Name: Lionel Perez
In his 1990s prime for: Sunderland
Lowdown: Starting his career at FC Bordeaux, French goalkeeper Perez was a relatively late bloomer, but made a number of appearances for the French giants over a three year period, whilst also being loaned out to Laval and Nimes.
In the summer of 1996, Peter Reid chose to spend £200,000 on Perez, bringing him to Roker Park. The goalkeeper remembered his first game at the stadium fondly: “I can remember my first game. It was at Roker Park. It was fantastic; the wood stadium; it was very special to me. So beautiful.”
Although Perez played 77 times for Sunderland, his time at the club was slightly tainted by his eccentricity, and he was noted for making a series of errors. After the club lost the playoff final to Charlton on penalties, with Perez at fault for one of Charlton’s goal, manager Reid told him that he was no longer wanted at the club.
Crazily, he moved to Sunderland’s hated rivals Newcastle, although he never made an appearance for the club, third choice behind Shay Given and Steve Harper. After loans at Stevenage and Cambridge, he then joined Cambridge on a permanent basis, reportedly taking a 95% pay cut to do so.
As was almost fitting for his career, in his last game for Cambridge he took a penalty in order to score his only ever professional goal, and then promptly missed the penalty.
Now: Perez’s career was ended whilst playing for Stevenage, suffering a horrific leg break in a game against Barnet. He became the goalkeeping coach for the club, but left three years later. After coaching spells in France he quit the game for two years, but is now back with a UEFA B coaching badge and a desire to manage.
