Sunderland Nation

Kieran Richardson on Sunderland derby winner: 'If I live to be 100, I'll still be talking about it!'

It was probably the best ever Wear-Tyne derby goal not scored by Jermain Defoe, and Kieran Richardson has been reliving it.

Michael Graham

Kieran Richardson on Sunderland derby winner: 'If I live to be 100, I'll still be talking about it!'
Kieran Richardson on Sunderland derby winner: 'If I live to be 100, I'll still be talking about it!' /

Kieran Richardson says his winner for Sunderland in the Wear-Tyne derby is something he will never stop talking about.

Richardson powered home a sensational free kick in 2008 to hand Sunderland a first home derby win in 28 years.

It was the highlight of what was ultimately a fine Sunderland career and, according to him, his best ever goal – made even better by the noise with which the fans greeted it.

"I remember it and I remember the build-up to it," Richardson told the SAFC Unfiltered podcast. "The week before we played Fulham away and I took two free-kicks - the first hit the crossbar and both posts but stayed out, and the second one went in but Pascal Chimbonda fouled someone in the wall so it was disallowed!

"I was on a roll, though, so I was confident and I knew the next week that if I took a free-kick I would be in a good position to score a goal. The whole week in the build-up, people were saying we hadn't beaten them at home in X amount of years - I can't remember how many, but it was a lot.

"Knowing how passionate everyone in Sunderland, in the city, is about their club, as a player you just want to win that game so badly because you know how much it means to the fans. So for us to win that game in the style we did, and to get the winner at 2-1...

“It was the best goal I've ever scored, for me personally.

"It was unbelievable to experience that and to be part of that history, I love it. If I live to be 100, I'll still be talking about it!

"The noise was crazy, crazy, crazy, and it shows how passionate everyone is about it."

Read more Sunderland coverage

Published
Michael Graham
MICHAEL GRAHAM

Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football.  Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion.  Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk

Home/Sunderland Nation News