BORN ON THIS DAY: GEORGE MCCARTNEY

Born on this day in 1981 is former Sunderland and West Ham left back, George McCartney, who made over 200 appearances for the Lads over two spells.

Born in Belfast, McCartney signed into Sunderland's academy as a trainee in the late 1990s, a promising young left back. He would break into Peter Reid's first team squad around 1998. George would play 117 times in the league for Sunderland between 1998 and 2006, playing a crucial part in the promotion seasons under Mick McCarthy but would also be a regular feature in the record low points seasons in the Premier League. In '03, he became the first Sunderland player to be sent off in a full international, when he saw red against Greece for Northern Ireland.

He left Sunderland following relegation to the Championship in 2006, possibly due his acquisition of the nickname "sausages", signing for West Ham United. His time at the Boleyn Ground would only be short lived though, two seasons to be specific, before he returned to the North East for a £4.5m fee.

He would play sporadically in the Premier League for Sunderland under Roy Keane but would fall out of favour when Steve Bruce took the hot seat in 2009, and spent two spells on loan at Leeds United between 2010 and 2011 before returning to London to West Ham for the 2011/12 campaign. He would return to Upton Park permanently in that summer on a free transfer but struggled to make the first team under Big Sam, and would remain there for the rest of his career, retiring in 2014. So, despite making six transfers over his career (loan or permanent) he actualy only played for three different clubs!

Over McCartney's 16 year playing career, he was capped 34 times for country scoring once, which came on his debut in a 1-0 victory over Iceland. This would be the only professional goal in his career until 2007 when he netted for the Hammers against AS Roma in a friendly. He never scored for Sunderland despite playing loads over two seperate spells here. He would've been capped more for the GAWA if he hadn't fallen out with then-manager Lawrie Sanchez in 2005, subsequently causing him to 'retire' from international duties, although he would return for his country when Nigel Worthington was appointed manager.

Since his 2014 retirement, George has worked alongside former Manchester United and Sunderland man David Healy, at Linfield. His coaching is said to have developed Trai Hume before he made the move to Wearside.