Sunderland: 17 October 1951 â 5 June 1955 SAFC career 38 appearances / 4 goals. Club historian Rob Mason pays tribute. We were saddened to hear that John McSeveney passed away on Saturday 12 December, at the age of 89. John was a winger who came to Sunderland from Hamilton Academical in 1951. While playing for Sunderland in the 1950s McSeveney also had a job at Wearmouth Colliery where the Stadium of Light now stands. Having debuted in a 1-0 win at Manchester United John explained to Red and White in 2006 that after that match he travelled back to his native Scotland to collect his belongings and when met on his return by team-mate Billy Bingham, he went to a dance at the Rink in Sunderland and on that very evening met Joyce who was to become his wife of over 50 years.