424: Lee Cattermole, Sunderland, Topps Match Attax Trading Card Game, Barclays Premier League 2010/11 Collector Binder

In 1879 schoolmaster James Allan decided to gather his colleagues together for a kickabout and, by October 1880, Sunderland AFC had come into existence. Based on personal experience of teachers’ kickabouts I can only assume there were some ultra-competitive members of the PE department, some surprisingly decent elder statesmen and one member of the Senior Leadership Team who everyone was worried about tackling. Unlike the various Friday misuses of sports halls I have taken part in Sunderland joined the Football League in 1890 and had won the whole thing three times in their first five seasons. Long before Chelsea were given something shiny for a couple of minutes by Donald Trump the Black Cats had also been crowned ‘Football World Champions’ on three occasions by virtue of victories over Scottish champions Celtic, Queen’s Park and Heart of Midlothian. When the First World War brought a temporary pause to league football in 1915 Sunderland had won five league championships, finished as Division One runners up on three occasions and reached the FA Cup final. 

While the Black Cats were not as dominant in the rest of the twentieth century they did win another league championship and the FA Cup in the 1930s and did not suffer relegation from the top tier until 1958. Although they dropped down to the second tier again in 1970 they added another FA Cup in 1973 and, by the time the Premier League came into being in 1992, they had only spent a single season outside of the top two tiers of English football. The Premier League era brought the dizzying highs of Kevin Phillips’ record breaking goalscoring, a then record low points total in 2006 and Darren Bent scoring a winner against Liverpool via a stray beach ball. In the dugout the club witnessed a range of characters from pragmatists like Steve Bruce and David Moyes to the blood and thunder of Roy Keane and Paolo Di Canio. By 2017, however, there wasn’t too much to smile about on Wearside as Mackems saw their club finish rock bottom of the Premier League having won just six games all season. With owner Ellis Short desperate to sell the club and cautious optimism for a speedy return to the top flight the good people at Netflix thought it was time to get the cameras rolling. Simon Grayson was brought in as manager and long serving midfielder Lee Cattermole was, once again, named as captain.

Cattermole began his career at Middlesbrough and impressed on debut earning the man of the match award for the Tyne-Tees derby. His first professional season also featured a winning goal against Manchester City, an appearance in the UEFA Cup final and his first taste of captaincy in the final game of the season against Fulham at the tender age of 18. Across the next two seasons he was a first team regular as Boro gave former captain Gareth Southgate his first taste of management and he moved to Wigan Athletic for £3.5m ahead of the 2008/09 campaign. His performances, and his tough tackling, attracted the attentions of other clubs and, after just one season, he moved on to Sunderland for £6m alongside his former manager Steve Bruce. He also managed to pick up a three-year pub ban in his hometown of Stockton and found his name on a PubWatch troublemakers list before earning a conditional caution after a night out with Nicklas Bendtner went awry. Both Bruce and successor Martin O’Neill backed Cattermole and he retained the Sunderland captaincy until it was passed to John O’Shea ahead of the 2012/13 season under the controversial Di Canio.

While Cattermole’s disciplinary record on and off the pitch improved, and he was restored to the vice-captaincy, Sunderland’s decline accelerated and they started the 2017/18 campaign in the Championship. What followed made a fascinating documentary and a painful examination of self-destruction. After fifteen games, and just one win, Simon Grayson was replaced with Chris Coleman but the Welshman could not bring the magic of Euro 2016 to the Stadium of Light even with Jonny Williams and Adam Matthews in tow. Amidst the drama Cattermole remained stoic and committed to the cause but relegation to League One was confirmed in mid-April following a 2-1 defeat to fellow strugglers Burton Albion. With new owners, a new manager in Jack Ross and some questionable pre-match musical choices the Black Cats set about fighting their way back up the pyramid. The captaincy was passed on to academy graduate George Honeyman but Cattermole remained a key figure in the first team and scored nearly half of his professional goals across the season. Sunderland made two trips to Wembley, reaching the EFL Trophy and play-off finals, but suffered defeat on both occasions. Cattermole’s penalty shootout miss in the former handed Portsmouth the silverware while Charlton Athletic’s late winner condemned the Black Cats to another season in the third tier. After ten years on Wearside, and indescribable ups and downs, it was time for Lee Cattermole to move on.

Cattermole’s last professional season was spent in the Netherlands with VVV-Venlo but was curtailed by the Covid-19 outbreak. With the KNVB deciding to cancel the rest of the campaign he was released from his contract and brought his 395 game career to an end. Back in the North East Sunderland finished their cancelled campaign outside the play-off spots. They finally made it out of the notoriously tricky League One via the play-offs in 2022 and were back in the Premier League by a similar route in 2025. Despite the scepticism surrounding their return they have more than held their own and, at the time of writing, sit two places and two points above their rivals Newcastle United with a pair of Tyne-Wear derby victories to their name. Regis Le Bris’ side is not packed with superstars but his collection of honest, hardworking players is a nod to those who played their part in the long journey back to the top flight. Few embody that more than Lee Cattermole,

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