Sunderland A.F.C.

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Sunderland

Full name

Sunderland Association Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Black Cats, The Mackems

Founded

1879

Ground

Stadium of Light
Sunderland
(Capacity 49,000)

Chairman

Manager

League

Football League Championship, 1st
(promoted)





Home colours





Away colours

Sunderland Association Football Club is a professional football club, based at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in North-East England. They play in the Premier League. They moved to the Stadium of Light in 1997 after 99 years at Roker Park. The Sunderland fans were recently voted the loudest in the Premiership following a survey which was carried out at every ground in the league^[1]^[2].

Before the Second World War, Sunderland were league champions six times - in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and most recently in 1936, when they became the last team wearing striped shirts to win the league. They were elected into the football league in 1890, becoming the first team to join after the league's birth in 1888. Sunderland stayed in the top flight until 1958, a record which only Arsenal have bettered since, in 1992. The club won their first FA Cup in 1937 with a 3-1 victory over Preston North End.^[3]

Sunderland's major triumph post World War II was the club's second FA Cup victory in 1973, when the club secured a 1-0 victory over Leeds United.^[4]

Old club badge, used from 1972 until changed in 1997 at the time of the club's move to the Stadium of Light

Sunderland A.F.C. badge before the 1970s

Main article: History of Sunderland A.F.C.

Glasgow born Sunderland-based school teacher James Allan started the ‘Sunderland and District Teachers Association Football Club’ formed Sunderland A.F.C. on 17 October 1879. On 16 October 1880 the club changed its name to "Sunderland Teachers Association Football Club" ie the Teachers bit remained, but the statement which announced this indicated that the club opened its membership to all in order to relax financial troubles and increase the pool of players available to it. Sunderland Teachers AFC became Sunderland AFC on limited company status. Sunderland enjoyed an extremely "unhealthy" rivalry with Sunderland Albion F.C. (who confusingly had the same initials) until their demise in the early 20th century.

Ironically it was James Allan who founded Albion after being voted off the Committee of Sunderland AFC although he had formed Albion prior to the meeting.

Sunderland were admitted into The Football League for the 1890-91 season, replacing Stoke. It was the first time a new club had joined the league since its inauguration in 1989. During the late 19th century they were still famously declared as the "Team of All Talents" by William McGregor, the founder of the league, after a 6 v 1 over Aston Villa at Perry Barr (erroneously up to now attributed to a 7 v 2 home win against Aston Villa); and between 1892 and 1902 the team won the league three times and were runners-up a further three times.

In 1913, Sunderland again won the league and lost their first FA Cup Final 1-0 to Aston Villa. It was the closest the club has ever gone to The Double.

The club's sixth (and to this day last) league championship came in the 1935-36 season, and the next season the club finally won the F.A. Cup after a 3-1 victory against Preston North End at Wembley Stadium.

Following the Second World War, the club suffered a downturn in fortunes, despite breaking a number of transfer records and being labelled 'The Bank of England Club'. In 1957 the club were implicated in a major financial scandal (the second in their history after the Andrew MacCombie scandal in 1904), resulting in an unprecedented fine of £5,000 and the suspension of the club chair and three directors. In 1958 Sunderland were relegated from the top-flight for the first time in their 68-year league history.

Sunderland won their last major trophy in 1973 courtesy of 1-0 victory over Leeds United in the FA Cup Final. Sunderland, a second division club at the time, won the game thanks to an amazing double save of Jimmy Montgomery to deny Peter Lorimer, described by many as the greatest save at Wembley, and by some even as the greatest save of all time. Ian Porterfield scored a stunning volley in the 30th minute to stun Leeds and take the win. Since 1973 only two other clubs (Southampton in 1976 and West Ham United in 1980) have equalled Sunderland's achievement of lifting the FA Cup while playing outside the top tier of English football.

In 1985, Sunderland appeared in their first and only (to 2007) League Cup final, losing 1-0 to Norwich City.

1987 saw one of the lowest points in Sunderland's history, as they were relegated to the third division of the English league for the first and only time.

