Players who played for Aston Villa and Sunderland

Which footballers have played for both Aston Villa and Sunderland? It's exactly the kind of link that wins rounds of The Connection, our football trivia game. Every player below has been checked against his career record, including loan spells.

Quick quiz: how many can you name before you look? There are 12 in our list.

Show all 12 players

Player	Country	Aston Villa	Sunderland
Dwight Yorke	Trinidad and Tobago	1989–1998	2006–2009
Shay Given	Republic of Ireland	2011–2015	1996 loan
Kevin Phillips	England	2005–2006	1997–2003
Gavin McCann	England	2003–2007	1998–2003
Thomas Sørensen	Denmark	2003–2008	1998–2003
Stewart Downing	England	2009–2011	2003 loan
Kieran Richardson	England	2014–2016	2007–2012
Phil Bardsley	England / Scotland	2007 loan	2008–2014
Darren Bent	England	2011–2015	2009–2011
Alan Hutton	Scotland	2011–2019	2010 loan
Joleon Lescott	England	2015–2016	2017
Lewis Grabban	England	2018 loan	2017–2018 loan

Quick facts

12 players in our verified list have played for both Aston Villa and Sunderland.
The most common countries are England (8), Trinidad and Tobago (1), Republic of Ireland (1).
The earliest in our list is Dwight Yorke; the most recent is Lewis Grabban.
5 players made the link through a loan spell, including Shay Given.

Test yourself

In The Connection you get two clubs and a country, and the first to name a player who links them wins the point. Try it with your mates, or take on today's daily.

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Aston Villa and Liverpool (16)
Aston Villa and Everton (16)
Aston Villa and Sheffield United (15)
Aston Villa and Crystal Palace (14)
Manchester United and Sunderland (18)
Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland (13)
Newcastle United and Sunderland (12)
Leeds United and Sunderland (12)
Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion (11)

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