On this day in 1997, former Sunderland winger Patrick Roberts was born in London. Roberts signed for the club in January 2022 and left on Deadline Day of the 2026 winter transfer window, playing 147 games and winning two promotions for the club along the way.
Roberts was a highly sought-after talent as a youngster, signing as a professional for Fulham at the young age of 17. 16 months after making his senior debut, the diminutive winger was snapped up by Manchester City for £12 million. At the time it was a massive fee for a player who had started just three games for Fulham, with 19 substitute appearances.
Patrick’s City debut actually came against Sunderland, when they thrashed us 4-1 in the League Cup in September 2015. He came on a sub in that game for Jesus Navas. Four days later, he made his Premier League debut but his four minutes in a 4-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur would be his only league appearance for Man City.
He was loaned out to Celtic on an 18-month deal and, after a successful spell (which included scoring a Champions League goal against his parent club), the loan was extended by another year. This was followed by brief loans with Girona, Norwich City, Middlesbrough, Derby County and Troyes, which takes us all the way up to 2022, when he finally left City permanently. He joined Sunderland on a free in January, initially on a short-term contract until the end of the season.
It took Roberts a little while to get up to speed, due to his inactive loan spell at Troyes. He scored his first goal in red and white in a 2-0 victory over Crewe Alexandra, when he linked up with new signing Jack Clarke and got the finish. That partnership struck again at Hillsborough in the play-offs and Roberts scored the winning goal to send the Lads to Wembley. If it wasn’t for that we might still be in League One as we speak. Roberts played in the play-off final and Sunderland won promotion to the Championship.
Similarly to the season prior, it took Roberts a little while to get a proper run of games at the start of 2022/23, with Alex Neil favouring the 3-4-1-2 formation. However, Roberts got an opportunity against Reading and he scored a brace in Sunderland’s 3-0 win at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. The former Fulham man formed a really good partnership with Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo, with the duo becoming regulars on Tony Mowbray’s team sheet. They both drifted to the right hand side and doubled up on the opposition’s left back. They are both very technically gifted players, so full backs were often left confused on who to mark. It was a very effective partnership and won the Lads plenty of points as we reached the play-offs. We wouldn't have got to the play-offs if it hadn't been for Patrick. Many people remember the joys of that Preston North End away game on the final day of the season but we wouldn't have had that opportunity if Roberts didn't produce some magic in the game prior against Watford. We were losing 2-1 at home to the Hornets, in additional time, with our play-off hopes fading with every passing second, until Paddy stepped up and curled in an absolute beauty in the 95th minute.
There were some worries that teams would be tempted to come in for Roberts in the summer before the 2023/24 season began but, thankfully, we managed to keep a hold of him and then we gave him a new contract in November 2023, keeping at the club until 2026 with the option of a further year. The winger seemed to struggle to adapt without his attacking partner Diallo and registered just two assists in 32 matches across the season. His main competitor for game time, Abdoullah Ba, actually registered more goals and assists (three goals, four assists) and played more games. Injuries certainly played a role in this though, as he suffered a calf injury and thigh injury within a couple months of each other at the start of 2024.
Last season, he scored twice and assisted eight in 48 appearances but his final assist for the club was the most important. With the Lads trailing Sheffield United 1-0 in the play-off final with 14 minutes left on the clock, Roberts set up Eliezer Mayenda to grab the equaliser. Without this, there would have been no opportunity for Tommy Watson to bag the winner in stoppage time and end our eight-year absence from the top flight.
The winger played twice more for the club this season, including once in the Premier League, before departing for Birmingham City on a season-long loan in the Championship. This loan deal was made permanent on Deadline Day of the subsequent winter transfer window, ending his four-year association with the club.