An hour after the final whistle blew for Sunderland (1-0 Middlesbrough), Chris Rigg reappears on the pitch where he has just settled a local derby with a piece of improvised magic, a back heel from nowhere that leaves the stadium gasping and a national audience is paying attention.
The net has been removed and Sunderland groundsmen are noisily mowing the grass behind Rigg, but the boy who was 17 in June agrees to be taken back to his shining moment with The Athletics.
Even he seems a bit surprised as he talks us through it, but a winner of this type is a dream, an instinct, it’s not the plan.
The 24th minute goal comes from Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, and by the time his long pass out takes place to Romaine Mundle on Sunderland’s left, Rigg is in the center circle preparing to move on .
“You’re probably just following,” he says when asked what’s going through his mind at the moment. “Because I know when Pat gets the ball, he likes to shoot. And sometimes you get lucky. And I was lucky there. Just follow.”
Pat is Patrick Roberts, Sunderland’s left-footed right winger, who has been found by Mundle. When Roberts takes possession of the ball, he runs towards the defense and shoots, as Rigg expects.
Expectations are moderate as the ball is drilled low into Boro’s defence. But Rigg is still on the run.
George Edmundson sticks out a leg to block the shot and sends the ball back towards goal. Goalkeeper Seny Dieng is on the wrong foot and lies on the ground. The ball is loose.
Rigg, as he says, follows first. What was his first touch like?
He smiles at its imperfection and 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 fell right in front of him, so I had to take it away from him. I thought: ‘Oh no, I took it too broadly’.”
And then? “Then all I could do was sit back.”
It wasn’t the only thing. The ball was heading towards the goal line, the angle was narrow and at best it looked like Rigg could keep it in play. But then he produces a hind heel while running. Not many people would think of it, let alone execute it, especially someone who turned 17 three months ago and played against men in front of 43,000 fans.
Chris Rigg, make 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, then I was buzzing,” he says, watching the footage of his teammates jumping on him.
“How cool is that? How cool is that?” shouts the commentator on Sky Sports.
We ask whether he did that during training. Rigg laughs: “I’m not, no, I’m not even that good at training.”
Another angle of Riggy’s back heel… why not? 🎬🤩 pic.twitter.com/xYuYhC1iUL
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) September 22, 2024
Self-deprecation will get him far, as will self-confidence. Rigg tells how he first joined Sunderland at the age of five and first played on the pitch as half-time ‘entertainment’ for the under-nines: “That was incredible. I was probably more nervous then.
“It’s just such a good thing to do. Even if it is half time and it is half empty, that is what you dream of as a boy, to play in a stadium in front of the fans.”
Rigg roars with joy after his magical moment (Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)
He made his senior Stadium of Light debut at the age of 15 in January last year, before playing here in the FA Youth Cup. He does get nervous, he says, although he doesn’t show it, and about his style he says: “I could say I’m just a traditional midfielder. I like to attack, I like to defend. I can do both. I can add something to it. And as you can see, I like a tackle too. A kind of box-to-box midfielder.”
When asked about midfielders he admires, it suddenly dawns on him that they might still be playing, so young is Rigg. And yes, ‘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 pitch: “I don’t want to be Steven Gerrard, I want to be Chris Rigg. But those kind of players.”
He is measured in his tone. Maintaining the balance between legitimate expectations about Rigg and knowing the harsh realities of professional football is up to the rest of us. His youthfulness needs to be emphasized and re-emphasized; he’ll still be 17 when the season ends.
Rigg’s is the name most mentioned in a young team that is developing rapidly. Scouts from all over Europe are now requesting seats in the Stadium of Light. The average age of Saturday’s team was 23.1 and this was the fifth win in six championship games under new summer signing Regis Le Bris.
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Tension is mounting as autumn takes hold of Wearside and Rigg, who was persuaded to sign his first professional contract in July, is the teenage flag-bearer for a team that sits second in the table. Watford away is next.
“I don’t think age is an issue,” Le Bris said. “You can have a high maturity level at seventeen and a low maturity level at thirty. 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 great symbol of what we want to create and build as a team and club. He still wants to improve, he still wants to understand the game. He has the personality and character to play in all conditions. I like that.”
However, Le Bris doesn’t offer any grand predictions about where Rigg’s career will go. The Frenchman chuckles when asked if the England Under-18 captain can go on and win international caps in the future.
“I hope so,” he said. “It’s the consistency. You can play one, two, three, four, five games, but the reality of the high level is that you have to perform for a whole season and several seasons. He still has a lot of things to develop, but this attitude is very interesting.”
One step – or back heel – at a time.
(Top photo: Rigg twists his body to score his backheel; by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images)