Under new Chairman Bob Murray and new manager Denis Smith the club were promoted as champions the following season. In 1990, they were promoted back to the top flight, after losing to Swindon Town in the play off final, but Swindon's victory being revoked after being found guilty of financial irregularities. They stayed up for one year before being relegated on the final day of the season.

Sunderland's last outing in a major final came in 1992 when, as a second division club, they returned to the FA Cup Final. There was to be no repeat of the heroics of 1973, with Sunderland losing 2-0 to Liverpool.

The early 1990s was a turbulent period for the club. In 1995, they faced the prospect of a return the third-tier of English football. Peter Reid was brought in, and quickly turned things around. Reid's time in charge had a stabilising effect; he remained manager for seven years, one of the longest tenures in Sunderland's history.

In 1997, Sunderland left Roker Park, their home for 99 years. They moved to the Stadium of Light, a 42,000-seat arena that, at the time, was the biggest new stadium built in England since World War II. The move saw a renaissance at the club, as attendances jumped dramatically. The Stadium capacity was later increased to 49,000.

Sunderland returned to the top-flight as champions in 1999 with a then record points total of 105. Two consecutive seventh place finishes in the Premier League were followed by two less successful seasons and they were relegated to the second-tier with a record low points total of 19 in 2003.

Former Ireland manager Mick McCarthy took over at the club and in 2005 he took Sunderland up as champions (the third time in under ten years). However, the following season was a disaster; Sunderland finished on a new record-low total of 15 points. McCarthy left the club in mid-season and was replaced temporarily by Kevin Ball, a former player.

Following their relegation new hope was given to the club by ex-player Niall Quinn who, along with the Irish Drumaville Consortium, successfully launched a bid to buy out former chair Bob Murray in July 2006. The consortium appointed former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, a former international team mate of chairman Niall Quinn, as their new manager. Quinn had been in charge for the first few games of the season in a disastrous start. However, under Keane the club rose steadily up the table with an unbeaten run of seventeen games from the start of 2007. Along with Birmingham City FC, Sunderland clinched promotion to the FA Premier League for the upcoming 2007-2008 season, following Derby County's 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on April 29th. Roy Keane was informed via a text message that Sunderland AFC had been promoted while walking his dog Triggs.^[5] On May 6th 2007 Sunderland were crowned winners of Championship after beating Luton Town 5-0 at Kenilworth Road.

Their form in the 2007-08 season has been far better than the form they showed last time round at this level. They've been able to create a 'never say die' attitude and this has been shown through their ability to often score late goals.

Sunderland's third kit for the 07/08 season.

Sunderland began playing in an all-blue kit, then red and white halved shirts, settling on red-and-white stripes in 1887, parading this new kit in a game against Notts Mellors. The red and white stripes can be traced back to a gift from fellow North East team South Bank FC who helped Sunderland out when they faced financial difficulties. They donated a set of red-and-white striped kits, complete with black shorts, and Sunderland have been wearing those colours ever since. For the 07/08 season, the away kit is all white, which continues a tradition of Sunderland AFC wearing the colour (the team wore white on the first game at Roker Park in 1898).^[6] There is also a third kit, which is all blue.

Main articles: Sunderland A.F.C. statistics and 2007-08_Season_for_Sunderland_A.F.C.

In 117 years (76 in the top division), they have played over 4700 league games, of which they have won 41%, drawn 24% and lost 35%. Sunderland has an all-time positive league goal-difference of over 600.

Sunderland last won the league in 1936. Since then, their highest league finish was 3rd in 1950, although they did reach seventh in consecutive seasons at the turn of the 21st century. Since they were first relegated in 1958, Sunderland has not spent longer than 6 years in a division without being promoted or relegated.

In 2000 following a poll on the official SAFC website, Sunderland confirmed the football club's traditional nickname of "The Black Cats".

There is a long historical link between Black Cats and Sunderland; including the "Black Cat Battery", a battery gun based on the River Wear, according to Sunderland AFC. This link is reinforced by folklore in which the black cat is said to bring luck.

