his dodgy transfer dealings and choice of tactics. Even from an early stage, Peter made tactical decisions which would have baffled scientists across the globe. The case of dropping Dariusz Kubicki as he was about to close in on George Mulhall’s consecutive appearance record, instead opting for the bag of bollocks that was Gareth Hall was a deficiency not picked up from early stages. And maybe when the signings of Carsten Fredgaard and Nunez didn’t sound alarm bells, then the treatment of Thomas Helmer – a respected German international, who was shunned from the first team for lack of fitness, only to play in the Champions' League on loan, later that season, must send the idiotometer through the roof.

The club’s player of the last century, who was raised down south, arrived at Sunderland and literally fell in love with the place. In turn, the Wearside faithful adored the centre half, who would run through brick walls and back, in the name of the Rokerite cause. Perhaps we should sign him up as motivational coach for the younger generation of players at the SOL, mainly to instill what it means to pull on a red and white jersey and carry on the history and traditions of great club. Hurley’s legacy is held such in high regard that younger generations mention his name in the same breath as the modern players, even though they (or I) didn’t get to see the great man play. Charlie’s inclusion in the poll, revolves around his adopted Mackem heart. He is nuts about Sunderland and we are nuts about him.

Another footballing genius to grace Wearside was Charles Buchan – a robust centre forward, who signed for Sunderland from Woolwich Arsenal in 1911. In a fourteen year stay at the club, Buchan clocked 224 goals in 413 appearances for the lads. He was both renowned on and off the pitch though, with Charlie regularly labeled a rebel, following numerous clashes with the authority figures within the national game at the time. In those days, it was not unknown for the FA officials to take the limelight, with the players undertaking the donkey work, without reward – how times have changed. Buchan, not happy with this regularly campaigned for wage rises and never shirked an argument with the FA, resulting in fewer caps for his country, despite sterling performances. Buchan not content with his sporting wages opened a sports outfitters in the City, which further still infuriated the establishment. After his playing career was over, Buchan carried on with football in the form of journalism, founding the Football Writer’s Association, eventually producing Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly magazine. In today’s climate of bungs, drugs and diving, one could consider Buchan’s antics as lightweight. When taking on a 1920s mantle, when players were expected to be ridiculed for having an opinion, Charles Buchan took a stand and took the fight to the top of the game. For sheer guts and balls Buchan proudly sits at number seven in the chart.

Mention the name David Speedie to most football fans and they’ll answer with a comment about him being a Scottish international, played for Coventry in the eighties and so on. Mention the name David Speedie to most Sunderland fans and they’ll come back with five words… ‘Gary Bennett Clock Stand Paddock’. To the younger audience, this may be confusing, so allow me to explain. The scene is Roker Park in a League Cup encounter with top flight Coventry City as the eighties turned into the nineties. Gary Bennett, a Roker Park hero, was marking the little shite that was the City striker David Speedie, an earlier edition of Paul Dickov. Speedie being Speedie, was playing out his usual game of winding up the opposition’s defence, this time overstepping the mark on a few occasions, sticking in the boot on Benno consistently without regard. Come the second half and defending the Fulwell End goal, Bennett seemingly having had enough of this twat, proceeded to lift him up in one clean sweep and carry him over to the Clock Stand paddock by his neck, where finally inflicting actually bodily harm on the Scotsman’s head, with the aid of the Sunderland contingent, pinning Speedie to the advertising hoardings. Benno went to town on the forward, finally being restrained by teammates and the referee. This alone earned Bennett cult status in a long and illustrious career on Wearside. We’ve come to witness flashes of temper from the normally cool Benno on numerous occasions since that fateful night, but none so heated.

