Sunderland’s 17-year-old wonderkid Chris Rigg analyses his brilliant backheel goal

An hour after the final whistle has blown on Sunderland 1-0 Middlesbrough, Chris Rigg re-emerges onto the pitch where he has just settled a local derby with a piece of improvised magic, a backheel from nowhere that has made a stadium gasp and a national audience take note.

The netting has been taken down and Sunderland’s groundsmen are mowing the grass noisily behind Rigg, but the boy who was 17 in June agrees to be taken back through his brilliant moment with The Athletic.

Even he seems slightly surprised when talking us through it, but then a winner of this type is a dream, an instinct, it’s not the plan.

The 24th-minute goal originates with Sunderland’s goalkeeper, Anthony Patterson, and by the time his long pass out is with Romaine Mundle on Sunderland’s left, Rigg is in the centre circle readying himself to move forward.

“Probably just follow in,” he says when asked what is going through his mind at this point. “Because I know when Pat gets the ball he likes to shoot. And sometimes you get lucky. And I got lucky there. Just follow in.”

Pat is Patrick Roberts, Sunderland’s left-footed right-winger, who has been found by Mundle. When Roberts takes possession, he runs at the defence and shoots, as Rigg expects.

The expectation is moderate as the ball is drilled low and into the Boro defence. But Rigg is still running.

George Edmundson sticks out a leg to block the shot and diverts the ball back towards goal. Goalkeeper Seny Dieng is wrong-footed and prostrate on the ground. The ball is loose.

Following in, as he says, Rigg gets to it first. How was his first touch?

He smiles at its imperfection, then demonstrates with a roll of both feet how he tried to regain control. “It takes the ball away from the ’keeper,” Rigg says of the first touch. “It was the only thing I could have done because it dropped right in front of him, so I had to take it away from him. I was like ‘Aw, no, I’ve took it too wide’.”

And then? “Then the only thing I could do was backheel it.”

It was not the only thing. The ball was bound for the goal line, the angle was narrow and at best it looked as if Rigg could keep it in play. But then he produces a backheel on the run. Not many would think of it, never mind perform it, especially someone who turned 17 three months ago playing against men in front of 43,000 fans.

Chris Rigg, take a BOW! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jwCquWElwG

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) September 21, 2024

17-year-old Chris Rigg with a lovely back-heel goal for Sunderland 😱 pic.twitter.com/O1tI5cdIhP

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 21, 2024

“It went in, I was buzzin’ after that,” he says as watches the footage of his team-mates jumping on him.

“How cool is that? How cool is that?” shouts the commentator on Sky Sports.

We ask if he has done that in training. Rigg laughs: “I’ve not, nah, I’m not even that good in training.”

Another angle of Riggy’s back-heel… why not? 🎬🤩 pic.twitter.com/xYuYhC1iUL

— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) September 22, 2024

Self-deprecation will take him far, so will self-confidence. Rigg speaks of how he first joined Sunderland aged five and of first playing on the pitch as half-time “entertainment” with the under-nines: “That was unbelievable. I was probably more nervous then.

“It’s just so good to do. Even though it’s half-time and it’s half empty, that’s what you dream of as a boy, to play in a stadium in front of fans.”

Rigg roars with delight after his moment of magic (Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)

He made his senior Stadium of Light debut, aged 15, in January last year, before he played here in the FA Youth Cup. He does get nervous, he says, though he does not show it, and of his style he says: “I could say I’m just a traditional midfielder. I love to attack, I love to defend. I can do both. I can add to it. And as you can see I love a tackle as well. Kind of a box-to-box midfielder.”

When asked about midfielders he admires, it suddenly dawns that they may be still playing, so young is Rigg. Sure enough, “Modric” is the first name he mentions; plus “you watch clips of Zidane and Lampard and Gerrard”.

Then a flash of self-determination, as seen on the field: “I don’t want to be Steven Gerrard, I want to be Chris Rigg. But those sorts of players.”

He is measured in his tone. Maintaining the balance between legitimate anticipation about Rigg and knowing the harsh realities of professional football is up to the rest of us. His youthfulness needs to be stressed and re-stressed — he will still be 17 when the season ends.

Rigg’s is the name most mentioned in a youthful side developing at pace. Scouts from across Europe are now requesting seats at the Stadium of Light. The average age of Saturday’s team was 23.1 and this was a fifth win in six Championship games under the summer’s new appointment, Regis Le Bris.

GO DEEPER

How Sunderland have been revived: Quick starts, tenacity and the impact of ‘Arsene Who?’

There is excitement building as autumn takes hold of Wearside and Rigg, who was persuaded to sign his first professional contract in July, is the teenage flagbearer of a team that is second in the table. Watford away is next.

“I don’t think the age is a problem,” Le Bris said. “You can have a high level of maturity at 17 and a low level of maturity at 30. It depends on the personality and the players.

Le Bris’ young team have won five of their first six games (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

“Chris Rigg is a good symbol of what we want to create and build as a team and a club. He still wants to improve, he still wants to understand the game. He has this personality and character to play whatever the circumstance. I like that.”

Le Bris, though, does not offer grand projections of where Rigg’s career is headed. There is a chuckle from the Frenchman when asked if the England Under-18s captain can go on and win senior international caps in the future.

“I hope so,” he said. “It’s the consistency. You can perform one, two, three, four, five games, but the reality of the high level is to perform for a whole season and multiple seasons. He has many things to develop but this attitude is very interesting.”

One step — or backheel — at a time.

(Top photo: Rigg contorts his body to score his backheel; by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images)