Raine's "Eye Plan" of c.1785-90 ^[7] shows two of the (ultimately four) gun batteries on the south side of the Wear which guarded the rivermouth during the Napoleonic wars. This battery site would later evolve into Militia Barracks during the course of the nineteenth century ^[8]. An annotation to the 1984 published version of Raine's Eye Plan ^[9] states that one of the two batteries was named the John Paul Jones Battery after the American naval hero who sailed down the English East coast in 1779 with a squadron of warships intending to disrupt the coal trade. In 1805 the battery was manned by local militia, the Sunderland Loyal Volunteers, one of whom was a cooper by trade named Joshua Dunn. He, it was said, "fled from the howling of an approaching black cat, convinced by the influence of the full moon and a warming dram or two that it was the devil incarnate". From that point onwards the John Paul Jones Battery was known as the Black Cat Battery.

A Sunderland supporter (Billy Morris) took a Black Cat to the 1937 FA Cup Final in his top pocket as a good luck charm, it worked as Sunderland brought home the trophy for the first time. During the 1960s a Black Cat lived in Roker Park and was fed and watered by the football club; its reward for catching mice and rats.^{[citation needed]}

Since the 1960s, the emblem of the Sunderland AFC Supporters Association has been a black cat. After 2000, Sunderland's Mascot became "Samson the Cat" and a few years later, Delilah joined him. Samson was originally named after shirt sponsor at the time (Vaux Samson bitter). Delilah was given her name to create the "Samson and Delilah" pairing; the name of a Biblical couple.

As well as the "Team of All Talents" at the turn of the 20th century, Sunderland was also known as the "Bank of England club" during the 1950s. This was due to the club's huge spending on the transfer market at the time, which saw the transfer-record broken twice.

At the beginning of the 2006-07 season, the purchase of the club by the Irish Drumaville consortium, the appointments of Niall Quinn and Roy Keane to their respective roles as chairman and manager, as well as the relatively large number of Irish players in the squad (nine players out of 34) led some fans to jokingly dub the team "Sund-Ireland".^{[citation needed]}

The official club fanzine is called Legion of Light. Others have included A Love Supreme, It's The Hope I Can't Stand, Sex and Chocolate, Wise Men Say, and The Roker Roar (later The Wearside Roar). Also known as the SMBs'

Honours	Times	Years
League
First Division Top Flight Champions	6	1891/1892, 1892/1893, 1894/1895, 1901/1902, 1912/1913, 1935/1936
First Division Top Flight Runners-up	5	1893/1894, 1897/1898, 1900/1901, 1922/1923, 1934/1935
Championship Second Flight Champions	2	2004/2005, 2006/2007
'New' First Division Second Flight Champions	2	1995/1996, 1998/1999
'Old' Second Division Second Flight Champions	1	1975/1976
'Old' Second Division Second Flight Runners-up	1	1963/1964
'Old' Third Division Third Flight Champions	1	1987/1988
Cups
FA Cup Winners	2	1936/1937, 1972/1973
FA Cup Runners-up	3	1912/1913, 1941/1942, 1991/1992
FA Youth Cup	2	1967, 1969
League Cup Runners-up	1	1984/1985
War Cup Runners-up	1	1942
Charity Shield Winners	1	1936/1937
Sheriff of London Charity Shield Winners	1	1902/1903
Charity Shield Runners-up	1	1937/1938

Reached the First Division in 1890 and over the next 50 years were league champions six times.

Were relegated from the First Division for the first time in 1958, making 68 consecutive seasons spent in the English top league, still the second highest total in English football. Since then though, they have struggled to establish themselves back in the top flight.

Played their first Premiership season in 1996-97, which ended in relegation on the final day of the season.

Returned to the Premiership in 1999 and finished seventh in both of their first two seasons back at the highest level.

Were relegated from the Premiership in 2003 with a record low of four wins, 21 goals and 19 points.

