Former Sunderland star Kieran Richardson says his Wear-Tyne derby winner was the best goal of his career - and the Black Cats eclipse Manchester United as the best club he ever played for. Richardson scored a stunning free-kick against Newcastle United in October 2008 to end Sunderland's 28-year wait for a derby win on Wearside which had lasted since Stan Cummins had scored the only goal at Roker Park in April 1980.
Since then Sunderland have been regular derby winners, and are unbeaten in their last eight derby games with that sequence including a Tyne-Wear derby record six successive victories home and away. But 15 years ago at the Stadium of Light, Djibril Cisse put the Black Cats in front before Shola Ameobi levelled before half-time, setting the stage for Richardson to score the decisive goal 15 minutes from time.
"I remember it and I remember the build-up to it," Richardson told the club's 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!
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"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."
Richardson joined Sunderland from Manchester United in 2007 and spent five years at the club before leaving to join Fulham. His career also included a loan stint at West Brom while still a Manchester United player, and after Fulham he joined Aston Villa before ending his career at Cardiff City where he retired in 2016 at the age of 32.
But despite playing at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, and picking up a Premier League winners' medal and a League Cup winners' medal, he rates his spell at Sunderland as the best of his career. The 38-year-old said: "I've always said that Sunderland is the best team I've ever played for, the best club in my career - my favourite club by a country mile.
"Even though Manchester United is a massive club, a bigger club, it wasn't my favourite club. I felt like Sunderland was my club.
"The fans, the love they have for the club, the passion, it's superior to any other club I have been at."
Since Richardson left, Sunderland suffered back-to-back relegations to drop from the Premier League to League One, but their four-year stay in the third tier ended last season when they were promoted via the play-offs to the Championship where they are now mounting another play-off challenge. Asked about Sunderland's drop into League One, Richardson said: "I didn't like seeing that.
"You see your club as a Premier League club and then they are down there in League One but it happens - it's happened before to massive clubs. Hopefully now we are on the right track to come back."
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