Where are they now? The last Sunderland team to face Wolves away featuring Robbin Ruiter, Donald Love & Co
Where are the last Sunderland team to play at Wolves now? By Blake Burns.
From a Padel king to a man with an even stranger new identity - where are the last Sunderland team to play at Wolves now?
Sunderland head to Molineux on Saturday for the first time in eight seasons armed with a rare semi-positive memory from a torrid 2017-18 Championship campaign, a 0-0 draw against Nuno Espirito Santo’s table-topping Wolves. Despite finishing the campaign rock bottom of the second tier and being relegated for a second successive season, the Black Cats were the only team Wolves failed to beat on their march to the Premier League.
But what became of the Sunderland players who offered their travelling fans a rare ray of light in a desperately dark period at Molineux on December 9, 2017? We take a look at where the starting XI picked by Chris Coleman that day are now.
Robbin Ruiter
In a season that saw three different goalkeepers between Sunderland’s sticks, Ruiter started in the West Midlands. The Dutchman made four saves on the day, including three stops in the last 10 minutes to deny Ruben Neves, Ivan Cavaleiro and Diogo Jota. Following relegation to League One, Ruiter stayed around and made six appearances as Sunderland reached the EFL Trophy final.
He then returned to the Netherlands in 2019, signing for PSV. But he played just three times before moving to Willem II for two seasons before ending his career at SC Cambuur Leeuwarden. Having announced his retirement in April 2024, Ruiter returned to the limelight in January 2026, when he won the Padeltoernooi Legends padel tournament alongside Newcastle United old boy Siem De Jong.
Adam Matthews
Wales international Matthews made 37 appearances in the 17-18 campaign, having only played four times for Sunderland in two years before that, following his £2million arrival from Celtic.
The versatile defender stuck around after relegation to League One, scoring in a 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers and providing five assists before joining Charlton Athletic, where he spent three seasons before moving to Cypriot club Omonia Nicosia. In January 2025, Matthews departed Cyprus for Ireland to join Shamrock Rovers, and helped them to pick up their 22nd League of Ireland title in 2025.
John O’Shea
The five-time Premier League winner was brought to the Stadium of Light from Manchester United in 2011 by Steve Bruce and went on to make 256 appearances on Wearside. Following relegation to League One, centre-back O’Shea signed for Reading but made just 11 appearances for the Royals before announcing his retirement in April 2019.
Having stayed on at Reading as an assistant coach, O’Shea later became ex-Sunderland manager Alex Neil’s assistant at Stoke before joining Birmingham City to reunite with former Old Trafford teammate Wayne Rooney as a first-team coach. Having already had a spell as Republic of Ireland assistant manager, O’Shea left St Andrews following Rooney’s sacking and was quickly named as interim Ireland manager, before being appointed as head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson’s permanent No 2 in August 2024.
Marc Wilson
Signed on deadline day 2017 alongside Callum McManaman and Jonny Williams, the Irish defender made his 13th start for the Black Cats against Wolves and also played the full 90 against them on the final day 3-0 victory at the Stadium of Light.
Leaving Sunderland on freedom of contract the following summer, Wilson – then 38 - returned to the Championship with Bolton Wanderers. He then ended his playing career in Iceland with spells at Throttur Vogum and IBV Vestmannaeyjar. Wilson is now Head of Academy Performance at Bangor FC in Northern Ireland.
Jiang Guangtai
If this name doesn’t ring any bells, how about Tyias Browning? The defender signed for Sunderland on a season-long loan from Everton in July 2017 alongside left-back Brendan Galloway.
But while the defender impressed at times, his spell at the Stadium of Light was punctuated by injury, and he returned to Goodison Park in the summer of 2018. Browning then moved to Chinese Super League club Guangzhou FC in February 2019 and has been in China ever since, moving to Shanghai Port in 2022 and making 109 appearances to date, while helping them win the league title in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
And the reason for his name change? With his maternal grandfather having been a Chinese chef in Macclesfield, Browning eventually won the right to become a naturalised Chinese citizen while at Guangzhou and became known as Jiang Guangtai in 2019 before making his full senior international debut for China – having previously represented England up to Under-21 level – in their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Donald Love
Love made the switch from Manchester United to Sunderland in 2016 alongside Paddy McNair. But the now 31-year-old made just 34 appearances for the Black Cats in three years, and the Wolves away game marked one of just 11 appearances in the 2017-18 Championship campaign.
