Sean Thornton (born 18 May 1983) is a former professional footballer. He made 11 appearances in the Premier League for Sunderland in the 2002–03 season and has made over 200 appearances in the Football League, mostly for Sunderland, Doncaster Rovers and Leyton Orient. Club career Tranmere Rovers Thornton began his career with Football League Second Division club Tranmere Rovers in 2001, for whom he made 13 appearances in the 2001–02 season, scoring once against Wigan Athletic. He was out of contract in summer 2002 and joined Premier League side Sunderland in July 2002, for a fee of £225,000 agreed at tribunal, amid allegations by Tranmere that Sunderland had breached FA and Football League regulations by making an illegal approach for Thornton, for which Sunderland were later fined £1,500. Sunderland Thornton did not feature in the Sunderland first team at the beginning of the 2002–03 season and joined Blackpool on a one-month loan in November 2002. He made his debut for Sunderland in a FA Cup third-round replay win over Bolton Wanderers in January 2003, impressing manager Howard Wilkinson who said, "That was the first full game I've seen Sean in and I must say it was a very promising and mature performance. He's certainly a player we want to keep an eye on and bring on but it's now up to him to show he can produce that standard consistently." He made 14 appearances for Sunderland in the 2002–03 season, despite missing part of the season after being called up for the Ireland Under-20 squad for the World Youth Championships in the United Arab Emirates in March 2003. In April 2003, he scored with an impressive volley to give Sunderland an early lead against Chelsea although Sunderland went on to lose the match. He was unable to help Sunderland from being relegated at the end of the season. All 11 of his Premier League appearances that season ended in defeat, giving him the record for worst season that was broken 13 years later by Aston Villa's Jack Grealish. Thornton made 13 appearances for Sunderland at the start of the 2003–04 season, before suffering an ankle injury in a reserve team game in October 2003. He returned to the side in January 2004 and made a further 17 appearances, helping Sunderland to the semifinal of the FA Cup, and the Division One playoff semifinal. Thornton was unable to command a regular