They returned to the Premiership in 2005/2006 season, but went down after just one season, breaking their own record by attaining just 3 wins and 15 points.

They then returned to England's top flight after a successful 2006/07 season in the Championship, winning it under the leadership of manager Roy Keane.

Have spent most of their time since 1958 bouncing between the top two tiers of the English professional league.

Were Division 1 champions in 1999 with an English league record of 105 points, which remained unbroken for seven years until Reading topped the same table with 106 points.

In 2006-2007, following a terrible start to the season - losing their first four games, Sunderland AFC went on to win The Championship once again. This meant that they had won the Football League Champions Trophy for the 10th time in their history - albeit it 4 of them being at the second level. However, it was a monumental achievement following the debacle of the previous season. The driving factors of this transformation were the financial takeover of the club by the Drumaville consortium led by Niall Quinn, and more importantly, the appointment of Roy Keane as the manager of the first team.

Spent one season in the Third Division (1987-88). The managerial expertise of Dennis Smith and frequent goal scoring of Marco Gabbiadini and striking partner Eric Gates, ensured that their stay at this level was a short one and they went straight back up as champions.

FA Cup runners up to Aston Villa in 1913.

The team inspired by local boy Raich Carter won the clubs first F.A. Cup in 1937, beating Preston North End 3-1.

Achieved a famous 1-0 victory over the then mighty Leeds United in the 1973 F.A Cup final thanks to an Ian Porterfield goal and a Jim Montgomery wonder save.

Reached the final of the League Cup in 1985, in which they were beaten 1-0 by Norwich City. Following this game the 'Friendship Trophy' was instituted, reflecting the excellent camaraderie between the fans of the two clubs. It is competed for each time the clubs meet and is currently held by Sunderland.

Most recent cup final was the 1992 FA Cup final, which was lost to Liverpool.

Home Attendance (Professional competitive games only)
- Highest (Overall): 75,118 (v Derby County, FA Cup 6th Round Replay, March 8, 1933 at Roker Park)
- Highest (League): 68,004 (v Newcastle United, March 4 1950 at Roker Park) although it is thought there where up to 90000 against Manchester United in 1964 at roker park
- Highest (Stadium of Light): 48,355 (vs Liverpool, FA Premiership, April 13, 2002)
- Additionally, Sunderland hold the record for the highest attendance outside the top flight of English football since the advent of the Premier League: 47,350 (vs Stoke City, Coca-Cola Championship, May 8, 2005)

- Lowest (Overall): 1,000? (v Fairfield, FA Cup First round, 2 February 1895 at Newcastle Road) (estimate)
- Lowest (League): 2,000? (v Everton April 10 1910 or Burnley December 12 1914) (both estimates and both at Roker Park)
- Lowest (Stadium of Light): 11,450 (vs Chester City, Carling Cup First Round, August 24, 2004)
- Lowest (Stadium of Light, League): 22,167 (vs Wigan Athletic, December 2 2003)

- Highest average league attendance (Overall): 47,976 (1949-1950 season at Roker Park)
- Highest average league attendance (Stadium of Light): 46,790 (2000-2001 season)
- Highest ratio between average league attendance and stadium capacity: 97% (1999-2000 season)

Scorelines
- Biggest victory (League): 1-9 (v Newcastle United, Division One, 5 December 1908)
- Biggest victory (cup): 11-1 (v Fairfield, FA Cup First round, 2 February 1895)
- Biggest Defeat: 8-0 (v West Ham United (19 October 1968), Watford (25 September 1982))

Players
- All-time appearances: 623 - Jimmy Montgomery (537 league, 78 cup, 8 other)
- All-time goalscorer: 228 - Bobby Gurney
- Post-war goalscorer: 113 - Kevin Phillips
- Most goals in a season: 43 - Dave Halliday, 1928/29 season
- Highest transfer fee paid: £7m (rising to £9m)^[10] (Craig Gordon from Hearts) (British record - highest ever fee paid for a goalkeeper)

