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ALS
Pre-premiership XI
before the leagues were parted
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In the last year or so of Peter Reid's tenure of the club, one of the key arguments offered by his supporters was that he had amassed "A team full of internationals". The trouble with that though, as Gavin McCann will testify, is that nowadays almost every player worth anything at all gets an international call-up at some stage in their career. Having an international player in the side just is not that interesting any more. But in the decade and a half prior to our Premiership adventures it was much more of a novelty to have an international player at the club - even if they were not going to set the world alight...
Goalkeeper: Tony Norman (Wales)
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Before deciding on a career in stopping the progress of County Durham's miscreants rather than Football League centre forwards, Tony Norman gained five caps for Wales. He did not actually earn any of them while at Roker Park, winning them all when with his previous club - Hull City. With the great (in bulk as much as in success) Neville Southall blocking his path (insert a fat joke of your own choice) into the side, Norman was called into numerous squads without gaining any more caps and he eventually drifted out of the squad in the early nineties.
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Right back: Jimmy Nicholl (Northern Ireland)
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After playing five games on loan from Manchester United in 1981-82, Nicholl went on to be part of the Northern Ireland squad that beat the hosts on their way to the latter stages of the 1982 World Cup in Spain. He made a permanent move to Sunderland after the tournament and earned five of his 73 caps while at the club. He left to play in Canada and also for Rangers and was again part of the Northern Ireland squad at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
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Left back: Nick Pickering (England)
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The only Sunderland player to pick up an England cap between the 1970s and the debuts of Kevin Phillips and Mickey Gray in Hungary in 1999, Nick Pickering played in a 1-1 draw in the third of England's three game series with Australia in the summer of 1983. While he was the only member of the side to pick up his one and only cap that day, several others including John Gregory, Paul Walsh and Mark Barham did not get too many more either. He also holds the distinction of being one of the few Sunderland youth products to go on to win an England cap.
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Centre back: Andy Melville (Wales)
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Melville was already a regular in the Welsh squad when Terry Butcher splashed out part of his £2 million budget in the summer of 1993. Despite making his debut in the infamous 5-0 hammering at Derby on the opening day of the season, Melville had a successful career on Wearside. While at the club he won 17 of his 60+ caps and was part of the Welsh side that narrowly failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. Ten years on and he was also involved as they just failed to qualify for Euro 2004.
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Centre back: Anton Rogan (Northern Ireland)
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Signed by Denis Smith only a few months prior to his departure, Rogan played in the 1992 FA Cup final in his first season with the club before finding himself on the sidelines following Terry Butcher's arrival as first player and then manager. Rogan won just one of his caps while at Sunderland, which looked like being his last until he made a surprise substitute appearance in Northern Ireland's 1-1 draw in Germany in a France 98 qualifier.
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Right midfield: Leighton James (Wales)
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James made his name as something of a maverick, but by the time he arrived on Wearside he had matured into much more of a solid team player. He earned the last of his 54 caps, from which he scored ten goals, as a substitute against England in 1983. After leaving Wearside he became player-coach at ill-feted Newport County before doing the rounds in the North West non-league scene.
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Centre midfield: Reuben Agboola (Nigeria)
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Reuben Omojola Folasanje Agboola joined the club from Southampton during the top flight relegation season of 1984-85. Under the alleged stewardship of Lawrie Mackemenemy, Agboola struggled to hold down a place in the starting line-up during the next two seasons, but he finally became a regular once Denis Smith took the helm. It was during this time, in 1990, that Agboola became the first British-based player to be capped by Nigeria. It was his only cap.
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Left midfield: Colin Pascoe (Wales)
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Pascoe won his first two Welsh caps as a youngster with Swansea City in 1984, but did not earn any more until he arrived on Wearside. Following his move to Roker Park during the 1987-88 season, he collected a further eight caps - four as a starter and four as sub. He eventually drifted out of the Sunderland team during the 1991-92 season and moved back to Swansea, initially on loan for a season and then for good.
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Centre forward: David Kelly (Republic of Ireland)
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An otherwise prolific striker elsewhere, Kelly did not enjoy the best of spells at Roker Park. Indeed, the 1996-97 Premiership season was the only one of his professional career that he failed to register a single goal. Earning four caps, all but one as substitute, in his time at the club, Kelly joined Sunderland not long after scoring in the abandoned match against England in January 1995. All in all, he was capped 26 times and scored nine goals.
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Centre forward: John Byrne (Republic of Ireland)
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The mulleted hero of the 1992 FA Cup run earned just two of his 23 caps while at Sunderland. Byrne was first capped in 1985 and collected the vast majority of his caps under the international management of Jack Charlton, although he was not a regular in either the Euro 88 or Italia 90 campaigns. Byrne scored four goals for his country, which is half of what he managed in 33 league starts for Sunderland, although he did hit seven in eight in the cup run.
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Centre forward: Phil Gray (Northern Ireland)
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Arriving from Luton Town as part of the same Butcher spending spree that brought in Melville, 'Tippy' Gray quickly moved on, this time to hospital thanks to Derek Ferguson's interpretation of the Highway Code. When he returned to fitness he weighed in with his fair share of goals and went on to play his part in the 1995-96 championship season. However, his career went downhill on leaving Roker after an ambitious move to the continent flopped. For Northern Ireland he won 26 caps, half of which were earned while at Sunderland, and scored six goals.
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Keith Watson
(First appeared in issue 124 of ALS 03/04 season)
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