The night England came to town

Don’t get me wrong, it was great to see the Stadium of Light play host to the national team. It is fantastic for the city, the local economy and an incredible opportunity for the area to showcase just what it has to offer. However, off field benefits aside, personally I just can’t seem to get behind England in the same way I do for Sunderland.

This is particularly the case for international friendlies. They never have the nerves on edge or the adrenalin pumping, and as a result I was left rather nonplussed by the match itself. Instead I found myself looking for a further local angle to the national occasion.

The main highlight in my opinion was, of course, seeing former Black Cat and local lad Jordan Henderson take to his ‘home’ pitch with the Three Lions proudly emblazoned on his chest. It’s incredible to see Jordan seize the opportunities that he has engineered for himself and be well rewarded for his efforts.

Those around Henderson have previously labelled him as being relentless in his devotion to the improvement of his game. It was apparent during his time in the red and white shirt of Sunderland, and working with the Liverpool squad has helped too. However he should be proud of himself. He’s dismissed the pressures heaped upon him and filtered out a lot of the white noise that existed while he transitioned from Wearside to Merseyside. This takes an incredible strength of character particularly for one still so young. With these qualities it’s no wonder Henderson is now the captain of Liverpool and a regular on the international stage.

When Steve Bruce first arrived as Sunderland manager he used the Fencehouses midfielder on the right wing, moving him into centre due to his voracious energy and enthusiasm. It would be fair to say one of Henderson’s standout matches in the red and white came in the 3-0 annihilation of Chelsea in November 2010. An England call up looked inevitable and Bruce told the press at the time,

“It is wonderful that Jordan is playing for England – he deserves it. Make no mistake he is that good. Everything about him is right. He is full of endeavour, young, hungry and the archetypal modern-day footballer, 6ft 2in and yet a marvellous athlete. He is also a level-headed kid which makes him a pleasure to work with.”

Reflecting back on Henderson’s time at Sunderland, it was fantastic to see his trajectory come together at the Stadium of Light for England vs Australia. It’s just a shame Roy Hodgson didn’t give Henderson the captaincy for the occasion. Instead the England manager preferred to hand it to Manchester United man Chris Smalling.

That aside, for me at least, the personal highlight was not Marcus Rashford but seeing local lad Jordan Henderson take to Stadium of Light pitch the night England came to town.