Chris Rigg

With Sunderland facing numerous injuries in their squad, Rigg was named on the bench for the EFL Championship game against Blackpool on 1 January 2023. [ 3 ] Less than a week later, he was again named on the bench, alongside fellow young player Tom Watson , for an FA Cup third round game against Shrewsbury Town , with manager Tony Mowbray saying Rigg was "really impressive", having watched him train with the first team. [ 4 ] Rigg made his professional debut in the game against Shrewsbury Town on 7 January 2023, coming on as a substitute for Édouard Michut in a 2–1 win. [ 5 ] In doing so, he became the second youngest player in Sunderland history, behind Derek Forster . [ 4 ] Following his debut, he was promoted to the Sunderland first team, having to train with the squad only one or two days a week, as he was still in school at the time. [ 6 ] Rigg's second appearance came in the following round of the FA Cup against Fulham , replacing Patrick Roberts in the 86th minute. In injury time, with the score at 1–1, he received a cut back from Abdoullah Ba before firing a shot into the roof of the Fulham net, only to have the goal disallowed due to Ba being offside. [ 7 ] He scored his first competitive goal for Sunderland in an EFL Cup tie against Crewe Alexandra on 8 August 2023. [ 8 ] With this goal, he not only became Sunderland's youngest ever goalscorer, but also the youngest goalscorer in the competition's history. [ 9 ] On 2 September, Rigg scored on his league debut against Southampton , netting the final goal in a 5–0 home win. [ 10 ] In doing so he became Sunderland's youngest ever league goalscorer, breaking a record held by Jimmy Hamilton for over half a century. [ 11 ] Rigg's back-heeled goal against Middlesbrough on 21 September 2024 earnt him the EFL Championship Goal of the Month award for September 2024. [ 12 ] On 27 April 2025, he was named EFL Championship Apprentice of the Season. [ 13 ] The season saw Sunderland achieve promotion to the Premier Leagu — Wikipedia