Sequences
- Most back-to-back league wins: 13 (November 14, 1891 - April 2, 1892)
- Most back-to-back league draws: 6 (March 26, 1949 - April 19, 1949)
- Most back-to-back league losses: 17 (January 18, 2003 - August 23, 2003)
- Longest run without a league defeat: 19 (May 3, 1998 - November 11, 1998)
- Longest run without a league win: 22 (December 21, 2002 - August 23, 2003)

Points
- Most points in a season: 105 (Football League Division One, 1998/99) (English league record at the time)
- Fewest points in season: 15 (Premier League, 2005/06) (English league record since the advent of three-points-for-a-win)

As of 26 November 2007.^[11]

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Craig Gordon
2	DF	Greg Halford
3	DF	Ian Harte
4	MF	Dickson Etuhu
5	DF	Nyron Nosworthy
6	DF	Paul McShane
7	MF	Carlos Edwards
8	MF	Dean Whitehead (captain)
9	FW	Anthony Stokes
10	MF	Kieran Richardson
11	FW	Daryl Murphy
12	MF	Liam Miller
13	GK	Darren Ward
14	DF	Danny Higginbotham
15	DF	Danny Collins
16	FW	Michael Chopra
17	FW	Kenwyne Jones
18	MF	Grant Leadbitter
19	MF	Dwight Yorke

No.	Position	Player
20	FW	Andrew Cole
21	DF	Russell Anderson
22	DF	Clive Clarke
23	FW	Roy O'Donovan
24	GK	Trevor Carson
26	DF	Jack Pelter
27	DF	Stanislav Varga
28	MF	Graham Kavanagh
29	DF	Peter Hartley
30	MF	Jake Richardson
31	FW	David Connolly
33	MF	Ross Wallace
35	DF	Michael Kay
36	DF	Gavin Donoghue
37	MF	Robbie Weir
38	MF	Jamie Chandler
39	FW	Martyn Waghorn
40	FW	David Dowson
41	MF	Michael Liddle

No.	Position	Player
34	MF	Billy Dennehy (on loan to Accrington Stanley)
––	MF	Arnau Riera (on loan to Falkirk)
––	DF	Stephen Wright (on loan to Stoke City)
32	GK	Marton Fulop (on loan to Leicester City )

See: Sunderland U18'S.

Chairman: Niall Quinn
Manager: Roy Keane
Assistant Manager/Head Coach: Tony Loughlan
Assistant Manager/Goalkeeping Coach: Raimond van der Gouw
First Team Coach: Neil Bailey
Coach: Ricky Sbragia
Reserve Team Coach: Kevin Richardson
Senior Physiotherapist: David Binningsley
Physiotherapist: Pete Friar
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Mike Clegg
Fitness Coach: Scott Ainsley
Academy Manager: Ged McNamee
Assistant Academy Managers: Kevin Ball and Elliott Dickman
Chief Scout Mick Brown

19 men have chaired Sunderland A.F.C. since it became a limited company in 1895 with an average tenure of 5 and a half years. The longest serving chair is Bob Murray who chaired the club for 18 years in two separate spells (of which the second - 11 years between 1995 and 2006 - was the longest continuous spell of any chair).

Fred Taylor escaped suspension following the 1904 illegal payments scandal, a feat not matched by Bill Ditchburn following a similar scandal in 1957. Ditchburn became the first and only Sunderland chair to be suspended during his tenure. The five proceeding chairs, Turnbull, Ritson, Parker and father and son Syd and Keith Collings, were all directors on the board during the scandal.

1879-1895 - Run by a committee
1895-1903 - James Henderson (Moved Sunderland from Newcastle Road to Roker Park)
1903-1904 - Sinclair Todd
1904-1913 - Fred Taylor
1913-1921 - Samuel Wilson
1921-1930 - William Bell
1930-1938 - Walter Raine (Former mayor of Sunderland.)
1938-1940 - Duncan White
1940-1949 - Joespeh Prior
1949-1957 - Bill Ditchburn (Former mayor of Sunderland, he was suspended from football by the FA after the 1957 financial irregularities scandal.)

