Chris Rigg has revealed how Sunderland’s players reacted to drawing AC Milan in the Europa League and joked that his dad will not be missing the trip to Italy
Chris Rigg has revealed how Sunderland's players reacted when AC Milan came out of the hat in the Europa League – and there is little doubt one member of the Rigg family intends to be there.
Sunderland have already taken their first step back into European football, beating AZ Alkmaar 1-0 at the Stadium of Light in their first continental fixture for 53 years. Rigg's comments came before that historic night, shortly after Sunderland learned what European schedule awaited them.
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The prospect of travelling to Milan stood out immediately. Rigg was developing through Sunderland's academy while the club were still in League One, and he made his debut in January 2023 as a 15-year-old, during their first season back in the Championship under Tony Mowbray, which made the scale of the journey particularly remarkable.
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"We were all watching it in the physio room, and we were all really happy," Rigg said. "Look, I think no matter where you're going to go in Europe, it's going to be tough, but when you get a big team like that, yeah, it's going to be exciting to play them games in Milan."
Asked to reflect on going from Sunderland's League One era to the prospect of representing his hometown club on the European stage, Rigg admitted even he has struggled to comprehend how quickly things have changed. "Yeah, it's absolutely crazy, and as I've just said before, we're so excited for the challenge," he said. "We're just going to take it head-on really, and hopefully we can come out on top."
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Rigg's family have been with him throughout his remarkable rise from academy prospect to Premier League footballer, and his response when asked whether his Newcastle United-supporting father would be joining him on some of Sunderland's European adventures was immediate. "Oh, he'll be there!" Rigg laughed.
And could the teenager genuinely have imagined any of this when he first stepped into Sunderland's senior side in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury Town under Mowbray? "Probably not, no," Rigg said with another laugh. "You don't really think that far ahead, really. But, yeah, there we are."
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