PETER REID, Chris Waddle and Kevin Phillips will be back on Wearside next week.

The former England trio will be appearing at the Sunderland Empire to discuss their careers, at both club and international level.

Reid managed Sunderland, with Phillips as his talismanic goalscorer. Waddle played under Reid, and is on of the few to have been appreciated by both Newcastle and Sunderland.

Waddle hails from a Sunderland-supporting family and started at Roker Park as a kid but never made the grade.

He then arrived at St. James’ Park in 1980 and made his name there, playing alongside Terry McDermott and Kevin Keegan, before a big money move to Tottenham.

Waddle then had a brief, sentimental swansong at Sunderland in 1997 when his old England team-mate Reid signed him.

“Both Newcastle and Sunderland are in my heart and I still follow both clubs’ progress very closely,” said Waddle.

“I really hope they can both avoid relegation this season. Newcastle aren’t in a battle to survive with only a handful of clubs, as there are as many as eight or nine clubs that could easily still get dragged into that bottom three.

“They just need to make sure they are not one of them come the last day of the season. I hope they have enough to stay up.

“They just need to find a way to survive this season and allow Chris Coleman the time to put things right in the summer so they can start to rebuild and come back stronger.”

Waddle is one of few who has retained the respect and admiration from both red and white and black and white and recalled: “I was going down to Roker Park from the age of 12 with my Dad and brothers.

“The Newcastle fans knew when I arrived there I was from a Sunderland-supporting family but once they could see I could play a bit they were very good to me.

“I loved my time at St. James’s Park. It is a fantastic place to play football with the wonderful atmosphere.

“Some fans didn’t like it when I left to go to Tottenham but like in any walk of life people want to progress in their career and that’s the only reason I moved on.

“Thankfully, before I retired I was also able to play a few games at Sunderland as well, which was nice for my family to see me pull on the red and white stripes.”

  • Waddle will be appearing at the Sunderland Empire Theatre in an England Legends’ Live chat show on Tuesday, February 27 along with Peter Reid and Kevin Phillips. Tickets start at £26 and are available online at www.atgtickets.com/sunderland or by calling 0844 8717633
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