1957-1958 - John Turnbull
1958-1960 - Stanley Ritson
1960-1968 - Syd Collings
1968-1971 - Jack Parker
1971-1980 - Keith Collings
1980-1986 - Tom Cowie
1986-1993 - Bob Murray
1993-1995 - John Featherstone
1995-2006 - Bob Murray (Moved Sunderland from Roker Park to Stadium of Light; Floated the club on the Stock Exchange. Longest serving chair in total.)
2006-Present - Niall Quinn (Only chair to simultaneously manage team. First former player to become chair. First chairman from outside the United Kingdom).

Source: [1]

Start and end dates of early managers are estimates. Records are only for competitive games.

Name	Nat.	From	To	Record				Notes
Name	Nat.	From	To	P	W	D	L	Notes
Tom Watson		August 1, 1888	August 1, 1896	191	119	28	44	3 League Championships. Statistically, Sunderland's most successful manager.
Bob Campbell		August 1, 1896	April 1, 1899	103	41	22	40
Alex Mackie		August 1, 1899	June 1, 1905	214	104	46	64	1 League Championship.
Bob Kyle		August 1, 1905	March 1, 1928	817	371	155	291	1 League Championship.
Johnny Cochrane		May 1, 1928	March 31, 1939	500	212	122	166	1 League Championship, 1 FA Cup.
Bill Murray		April 1, 1939	June 1, 1957	512	186	140	186
Alan Brown		June 1, 1957	May 31, 1964	332	138	88	106
George Hardwick		November 1, 1964	May 31, 1965	29	14	3	12
Ian McColl		June 1, 1965	February 1, 1968	124	39	27	58
Alan Brown		February 2, 1968	November 1, 1972	219	63	68	88
Billy Elliott		November 1, 1972	November 23, 1972	4	0	2	2	Caretaker
Bob Stokoe		November 23, 1972	August 18, 1976	197	92	49	56	1 FA Cup.
Ian MacFarlane		August 18, 1976	December 1, 1976	7	2	1	4	Caretaker
Jimmy Adamson		December 1, 1976	August 25, 1978	88	29	28	31
David Merrington		August 25, 1978	December 13, 1978	8	4	2	2	Caretaker
Billy Elliott		December 13, 1978	May 24, 1979	26	14	7	5	Caretaker
Ken Knighton		June 7, 1979	April 1, 1981	94	34	25	35
Mick Docherty		April 1, 1981	June 1, 1981	4	2	0	2	Caretaker
Alan Durban		June 1, 1981	March 2, 1984	130	37	40	53
Bryan (Pop) Robson		March 2, 1984	March 4, 1984	1	0	1	0	Caretaker
Len Ashurst		March 4, 1984	May 23, 1985	66	21	16	29
Lawrie McMenemy		June 8, 1985	April 16, 1987	90	27	24	39
Bob Stokoe		April 16, 1987	June 9, 1987	9	3	2	4	Caretaker
Denis Smith		June 9, 1987	December 30, 1991	238	91	64	83
Malcolm Crosby		December 30, 1991	February 1, 1993	60	21	15	24
Terry Butcher		February 5, 1993	November 26, 1993	45	14	8	23
Mick Buxton		November 26, 1993	March 29, 1995	76	25	24	27
Peter Reid		March 29, 1995	November 7, 2002	353	159	95	99
Howard Wilkinson		November 10, 2002	March 10, 2003	27	4	8	15	Statistically, Sunderland's least successful permanent manager.
Mick McCarthy		March 12, 2003	March 6, 2006	147	63	26	58
Kevin Ball		March 7, 2006	May 31, 2006	10	1	2	7	Caretaker
Niall Quinn		July 25, 2006	August 30, 2006	6	1	0	5	Chairman / Caretaker manager
Roy Keane		August 30, 2006	Present	41	26	7	8	1 championship (divsion 1)

Managerless games				35	13	7	15
Total Club Record		November 1879	Present	4801	1968	1153	1681