My defining Sunderland games: Stephen Elliott tells the inside story of his greatest goals and memories

First up is Stephen Elliott.

Elliott arrived on Wearside with just two senior appearances under his belt, but over three memorable seasons, he forged a lifelong connection with the club.

He played for Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane, witnessed two promotions and a relegation, suffered injury heartache and scored some of the most memorable goals for a generation of fans.

Here, he talks us through the four games that tell the tale of his time on Wearside.

The interview is also available in audio form as a special edition of the Roar podcast.

Gillingham (A) September 11th, 2004

Having narrowly missed out in the play-offs the previous season, Sunderland were struggling.

They came into this game sitting 17th in the table, with just one win in six…...

I came to the club that summer and actually started the first game of the season away at Coventry, which was my first senior start in professional football.

Whether it was my nerves or what, I didn’t play as well as I would have liked.

You start getting questions in my mind, ‘am I quite ready for this?’ I think Mick took me off after about an hour in that game.

I’d come on in a few games after that and scored a couple of goals which took the pressure off a bit, but in my mind I was still kind of wondering if I could do it from the start.

Kevin Kyle had picked up an injury before this game so Mick had given me the nod to start up front alongside Marcus Stewart.

I think it was Mick sort of having a look to see if I could do it.

We beat them comfortably and it was a big moment.

Marcus scored a hat-trick, I scored one and laid a few on for him as well I think. We built up a good connection and I think from that point on, Mick had a lot more trust in me.

Marcus was great for me.

He was a similar kind of player to myself, a similar size, and he taught me so much.

How to use my body against these senior defenders, things like that.

It was a big learning curve and I’ve a lot to be grateful to him for.

Marcus wasn’t the quickest so I did a bit more of the channel running, but he was a great footballer and a real grafter.

He didn’t give defenders any time or space to pick passes and in my first professional season, to be playing alongside him, there were so many times he’d do something that I would then pick up myself.

We just hit it off, I know there’s a big age gap between us but he was a bit of a kid in the dressing room anyway and he didn’t mind joining in with the younger lads.

He was a top footballer and a top character.

It was disappointing for Kevin, because I think Mick had him and Marcus as his first-choice going into the season, with me eventually maybe taking over from Marcus.

There was a bit of pressure going into that game but everyone knows the Championship is a really long season.

You can never get bogged down too much because there’s so many games.

To be fair to Mick, he was really good at doing that. It was a good group, a lot of young players so we socialised a lot together.

We never really got too down as a group and we quickly built up loads of confidence.

It kind of helped us because so many of us were so young.

You had myself coming in that summer, Dean Whitehead from Oxford, Liam Lawrence from Mansfield.

We didn’t really let defeats affect us much as maybe we would have later in our careers.

We were just going out and playing football for a huge football club. We were just delighted to have that honour and as soon as you started winning, you start to feel a bit invincible.

The balance was good, you also had Marcus, Gary Breen, Thomas Myhre came in and played a lot of games.

They were really good at keeping us on the ground and then helping us through the trickier times.

Sunderland: Poom, Wright, Breen, Stephen Caldwell, McCartney, Whitehead, Robinson (Oster 72), Whitley, Arca, Elliott (Lynch 87), Stewart (Johnson 75).

Subs Not Used: Collins, Myhre.

Goals: Stewart 4, Elliott 17, Stewart 20, 68.

West Ham United (A) April 29th, 2005

Later that season, Sunderland came into this game knowing a win would secure the title.

They went 1-0 down before Julio Arca’s equaliser in the second half, with Elliott brought on with just over fifteen minutes to play to score the winner.

After, a proud Mick McCarthy said: “I keep hearing we are not the best side in the Championship.

"But I think that when people read the papers in the morning, they will find that we are.

"To go up as champions is just reward for what we have achieved this season.”

I talk about this goal a lot because it was a huge moment for me.

Coming into this game I’d not started that many for a little while as Mick had gone with Chris Brown for a few.

So to come off the bench and seal the title, there was just something so special about it.

I will never forget that moment when you see the ball hit the net.

That team had a real work ethic about it.

We didn’t really have any real worldbeaters, though Julio maybe had that little bit more quality on the ball.

I just think every player in that squad enjoyed working hard and for me, that’s the minimum for a footballer.

We all enjoyed getting in people’s faces and making it difficult.

Mick was known as not the most stylish of managers, he was a bit marmite, but he had something about him that as players, we all wanted to run through brick walls for him.

Even the lads who were a bit more on the fringes that season, Neil Collins, Andy Welsh, they all came in and played a part.

Mick would never annihilate you when you made a mistake. Yeah, he could give out a rollicking when he needed to but he always had that belief in you.

I’m a coach myself now and you think about the different things from managers you played under. That was the big thing about Mick I always reflect on, he always made everyone feel a part of things.

We did have more quality than people thought and we really believed all along we could win that title.

I used to sit next to Stephen Caldwell on the bus after away games and I remember us always saying, ‘we’re going to win the league here, we’re going to win it’.

