Sunderland: Anthony Patterson following Jordan Pickford's lead

They were all extremely talented, but even then, one player stood out. Like Patterson, he was a goalkeeper. He was also a local lad, having been born and raised in Washington, just along the road from Patterson’s home in North Shields. He was yet to make his first-team debut, but the whispers among the coaching staff at the Academy of Light were that he was destined for great things.

Fast forward just over a decade, and Patterson is now the player who finds himself being tipped for the very top. His breakthrough season will end, this afternoon, with an appearance at Wembley in the League One play-off final, with his performances in the second half of the campaign having been a key factor in ensuring the Black Cats finished in the top six. And the player he once looked up to? A certain Jordan Pickford, the last homegrown shot-stopper to play for Sunderland and now an established international with outings in a World Cup semi-final and a European Championships final on his CV.

“It’s incredible to watch Jordan and think that not too long ago, he was here doing what I’m doing now,” said Patterson. “We’ve obviously had quite a similar pathway coming through the academy here. Jordan’s doing incredibly at the minute – playing in the Premier League every week and starring at World Cups. He’s doing so well, and obviously one day I’d like to be up where he is now. That’s the dream.

“There’s six year groups between us I think. When I was Under-11s, he was in doing his scholarship stuff, so occasionally we would end up training together. When I was a first-year scholar, Jordan was still here, so every now and then, I’d end up going up to train with the first team and he would be there.

“I’d do a few drills with Jordan, and Vito (Mannone) was there too, along with (Costel) Pantilimon. The main thing with Jordan was that he was always so down to earth. He was the number one, and I was just a kid, but he’d always take time to talk and explain things. It was great just to be able to see how he trains and try to pick up even the tiniest little bits from what he does.”

Pickford was eight when he first walked through the doors at the Academy of Light, and like Patterson, he had taken up goalkeeping long before his first encounter with Sunderland.

Patterson was initially chosen to play in goal because he was one of the tallest in his school year, and when an Under-8s club in Howdon was looking for a goalkeeper, he thought he would give it a go. Suffice to say, he has not looked back since.

“I was always a goalkeeper,” he said. “I think I probably got put there at first because I was always pretty big for my year, but then when I was joining a junior club, their goalkeeper was leaving, so I thought, ‘Right, I’ll give it a go’. It’s always been that ever since.

“I’ve been with Sunderland since I was ten, although at the younger ages, you don’t really think about the future or where things might lead to. That changes once you start becoming full-time, and start seeing everybody around the place. All of a sudden, you start to think, ‘One day this could be me’.

“For the last three years, I’ve been up with the first team, and that gave me a good taste for it. It made me want it even more, and encouraged me to keep kicking on. I was hoping that one day, that keeper standing there in the first team might be me.”

Having made his first two senior outings in last season’s Papa John’s Trophy matches against Fleetwood and Oldham, Patterson caught the eye as former head coach, Lee Johnson, selected him for a number of pre-season matches last summer.

He started the league matches against AFC Wimbledon and Wycombe at the start of the current campaign, but was offered a loan move to National League side Notts County after dropping back out of the Sunderland team in September. It was to be a move that was the making of him.

“Playing down at Notts County was a huge thing for me,” he said. “I remember at the time, when I got the call saying, ‘Can you go down to Notts County? They want you for a month’s loan’. I remember just thinking, ‘This will be really good for me’. I knew it was a chance to play some football and get a taste of what being a footballer was all about. I really enjoyed it down there, playing all the time. It was really good for me, and helped me a lot.

“There was pressure, and that was exactly what I needed. Notts County are a massive club, you could see that just from how many fans turned up to the games, even in the National League. They’ve been pushing for promotion this year as well, so it was quite pressurised from the word go. But I quite enjoyed that. I think the pressure to go out there and perform spurred me on. Playing in front of the crowds, in matches that really mattered, was really good for me.”

Had things turned out differently in the winter, Patterson might well have remained at Meadow Lane for the remainder of the season. Instead, when Thorben Hoffmann and Lee Burge both contracted Covid, he was recalled to Wearside and thrust back into the Sunderland side for January’s matches against Wycombe and Lincoln.

At that stage, the plan was for him to return to Notts County, but when Burge suffered heart complications as he recovered from Covid, Johnson decided to keep Patterson in the Black Cats ranks.

With Hoffmann unavailable, the 22-year-old started Alex Neil’s first game in charge at AFC Wimbledon in mid-February, and he has been an ever-present ever since, playing a major role in the 15-game unbeaten run that has taken Sunderland to the play-off final.

“It was weird,” he said. “I went back to Notts County for a week, and played one game, but then I ended up coming back again because both keepers had ended up getting Covid. I ended up playing a couple of games, and then while Hoff came back from Covid, Burgey had his heart problems and wasn’t available.

“I needed to stay around for cover, but again, I thought that was probably only going to be for a couple of weeks. But then I ended up playing, and I guess it’s gone from there. It’s been quite chaotic, but I’ve just wanted to take the opportunity that’s come along. I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Over the course of the last three months, Patterson has grown up with every game he has played in Sunderland’s first team. He has always been an excellent shot-stopper, but his management of his 18-yard box has improved markedly, most notably in terms of leaving his line to claim crosses, and he readily admits he has become much more comfortable barking out instructions to the experienced centre-halves playing in front of him.

He also credits Sunderland’s goalkeeping coach, David Preece, with improving his comfort in possession and his ability to spark attacks with the ball at his feet, aspects of a goalkeeper’s arsenal that have become increasingly important in the last few years, and that to a large extent, have been pioneered in the English game by Pickford.

“There’s definitely been a shift in what’s expected of a keeper nowadays,” said Patterson. “If you look at a lot of the goalkeeper coaches that have retired, and are a little bit older, what they would have been teaching you is completely different to what you’re taught nowadays.

“If you look at someone like Preecey, he’s brought in the more modern side of the goalkeeper’s game and really focuses on developing and improving your footwork and your kicking. That’s massive now.

“Most teams, at any level, are looking for a keeper that can do both – save the shots, but also take the ball and look to build attacks. It’s important you can both, and hopefully as I continue to improve, that’s something you’ll see in my game.”