10 Players Who Successfully Played For Newcastle & Sunderland

4. Barry Venison

NUFC: 1992 - 1995 (134 games, 1 goal) SAFC: 1982 - 1986 (205 games, 3 goals) The Consett-born defender began his career at Sunderland and made his Mackems debut as a 17-year-old in 1981 as quickly he nailed down the right-back spot at Roker Park. Venison even holds the privilege of being the youngest captain to lead a team out at Wembley, taking the armband from the suspended Shaun Elliott to lead the Black Cats out in the 1985 League Cup final against Norwich aged just 20 years and 220 days old. Fortunately for us they lost 1-0. After playing over 200 games in red and white Venison spent six years at Liverpool before he answered the call from Kevin Keegan to join Newcastle as we prepped for a promotion assault in Division One. His impact was marked as we ascended to the Premier League with ease and he remained a crucial figure under Keegan in the top-flight before departing at the end of the 1994/95 campaign for Galatasaray.

Remarkably, he managed just a solitary goal in black and white and it was a cracker. Aston Villa probably thought they were safe when Venison took aim from 25-yards as Keith Gillespie's pass bobbled into his path. Fools. The man with the god-awful mullet made them pay for such intransigence with a blistering drive that left a fire trail as it rasped into the top corner of the Gallowgate net.