On This Day (25th March 1966): Anton Rogan, Sunderland Cult Hero, Is Born
He was not with us too long, but did more to boost the sale of vests than any high-priced advertising organisation could ever have managed!
1992: Ray Houghton (centre) of Liverpool chases Anton Rogan (left) of Sunderland as team mate Gary Bennett (right) moves in during the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium in London. Liverpool won the match 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Shaun Botterill/Allsport | Getty Images Anton Rogan is sixty years old today.
Born in West Belfast in 1966, “Josh” was signed by Denis Smith in October 1991 from Scottish giants Celtic. His stay with us might have been short, but there was no shortage of talking points regarding a player who quickly developed a cult following at Roker Park. As a lad growing up in West Belfast, Anton was a highly rated Gaelic football player and shared this experience with his international Northern Irish colleagues Mal Donaghy and Gerry Armstrong.
He tried football and came to prominence at Cromac Athletic, where he was spotted by legendary Lisburn Distillery FC manager Roy Welsh (the Blonde Wizard). For three seasons, the young Rogan learnt his trade and came to shine, starring at left-back or centre-half (and occasionally in midfield) for the “Lilleywhites”. He was spotted by Celtic and invited for a trial in October 1984 but unfortunately broke his leg in a game against Crusaders.
Upon recovery, Celtic tried again and invited him on their pre-season tour of Holland, but before he could depart Anton suffered a second fracture of the same leg, which had not healed properly. These two leg breaks impacted Rogan’s career in latter stages. Celtic were obviously keen on the young Northern Irishman and tried again once he had recovered, offering him the chance to come on the pre-season tour to Switzerland in 1985.
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