Christopher John Rigg (born 18 June 2007) is an English professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for club
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
.
Club career
Early life
Rigg was born in
Hebburn
Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south ...
.
He joined Sunderland while still in primary school.
[
]
Sunderland
With Sunderland facing numerous injuries in their squad, Rigg was named on the bench for the EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
game against Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
on 1 January 2023. Less than a week later, he was again named on the bench, alongside fellow young player Tom Watson, for an FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
third round game against Shrewsbury Town, with manager Tony Mowbray saying Rigg was "really impressive", having watched him train with the first team.Derek Forster
Derek Forster (19 February 1949 – 2 May 2024) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career at Manor Park School in Newcastle upon Tyne, and during his time at Manor Park he also played for the England school te ...
.[ Following his debut, he was promoted to the Sunderland first team, having to train with the squad only one or two days a week, as he was still in school at the time. Rigg's second appearance came in the following round of the FA Cup against ]Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
, replacing Patrick Roberts in the 86th minute. In injury time, with the score at 1–1, he received a cut back from Abdoullah Ba before firing a shot into the roof of the Fulham net, only to have the goal disallowed due to Ba being offside. He scored his first competitive goal for Sunderland in an EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
tie against Crewe Alexandra on 8 August 2023. With this goal, he not only became Sunderland's youngest ever goalscorer, but also the youngest goalscorer in the competition's history. On 2 September, Rigg scored on his league debut against Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, netting the final goal in a 5–0 home win. In doing so he became Sunderland's youngest ever league goalscorer, breaking a record held by Jimmy Hamilton for over half a century.
International career
Rigg has represented England at youth international level.[ He captained England at under-16 level, before being promoted to the under-17 squad while still only fifteen.][ He made his England U18 debut during a 1-1 draw with ]Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
in Marbella on 11 October 2023.
On 2 November 2023, Rigg was included in the England squad for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup
The 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be the 19th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It will be held in Peru fro ...
. He played his first game of the competition as a starter against Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, winning the game 2-1. Rigg came off the bench as a substitute in their next group game against Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and then started in the round of sixteen defeat against Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
.
On 20 May 2024, Rigg was included in the England squad for the 2024 UEFA European Under-17 Championship
The 2024 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-17 Euro 2024) will be the 21st UEFA European Under-17 Championship (40th edition if the Under-16 era is also included), the annual international youth football championship org ...
. He captained the side during the tournament including their quarter-final elimination by Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
Career statistics
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigg, Chris
2007 births
Living people
Footballers from Hebburn
English men's footballers
England men's youth international footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Sunderland A.F.C. players
English Football League players