Former Sunderland defender Wes Brown claims he could have stayed at Manchester United but a desire to play football lead to him signing for Steve Bruce's Black Cats. The England international penned a four-year deal with the Wearsiders in July 2011.
Despite injury problems throughout his career, the arrival of Brown and John O'Shea at the Stadium of Light was seen as quite the coup for Bruce, who had guided Sunderland to a top half finish the season prior. Brown made quite the impact, winning man-of-the-match on his Black Cats debut - a 1-1 draw with Liverpool. However, injury problems would plague his career on Wearside, a knee injury which he sustained later that season in an FA Cup clash with Middlesbrough ruled him out for well over a year.
ChronicleLive spoke with the former England defender at the BT Hope United x Cybersmile event at North Shields FC, a programme run in conjunction with The FA to promote a new portal designed to tackle online hate.
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