The 5 youngest players to reach 50 EFL Championship appearances ft Sunderland AFC star | OneFootball

The 17-year-old Sunderland sensation reached a half-century of second-tier apps against Leeds United, but is he the youngest to achieve this feat?

Such is the ridiculousness of his early rise to prominence, Sunderland's 17-year-old sensation, Chris Rigg, is seemingly rewriting the EFL Championship's history books with every new appearance, a theory that certainly wrung true during a clash with Leeds United on February 17th.

While the all-important clash at the second-tier's summit resulted in heartbreak for the Black Cats as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat deep in added time, the fixture marked an extremely significant milestone for their youngest talent.

The Elland Road outing marked a half-century of Championship appearances for the South Tyneside-born midfielder, who, having made his league debut aged just 16 years 2 months, has become an ever-present in the side since.

It will be unsurprising to learn that achieving 50 appearances in a league as competitive as the Championship, before legal adulthood, is extremely rare, but at 17 years 7 months and 30 days, who, if anyone, has reached this milestone quicker?

Taking a look back through the last twenty years since the league's rebranding in 2004/05, below are the top five youngest players to achieve a half-century of appearances in England's second-flight.

5 Will Hughes

18 Years 6 Months 2 Days

The 1995-born midfielder has been a regular fixture in the Premier League since 2017, and while his abilities may have somewhat plateaued into a reliable mid-table squad player, fans of Derby County will happily recall his once-thought-limitless potential.

Having grown up in the area, Will Hughes made his Rams debut in the early stages of 2011/12, at just 16 years and 6 months, and would find no difficulty in becoming a Pride Park regular the following season, and thereafter.

Making 44 appearances, Hughes was an undeniably pivotal cog in the Steve McClaren side that reached the play-off final in 2013/14, most notably scoring an exceptional opener against Brighton in the second leg of the semi-final.

Despite losing out in agonising circumstances at Wembley, Hughes, having only just turned 19, would enter the Championship Team of the Season.

While he may not top this particular list, his decision to stay at his boyhood club until 2017 means that the former England U21 became the first player to secure 100 Championship appearances as a teenager.

4 Jobe Bellingham

18 Years 3 Months 21 Days

While it may seem impossible to escape the shadow of his older brother, Jobe Bellingham's elongated EFL education has led to the now-19-year-old leaving a more indelible mark on the division.

Much like namesake Jude, Jobe Bellingham came through the academy of Birmingham City, making his Championship debut shortly after his 16th birthday.

He would make 22 second-tier appearances for the West Midlands side before making a shock intra-divisional move to Sunderland in the summer of 2023, where, despite still being 17 at the time, he would find no issue in becoming a mainstay in the side.

While Chris Rigg may be the most impressive talent on Wearside purely from an age perspective, in cannot go unnoticed that a still-teenage Bellingham has established himself as one of the most talented players in the Championship, and while the name on the back of his shirt may skew perspective, he remains among of the most exciting English prospects of a generation.

17 Years 10 Months 12 Days

Having seemingly been around forever, it may be puzzling to hear that Hereford-born Connor Wickham is still in his early thirties.

Already an England youth international, Ipswich Town wasted no time in introducing the highly touted Wickham into first-team operations, granting him a Championship debut in April 2009, just eleven days after his 16th birthday.

He would prove a bright spark in an otherwise tepid era for the Tractor Boys, scoring four times at the back end of 2009/10, before becoming their first-choice striker for the following campaign.

A further nine goals would spark serious interest from Premier League clubs. He would leave for Sunderland in a deal worth up to £12 million the following summer.

It never quite worked out in the top-flight for Wickham, who currently finds himself as a free-agent following his release from League One Charlton Athletic.

While disappointing hindsight may blur perception, there is no denying that he was an extremely exciting talent in his youth. He remains to this day the only centre-forward to reach a double-figure goal tally in the division before turning 18, a record that may continue to stand for some time.

2 Chris Rigg

17 Years 7 Months 30 Days

As is now obvious, Chris Rigg's aforementioned milestone came agonisingly close to breaking the record, with injury issues around the Christmas period ultimately denying him top spot.

A local prospect whose abilities and maturity mirror that of someone twice his age, the England U18 has been the envy of near-all EFL clubs since his emergence at the Stadium of Light.

Linked heavily with Manchester United, it appears that regardless of the results of Sunderland's promotion push, Rigg's Championship days may be well and truly numbered.

1 Ryan Sessegnon

17 Years 7 Months 12 Days

Much like Wickham, with the comparatively underwhelming manner in which his twenties are unfolding, you might be forgiven for forgetting just how unbelievable a teenage Ryan Sessegnon was.

Having already made 16 appearances for various England youth sides, Sessegnon, capable of playing either left-wing or left-back, would break into Fulham's first team in the 2016/17 season, making 26 appearances.

Despite being only 16, he would make eight goal-contributions across a particularly high-profile Championship campaign, including a goal against Aston Villa, and a brace at St. James' Park as the Cottagers reached the play-offs.

Impressive as this debut season was, it would be completely dwarfed by the one that followed. In a frankly obscene individual season for a man of his age, Sessegnon scored 16 times from wide positions, starting in all 49 matches of a term that saw play-off promotion for the West London side.

Sessegnon would have a hand in both goals as Fulham turned around a semi-final deficit against Derby, going on to top it off with an all-important Wembley assist against Aston Villa.

When it comes to individual season-long performances in the EFL, Ryan Sessegnon's 2017-18 is hard to beat, though, when you consider he was just 17-years-old for its entirety, it becomes nothing short of obscene.