Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown told the story of how he and John O’Shea left Old Trafford to join Sunderland in 2011.
Speaking on OTB AM, Brown recounted how he and his “best mate” came to the conclusion that their time with United had come to an end.
“I knew I wasn’t going to play and half of me was saying to stay but it’s funny because the same sort of thing was happening with John O’Shea.
“So we had a little chat and I remember Sunderland wanted both of us and we decided it was time to go,” he recalled.
“I’ll never forget it, I signed the day before John but we were supposed to sign on the same day and I phoned him up asking him where he is.
“He said, ‘oh I’m not sure now.’ It absolutely killed me. Then he came and signed the next day,” Brown said with a laugh.
However, moving to a new club after spending his whole career with Manchester United left him feeling apprehensive. Brown honestly admitted that having his best friend make the move with him made the transition smoother.
“I’m not going to lie - it made it a lot easier to have someone you grew up with going with you.
“He’s [O’Shea] a good lad, he’s probably my best mate. We’ve had some great times and some tough times playing football together,” he said.
Despite being involved in relegation battles for most of his time on Wearside, Brown explains how he enjoyed a different experience after being at the top end of football to that point.
“Sunderland was a great club, [it was] a great five years.
“It was good. I’ll tell you why it was good. From the first season, we were in a relegation battle, and looking back I’m gutted we were in that position, but the experience was fantastic.
“I’ve seen one side [of football] where you know you’re challenging for the championship. Then you go to Sunderland where you’re pretty sure if you don’t make new signings you’ll struggle,” Wes Brown said.
He also described what it was like coming into the dressing room at Sunderland with the reputation O’Shea and himself had earned.
“It was a little bit different because we were very respected in the sense we were at Manchester United and had won quite a lot.
“We had to step up and take the reins a little bit and tried to sort out any issues in the changing room, and eventually John became captain.”
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