The defender made five appearances in the subsequent League One campaign before being released in July 2019 and joining Shrewsbury Town. Love later moved on to Salford and Morecambe before joining Accrington Stanley in July 2024, where he has recorded eight assists in 86 appearances and is now helping them fight against relegation to the National League.
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Darron Gibson
Gibson arrived on Wearside alongside Bryan Oviedo in a joint deal from Everton in January 2017. The Republic of Ireland international midfielder featured 30 times in red and white, but hit the headlines for the wrong reasons after crashing his car to earn a driving ban for drink-driving.
After relegation to League One, Gibson moved back into the Championship with Wigan Athletic, but was released after just one season before signing for Salford City in February 2020. After making just 11 appearances for the Ammies, Gibson retired in 2021. However, aged 37, he has come out of retirement to play for ninth-tier club Wythenshawe FC alongside Danny Drinkwater, Stephen Ireland, George Boyd and Papiss Cisse.
Lee Cattermole
Cattermole saw red the last time Sunderland headed to Molineux, as the midfielder picked up two yellow cards in the space of less than 60 seconds. Cattermole had arrived on Wearside in 2009 and spent a decade in red and white, making 262 appearances and racking up an astonishing 87 yellow cards. The veteran midfielder departed the club after 10 years and signed for Dutch top-flight team VVV-Venlo before announcing his retirement in August 2020, aged just 32.
The ex-Sunderland skipper has since had spells in coaching with both Middlesborough and Burnley academies before a short stint at Bristol Rovers in 2024, and is known as an outstanding amateur golfer.
George Honeyman
The Prudhoe-born midfielder was handed his Black Cats debut in 2015 in the FA Cup fifth round defeat to Bradford City and made his Premier League debut against Watford in the final game of the 2015-16 campaign. Having made six appearances the following season, 2017-18 was a breakthrough season for Honeyman, as he made 42 appearances and scored six goals.
The following season, Honeyman was made captain by then-manager Jack Ross but could not prevent the Black Cats missing out on promotion in a play-off final against Charlton at Wembley. The midfielder was sold to Hull in 2019, spending three seasons with the Tigers before joining Millwall, where he spent two seasons. Honeyman, now 31, made the move to Blackpool last summer and has helped the Seasiders secure survival in League One.
Lynden Gooch
Gooch arrived on Wearside aged just 16, after regularly travelling from his native USA to the UK to train with the Black Cats academy from the age of 10. The adopted Mackem made his Sunderland breakthrough in the 2017-18 campaign, playing 24 times.
Gooch was given even more of a chance after relegation to League One and scored the winner against Charlton in Ross’ first game in charge. The versatile playmaker scored 19 times in the third tier and also found the net in the Papa John’s Trophy final winner against Tranmere Rovers. In 2023, the American made an emotional departure from Wearside to Stoke City, and spent two years with the Potters before joining League One side Huddersfield Town last summer.
Lewis Grabban
The forward – signed on a year-long loan from Bournemouth in July 2017 - was one of few bright sparks during a dismal Sunderland season - until he wasn’t. Having scored 12 goals in just 20 appearances for the Black Cats, he then joined Aston Villa for the second part of the season, Grabban scored on his return to the Stadium of Light but the Villans lost the Championship play-off final that season. Grabban made a permanent move to Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2018, spending four seasons with the Trees and scoring 12 goals in their 2021 promotion campaign.
He then followed the money in the summer of 2022 to join Al- Ahli in the Saudi Pro League. He returned to Forest in an academy coaching role before departing in 2025 and now combines coaching with work in football education with UCFB (University Campus of Football Business).
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