30 June 1938 – 18 July 2023
Sunderland: 23 January 1965 - 22 September 1966
SAFC career 45+1 appearance / 1 goal.
Club Historian Rob Mason pays tribute…
We were saddened to learn of the death of former Sunderland and England winger Mike Hellawell. Yorkshireman Hellawell spent almost two seasons at SAFC during the mid-sixties and became the first man ever named as a substitute for Sunderland in a league game when subs were introduced in 1965. He then became the first player ever substituted by Sunderland.
Mainly known for his time with Birmingham City, Mike scored for Blues against Roma in the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1961 and won the League Cup with them two years later, having played against Sunderland in both legs of the semi-final. In between these cup finals he won two England caps and also played a first class cricket match for Warwickshire. Hellawell also played for Salts FC, Huddersfield Town, QPR, Peterborough United, Bromsgrove Rovers and Nuneaton Borough.