Where Sunderland’s 1990 St James’ Park heroes are now ahead of Newcastle derby | OneFootball

Sunderland visit Newcastle United this weekend aiming to mark their Premier League return with a Tyne-Wear derby double. They are unbeaten in their last five visits to St James’ Park, three wins and two draws since 2012. They are likely to wear a 1990-inspired blue strip, recalling the play-off semi-final won 2-0 on aggregate by goals from Eric Gates and Marco Gabbiadini.

That run sent them to Wembley, where they lost to Swindon Town. According to Sunderland Echo, Swindon were later punished for financial irregularities and forfeited promotion, so Denis Smith’s side went up.

Goalkeeper Tony Norman, capped by Wales, later served as a Durham police officer and coached at Darlington 1883, Gateshead and Blyth Spartans. John Kay made 239 appearances, then played for Preston, Scarborough and Workington, before working on addiction support with Derwentside Council.

Reuben Agboola, twice capped by Nigeria while at Sunderland, made 170 appearances and now works as an ambassador for a car sales firm in Eastleigh. Paul Bracewell’s three spells totalled 270 games, and he later coached at Sunderland and Tottenham, departing the latter last year.

Gary Bennett, fifth on the club’s all-time list with 443 games, is a BBC Radio Newcastle summariser and received an MBE in 2022 for anti-racism work. Former captain John MacPhail had a short player-manager stint at Hartlepool United and has received ongoing care for a brain injury since a 2021 fall.

Source: Sunderland Echo