Stephen Elliott

Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy signed him from Manchester City on 1 June 2004 [ 7 ] for an initial fee of £125,000, set by a tribunal, [ 8 ] with well over £250,000 of additional payments linked to his subsequent performance at the Black Cats of around £100,000 if Sunderland were promoted to the Premier League ; £50,000 if he played in a competitive game for the Republic of Ireland ; five instalments of £20,000 for each set of ten appearances he made for Sunderland up to a maximum of 50 games; and 25% of any sell-on transfer fees. [ 9 ] McCarthy later admitted that he had bought him outrageously cheaply, although that was before all of the above add-ons were ultimately realised. [ 10 ] He made his debut on 7 August against Coventry in their 2–0 defeat, [ 11 ] with his first goal for the club coming on 10 August against Crewe Alexandra , scoring the winner in their 3–1 win. [ 12 ] He quickly established himself as first-team regular, making 47 appearances scoring 16 goals in his debut season [ 13 ] as the team finished as champions in 2005, helping him win the clubs young player of the season award. [ 6 ] And in July 2005 he signed a contract extension extending his stay until 2008. [ 14 ] However, his first Premiership season was largely disrupted by injury, [ 4 ] only managing 15 appearances [ 15 ] although prior to his injuries he scored two long-range goals against Manchester United [ 16 ] and Newcastle United . [ 17 ] On Sunderland 's return to the Championship the following season, he showed good form when fit, but again was disrupted by an ankle injury which kept him out for two months. [ 18 ] In all he made 88 appearances for Sunderland scoring 23 goals. [ 19 ] — Wikipedia