When was the last time Sunderland played on terrestrial TV and who was in the team?

Sunderland will return to terrestrial television screens next week when they face Fulham in an FA Cup replay.

That got us thinking… just when was the last time Sunderland were broadcast live on terrestrial television?

Well, we can answer that with nine words that became notorious among the Sunderland fanbase: If only Gus Poyet hadn’t played that weakened team…

That’s right, it was March 9, 2014 and a frankly bizarre Sunderland team were beaten 3-0 at Hull in a FA Cup quarter-final. I remember it well, as it was one of the many times in my life when Sunderland have seemingly gone out of their way to completely ruin my birthday.

Just a week earlier, Sunderland fans were at Wembley for the League Cup final, and what a day it was. Wembley fever was high and a win at Hull would have sent supporters back to the national stadium for a FA Cup semi-final.

You know… if only Gus Poyet hadn’t played that weakened team at Hull…

Wes Brown, Adam Johnson and Marcos Alonso were nowhere to be seen. Ki-Sung-yueng, Fabio Borini and Vito Mannone were on the bench.

It was goalless at half-time, but it all unravelled for Sunderland within nine second-half minutes. That kind of thing wasn’t especially unusual back then. In fact, a Sunderland second half collapse was the 1990s Engling middle-order batting collapse of its day.

Former Sunderland midfielder David Meyler was among the Hull scorers with Curtis Davis and Matty Fryatt getting the other goals.

To this day, I will never understand what Gus Poyet was thinking. There wasn’t a fixture crunch either. The League Cup final was a weak earlier and the next Premier League game was six games later. Why? Why??!

Anyway, guess we’ll never know. Let’s have a look at what team Poyet did pick and what happened to them.

Simply click through the gallery to see the team and learn what became of them.

Let's start with one so obscure our image provider doesn't even have a photo of him playing for Sunderland! He actually saved a penalty that day. He still plays and is currently with Liga MX club Pachuca.

Phil Bardsley played that day and, frankly, I think he would have punched Poyet had he tried to 'rest' him for such a game. He is still going too with Stockport. He donates all his wages to charity.

The ever-committed John O'Shea was in the side too, and he was probably another one who was tough to force to accept a rest. He is on Alex Neil's coaching staff at Stoke these days.

The only thing more smouldering than Santiago Vergini back in the day was his own goals. He was just half-a-yard of pace away from being a very handy defender to be fair. He retired from playing last year.

All together now... 'Where's Dossena?!' There was a time when that exasperated cry accompanied just about every opposition attack. He was never where you expected him to be. That's still the case now, actually. He's the coach of Serie C side AC Renate. Who knew there was an AC Renate?

Of course Seb Larsson played that day. He was that kind of guy. Never tired, never gave up, never turned down an opportunity to point. He also retired last year.

Yes, Lee Cattermole refused to miss out too. I very much doubt that will surprise anyone. He was booked. That won't surprise many either. He is currently on the coaching staff at Middlesbrough.

Academy product, decent player, even scored against Newcastle. Decided to throw away his reputation by joining Newcastle and now only lives on in novelty Christmas cards depicting Lee Cattermole leaving him crumpled heap on the ground. He is still playing with Nottingham Forest.

Emanuele Giaccherini was a big signing for Sunderland and a cracking player. Made light of his small stature in a similar way Steed Malbranque used to, but he wasn't as good. Even got 29 caps for Italy. Giaccherini retired in 2021.

I sometimes struggle to really analyse the Sunderland career of Steven Fletcher. He was okay, usually turned up against Newcastle, but didn't score as many as he should have. He is still playing in Scotland with Dundee United.

Brilliant before Sunderland, brilliant after Sunderland, hopeless in between. In fairness, he was never really suited to European football. Great YouTube compilation videos though. He retired last year.

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