It’s safe to say that on his debut, Sunderland’s German signing Jan Kirchhoff did not have the best of starts to his career in England. However, he is far from alone in having a disastrous start to his career with a club or country, and many throughout history wish that their debuts could just be forgotten. Here is a look at some of the most dreadful debuts in the history of football, and with Sunderland fresh in the minds with regards to dreadful debuts, who better to start this list than with the man they call “King” on Wearside?
Football’s Most Dreadful Debuts
Charlie Hurley – Sunderland vs Blackpool, 1957
Hurley signed for Sunderland from Millwall for £18,000 in 1957. His debut was against Blackpool, the Seasiders ran out 7-0 winners and Hurley contributed an own goal in an all round bad day for him and the Black Cats. His second game wasn’t much better: a 6-0 defeat by Burnley.
Thankfully it got better, a lot better. Hurley went on to captain the side and was voted the club’s Player of the Century and had a book published named: “The Greatest Centre Half the World Has Ever Seen”. Few could argue with the title—he really was that good, take away his first two games of course.
Lionel Messi – Hungary vs Argentina, 2005
Yes, even the great Lionel Messi has had bad days at the office. The then 18-year-old Messi came on as a second half substitute for what he thought would be a memorable occasion. It was definitely memorable but unfortunately for Messi, it was for the wrong reasons. 43 seconds after coming on for his international debut, he was leaving the pitch after elbowing an opposition player. “It wasn’t the way I dreamed it would be. I passed him (Vanczak) and he just grabbed me and I wanted to free myself so I could carry on and the referee judged that I had elbowed him. I was really disappointed as I had a lot of minutes left still to play, but what happened, happened.”
Stanley Milton – Halifax Town vs Stockport County, 1934
Goalkeeper Milton was not having the best of days. 45 minutes into his Halifax debut, he had conceded two goals and his side were trailing at half time. What came next made his day and debut even worse. During the next 45 minutes, Milton endured a nightmare. Stockport were rampant and poor Milton ended up picking the ball out of the back of the net a further eleven times. Final score, 13-0. A day to forget for both player and club.
Ali Dia – Southampton vs Leeds United, 1996
Recommended to Southampton by someone pretending to be a relative of George Weah, Dia arrived on the Friday, trained badly by all accounts, but came on as a sub the next day against Leeds when Matt Le Tissier got injured and was so bad in the game he was substituted. By the Monday following the game he was gone from Southampton, never to be seen by the Saints fans again. And not one of them will be disappointed by that.
Unfortunately for Southampton and their fans it’s an episode in their history that is unlikely to be forgotten. He successfully imitated a footballer in the lower leagues before finally drifting out of the game almost as quick as he entered it.
Jason Crowe – Arsenal vs Birmingham City, 1997
Some of the players on this list may feel slightly better about their debuts when they learn of Crowe’s. In fact some of their debuts have lasted a lifetime compared Jason Crowe’s. Just 33 seconds into his Gunners debut he was sent off for a high tackle, making it the fastest debut sending off in history. He eventually made two more appearances before moving on but virtually from the off, his Arsenal career looked doomed.
Emmanuel Frimpong – Sheffield Wednesday vs Barnsley, 2014
Within hours of arriving at his new club Barnsley from Arsenal, Frimpong had insulted the town by asking “How am I going to get girls now?” and posing miserably with the club shirt. It then got worse as he was sent off for two bookable offences with less than half an hour gone on his debut away at Sheffield Wednesday. Not the best way to get your new club and their fans on your side. Frimpong was released by Barnsley just four months after arriving, much to the delight of most fans.
Garry Flitcroft – Everton vs Blackburn Rovers, 1996
The then Champions Blackburn Rovers splashed out £3 million for the midfielder but his debut lasted just three minutes. He was sent off at Everton for elbowing Duncan Ferguson. It’s a good job he went on to captain the club and play over 250 games as £1 million pound per minute on his debut and only appearance would not have gone down well with the club and their fans..
Jonathan Woodgate – Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao, 2005
Signed for Real Madrid in August 2004 for £13.4 million, the man nicknamed “sicknote” didn’t make his debut until September 2005. The game was not a success for him. He scored a spectacular diving header, but it was past his own goalkeeper and he was also sent off for two bookable offences. One year later his Madrid dream was over. Fast forward another year and with over 37% of the votes he was voted the worst signing of the 21st century by a Spanish newspaper’s website.
Chris Iwelumo – Scotland vs Norway, 2008
Called up for his county at the age of 30, Iwelumo was eager to impress. He came on as a substitute after 55 minutes with the game still goalless. Unfortunately for Scotland and Iwelumo the game ended goalless after the striker, faced with an open goal, somehow side-footed the ball wide from just three yards out. It will go down as one of the worst misses in the history of football.
Jan Kirchhoff – Tottenham vs Sunderland, 2016
Last but by no means least, the man who inspired this piece. Against Tottenham at White Hart Lane, the game was poised at 1-1 when he came on as a substitute. He conceded a soft penalty, a shot deflected in off him and he generally looked very uncomfortable throughout his short spell on the pitch where Sunderland conceded three goals and were beaten 4-1.
In years to come it may be looked upon as one of the worst debuts in the history of football. Could he respond and be like the Sunderland legend Charlie Hurley? Highly unlikely, but all Sunderland fans will be hoping his performance was simply a one off and he begins to show the qualities that made both Bayern Munich and Sam Allardyce want to sign him. Time will tell.
