Stanislav Varga

Sunderland

Varga, a tall and commanding centre-back, was recruited by Peter Reid for £875,000 from Slovan Bratislava during the summer of 2000. Varga began his career at the Stadium of Light with an impressive opening day display in Sunderland's 1–0 victory over Arsenal, picking up the man of the match award. He scored his first Sunderland goal in a 2–0 win over West Ham in January 2001. He spent the end of 2001–02 on loan with West Bromwich Albion, helping the club get promoted to the Premier League. The towering centre back returned from a long-term injury to find himself out of the first team picture and his last game before going on loan ended when he was taken off at half-time at Old Trafford, where Sunderland lost 4–1. With Joachim Björklund and Jody Craddock ahead of him, Varga never really found his way back into the team, and was released in January 2003.

Celtic

Less than a month later, Martin O'Neill snapped up the defender on a short-term deal. Despite only making one appearance for Celtic in that time, Varga was rewarded with a two-year contract in July 2003. An ever-present in the side during the 2003–04 campaign, he helped his new teammates to domestic glory, winning the domestic double of Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup. In the league, Varga helped Celtic concede only 25 goals, which allowed the club to set a new league record of 25 straight wins (32 games unbeaten from the start of the season) and 77 home league games without…

A regular in the Slovakia national side with over fifty caps to his name, Varga also captained his country on a number of occasions. It was during a friendly game against Norway before Euro 2000 that he was first spotted by then-Sunderland manager Peter Reid, impressing the Black Cats' boss with the way he kept Tore André Flo and Ole Gunnar Solskjær out of the game.

As player

Celtic

Scottish Premier League:2003–04, 2005–06 Scottish Cup: 2003–04, 2004–05 Scottish League Cup: 2005–06 Sunderland

Football League Championship: 2006–07

As manager

Tatran Prešov

2. Liga: 2015–16 Dukla B.Bystrica

2. Liga runners-up: 2021–22