Players who played for Middlesbrough and Sunderland

Which footballers have played for both Middlesbrough 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 8 in our list.

Show all 8 players

Player	Country	Middlesbrough	Sunderland
Graham Kavanagh	Republic of Ireland	1991–1996	2006–2009
Shay Given	Republic of Ireland	2013–2014 loan	1996 loan
Stewart Downing	England	2001–2009 & 2015–2019	2003 loan
Boudewijn Zenden	Netherlands	2003–2004 & 2004–2005	2009–2011
Danny Graham	England	2004–2007 & 2014	2013–2016 & 2020–2021
Dean Whitehead	England	2013–2015	2004–2009
Lee Cattermole	England	2005–2008	2009–2019
Paddy McNair	Northern Ireland	2018–2024	2016–2018

Quick facts

8 players in our verified list have played for both Middlesbrough and Sunderland.
The most common countries are England (4), Republic of Ireland (2), Netherlands (1).
The earliest in our list is Graham Kavanagh; the most recent is Paddy McNair.
2 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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Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday (7)
Hull City and Middlesbrough (7)
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Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland (13)
Newcastle United and Sunderland (12)
Leeds United and Sunderland (12)
Aston Villa and Sunderland (12)

All Middlesbrough players · All Sunderland players · Every club