Five former Sunderland academy starlets: Where are they now?

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England’s captain and players from Middlesbrough, Newcastle United and Rangers all feature.

Sunderland’s Stadium of Light has showcased some of the club’s home-grown talent over the years

With their return to the Football League imminent, Sunderland will find themselves playing Championship football for the first time since 2007 barring another great escape. The Black Cats are the basement boys of the Premier League and supporters are already looking ahead to next season’s rebuilding process.

Sunderland will be keen for an immediate return to England’s top tier but may struggle to achieve this in the Championship, arguably the world’s most competitive league. If promotion is to be achieved then Sunderland’s youth academy may be a vital component. We take a look at five players who have come through the Academy of Light and where they are now.

Jordan Pickford – Sunderland

We start with one of the shining lights of Sunderland’s rather bleak season. The Black Cats goalkeeper has been in fine form for his side and without his heroics between the posts, their position in the league could be much worse.

Pickford has been at Sunderland since the age of eight and signed his first professional contract with the club in 2011. After a number of loan spells across England’s football league, he was finally given his chance in the first team in January 2016. He has not looked back since.

Despite Sunderland’s woeful position in the league, the 23-year-old’s performances earned him his first senior England squad call up back in October. The sky seems to be the limit for Pickford with a number of Premier League clubs said to be vying for his signature. If Sunderland are relegated to the Championship then it is likely that his 15 year spell with the club will come to an end.

Sunderland’s Jordan Pickford

Jordan Henderson – Liverpool

Henderson joined his hometown club at the age of eight and made his first senior squad appearance in a 5-0 away defeat at Chelsea aged just 18-years-old in 2008.

After a short loan spell at Coventry City, he became a mainstay in the Sunderland midfield and made 70 Premier League appearances in two years at the Stadium of Light before making a big money move to Liverpool in 2011. He has been an ever present on Merseyside and took over as captain after Steven Gerrard retired.

The box-to-box midfielder is also captain of England and at 26-years-old he still has plenty of time to try and help Liverpool claim that elusive Premier League title. Henderson is easily the Sunderland academy’s greatest success story in recent times.

England’s Jordan Henderson started his career at Sunderland aged just eight

Jack Colback – Newcastle United

When Colback made the move to their bitter rivals in 2014, it was not a popular move amongst supporters for obvious reasons. The midfielder was born in Newcastle but joined the Sunderland academy at the age of 10.

The 27-year-old made 115 appearances for the Black Cats in a six year spell at the Stadium of Light from 2008. He had two productive loan spells at Ipswich Town, his impressive performances in the Championship helped him gain a starting place for the Black Cats in the Premier League. He was a key figure in helping Sunderland retain their top flight status in recent years.

Colback has struggled to win over the Newcastle fans and he was unable to prevent the Magpies from relegation last season, much to the delight of the Sunderland supporters.

Jack Colback is currently playing in the Championship with Newcastle United

Grant Leadbitter – Middlesbrough

Leadbitter joined the academy at 16-years-old and in 2002 and quickly found himself in the Sunderland first team picture. In 2005 the Black Cats had won promotion to the Premier League and the midfielder made 12 appearances in their relegation campaign.

He was a key figure in helping them gain immediate promotion back to the top flight in 2007, his seven goals in 44 appearances made him a popular player amongst supporters. He continued to impress in the Premier League before he was sold to Championship side Ipswich Town in 2009.

The 31-year-old is now at fellow Premier League strugglers and North-East rivals Middlesbrough after guiding them to promotion last season.

Middlesbrough’s Grant Leadbitter celebrates scoring their first goal

Martyn Waghorn – Rangers

After working his way through the ranks of the Sunderland academy since the age of eight, Waghorn was backed by many to achieve great things at the Stadium of Light.

After scoring goals for fun in the Sunderland reserves, Waghorn was given his chance in the first team by Roy Keane who backed him to have a long and successful career. Despite earning such high praise, the striker was unable to make an impact in his eight senior games for the club.

The majority of his career has been spent in the English Championship with five different clubs including Leicester City and Wigan Athletic. In 2015, Waghorn was signed by Rangers in 2015 and he has scored an impressive 43 goals in 68 appearance so far for the Scottish giants.

Martyn Waghorn has an impressive goal scoring record for Rangers