Ball shores up an ever growing list of hard bastards at the business end of our nutter compilation. An aggressive tackling centre half/midfielder in his day, Bally soon won over the Sunderland followers. Over the years we have become accustomed to Kevin’s brutal, yet fair style of play, in which he has maimed the opposition much to great applause from the home supporters. In that style of play, Bally earned as many red cards as horrific injuries, always returning harder and stronger than ever. These injuries included a broken jaw and a leg wound, that could have led to amputation, had it not been for the quick intervention of medical staff. Bally’s inclusion does not owe to one incident in particular, thus placing him in the top five of the chart. In his time he has had run-ins with Vinnie Jones, Dennis Wise and various referees. His earlier days at the club heralded his biggest number of dismissals, perhaps mellowing with age, Bally still held the club dear to his heart, despite his Hastings roots. I recall his love of Sunderland in one TV interview straight after the 5-2 hammering at Bury, in which the club sealed promotion to the Premiership in 1999. On the subject of promotion back to the big time, Bally added that ‘Sunderland would now become a real force’, but it wasn’t the words what he spoke, but the manner in which he said them. Bally’s face complete with determination as if it was to be his own personal goal to achieve this aim.

No Sunderland hard men club would be complete without the street fighting Glaswegian branch, which would be bossed by none other than the working man’s nutter and crackpot wind up merchant – Alex Rae. Personally, one of my all time Sunderland favourites, it would be unfair to simply label Alex as a tough tackler, as people often forget his flair which graced the midfield as Sunderland raced to the Premier. Often at the centre of flashpoints though, Rae often pushed the boundaries, for instance throwing the ball off Roy Keane’s head, not once but twice was pushing it. Then, irritated by the French nonce that was David Ginola, in a down tempo end of season affair, Alex responded by launching an elbow straight at the winger, prompting a red card, lengthy ban and club fine. Rae also had well documented off field problems, mainly alcohol related, I recall one occasion in which Rae ecstatic after a 7-0 drubbing of Oxford was seen in the Sports Bar some ten minutes after the final whistle nearly rounding off his first pint. And we all loved him for it. He wore his heart on his sleeve and was respected for that. Criminally sold to Wolves by Peter Reid, Alex then moved on to boyhood heroes – Rangers, where in true Alex Rae style, kept up his hardman reputation, loosing teeth in the old firm derby.

Our flirtation with all things brick shit housey abruptly end here. For Ladies and Gentlemen, let us put our hands into the loony pot and draw out another foaming mad dog, that goes by the name of Howard Wilkinson. Appointed as the surprise successor to Peter Reid in 2003, Sgt Wilko filled the SOL corridors with gloom from the start. Refusing to appear on the pitch in front of the crowd on his inaugural home game, Wilko’s humble beginnings rarely broke sweat until he was sacked five months down the line. Paired with Steve Cotterill, the duo combined to make Sunderland AFC a national laughing stock (the first time around). After a 0-0 draw at Liverpool, that saw Sunderland camped in their own half, without registering a shot off target, nevermind on target, resulted in Howard acknowledging that we had made giant steps forward. Wilkinson’s tactics and managerial skills would not have been out of place in ‘The Office’, as Sunderland’s comical efforts on and off the pitch only worsened in their history by the current campaign.

The second position is held in high esteem as we revert back to Wearside’s school of hard knocks. Sandwiched in between was Howard Wilkinson, who whilst was manager of Leeds United, likened the challenge made by this player on Leeds’ Peter Haddock to a tractor steamrolling through. Please rise for the formidable insanity and quality banter that was John Kay. Adapted by the Roker followers to be known as ‘The Red and White Tractor’, Johnny Kay’s no nonsense approach to football was lapped up by the Sunderland fans. Like the characters before him in the top five, on more than one occasion Kay has displayed his wild ways. There was the incident against Charlton when Kaysie aimed a classic head butt at the opposing forward, prompting a fan to run on the pitch in protest at John’s red card. The main memory though of the stout full back was on the day that yielded the demise of his Sunderland career. In a league match at home to Birmingham City, Kaysie threw himself into yet another typical challenge, but with the pitch waterlogged, John came off the worse, immediately showing signs of a broken leg. In an age where we see players carted off on gas and air, John Kay lying upright on his stretcher decided to ‘row’ himself off the Roker turf, much to the amusement of the nearby Don Goodman and medical staff. Hereby clearly displaying his tough mental attitude, his high standards of banter, combined with an unbreakable resolve that puts him near the top of the chart. He’s red, he’s white, he’s fucking dynamite... Johnny Kay, Johnny Kay.