You get on that little buzz.

On the way back home from this game it was kind of like, ‘there you go, we said it all along’.

It was a really good time, for me personally, that group kind of grew up together and it was probably one of my favourite seasons.

Sunderland: Alnwick, McCartney, Breen (Collins 74), Caldwell, Wright, Lawrence, Whitehead, Robinson, Arca, Brown (Deane 89), Stewart (Elliott 75)

Subs Not Used: Welsh, Carson

Goals: Harewood, 43, Arca 52, Elliott 87.

Newcastle United (A) October 23rd, 2005

One of the toughest campaigns in recent memory and it was no different for Elliott.

Early on in the season, however, he scored two stunning strikes that live long in the memory, including one during an agonising derby defeat….

I was lucky enough to score some decent long-range efforts but this one obviously sticks out for me.

To be able score a goal of that quality in a game of that intensity, a lot of fans always want to talk about that goal even though we went on to lose and I was inches away from getting an equaliser towards the end as well.

To score in any derby is special.

It was a big deal for me to score past Shay Given as well, someone who I rated so highly.

I think he was the best goalkeeper I ever played with.

I was actually carrying a knock through that game and I ended up missing most of that season so that was probably the highest point of the season for me, one of those moments that no one will ever be able to take away.

The week before I’d scored a goal against Manchester United, who were the best team in the league at that time arguably.

Ronaldo, Rooney, Van Nistelrooy, Ferdinand…

It wasn’t too dissimilar a goal but obviously it wasn’t in a derby. Though, growing up a Liverpool fan, it was a bit special!

I was in the national team at that time as well, so it was all happening so quickly for me.

These games probably summed up that season really.

We never really got hammered but we just didn’t have that quality or experience and Mick’s hands had been tied a bit in terms of his transfer budget.

Over the course of the season we were just punished for those little lapses and moments that you maybe get away with in the Championship.

Unfortunately for myself, I missed a good chunk of that season. I’m not saying I would have made a huge difference but I think it was a loss to the team because I was in a bit of form and I think I might have helped us pick up a few more points.

Mick used to give me a bit of stick when I was trying to get fit, not that he was questioning whether I was injured, it just annoyed him so much that I couldn’t get on the pitch.

It was frustrating for me but there’s nothing you can do and I had fractured my back that season so I had to let it heal otherwise I’d have done long-term damage.

When I eventually got back fit I think Mick was sacked the day after, and then I picked up an ankle injury two games days later.

Sunderland: Davis, Nosworthy, Breen (Stubbs 42), Caldwell, Hoyte, Lawrence, Miller, Whitehead, Welsh (Arca 45), Elliott, Gray (Le Tallec 79)

Subs Not Used: Alnwick, Robinson

Goals: Ameobi 34, Lawrence, 35 Ameobi, 37 , Elliott, 41 Emre 63

Sheffield Wednesday (A) January 20th, 2007

Roy Keane’s Sunderland were well and truly beginning to motor.

It was a memorable night for all associated with the club, even if Keane himself had not been entirely complimentary about his team’s performance….

I look back on this game as probably the last one of my Sunderland career that I really played a big part in.

Roy had obviously come in earlier in the season, made a few signings and we got on a roll.

I was playing on the right wing a lot and we were winning a lot of games.

I really felt part of it, scoring a few goals.

Roy then rotated a lot but I started this game and played well I think, from the right wing again.

There were 6,000 Sunderland fans there and I think this was the game that the ‘Hey Jude’ chant for Roy started.

It was an amazing atmosphere.

We took a big lead and then let it slip before Carlos Edwards made sure of the points.

Roy wasn’t happy after but he was always like that.

You could lose a game and he’d say nothing, then sometimes you’d win and he’d go crazy at the lads.

I think that was his way of keeping people on their toes.

A player could score in a game and then not be in the squad for the next one. You could be taken aback by what he did but he had his ways and it worked that season.

I woke up after the game with severe pain in my ankle, went to see a specialist and it turned out I needed another operation.

My Sunderland career never really got going again after that so it’s a bit of a bittersweet feeling.

It was a great time, though.

The city was bouncing and there was such a buzz.

We finished the season on a high and I still felt I’d played a part.

I’d become a Sunderland fan by this point, I’d met my wife by then, a huge Sunderland fan and so were all her family.

The feeling around the club was great, a lot of friends had signed, Liam Miller, God rest his soul, Graham Kavanagh, Darren Ward.

We had such a good friendship group off the pitch.

Football is all about moments and occasions, and to be part of a couple of them where Sunderland are concerned, I’m so proud and feel so privileged.

Sunderland: Ward, Evans, Whitehead, Nosworthy, Collins, Edwards, Hysen (Wallace 90), Yorke, Miller (Leadbitter 63), Elliott, Connolly (Murphy 75)

Subs Not Used: Fulop, Varga

Goals: Yorke 21, Hysen 45, Connolly 58, Brunt, 82, Small, 87, Edwards 89.