Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English football club. They are from the city of Sunderland.

Sunderland A.F.C.

Full name	Sunderland Association Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Black Cats
Short name	SAFC
Founded	1879; 145 years ago (1879) (as Sunderland and District Teachers)
Ground	Stadium of Light
Capacity	49,000
Owner	Kyril Louis-Dreyfus (majority)
Chairman	Kyril Louis-Dreyfus
Head coach	Lee Johnson
League	Championship
2023–24	Championship, 16th of 24
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

The club played in the Premier League in the 2005/2006 season, they finished bottom. They played in the Football League Championship in 2006/2007, but were promoted back to the Premiership for 2007/08 under manager Roy Keane.

Sunderland AFC were created in 1879 and joined the Football League in 1891. They have won the league six times. The last time Sunderland won the league was in 1936. Sunderland have won the FA Cup two times, in 1937 and 1973.

For 99 years, Sunderland played their home games at Roker Park. In 1997 they moved, and now play their home games at the Stadium of Light. The stadium holds 49,000 people.

Seasons

Season	League									FA Cup	EFL Cup[lower-alpha 1]	Europe / Other		Top league goalscorer(s)[1]
	Division (Tier)	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Pos					Name(s)	Goals
1884–85	There was no league football until 1888–89									QR
1885–86										QR
1886–87										QR
1887–88										Disq[lower-alpha 2]
1888–89	Sunderland did not join The Football League until 1890–91									QR
1889–90										R1
1890–91	FL (1)	22	10	5	7	51	31	23[lower-alpha 3]	7th	SF				Johnny Campbell	19
1891–92	FL (1)	26	21	0	5	93	36	42	1st	SF				Johnny Campbell	32
1892–93	Div 1[lower-alpha 4] (1)	30	22	4	4	100	36	48	1st	QF				Johnny Campbell	31
1893–94	Div 1 (1)	30	17	4	9	72	44	38	2nd	R2				Jimmy Millar	20
1894–95	Div 1 (1)	30	21	5	4	80	37	47	1st	SF		Football World Championship	W	Johnny Campbell	22
1895–96	Div 1 (1)	30	15	7	8	52	41	37	5th	R2				Johnny Campbell	15
1896–97	Div 1 (1)	30	7	9	14	34	47	23	15th[lower-alpha 5]	R2		Football League Test Matches	2nd	James Gillespie Jimmy Hannah	8
1897–98	Div 1 (1)	30	16	5	9	43	30	37	2nd	R1				John Brown Jim Leslie Hughie Wilson	8
1898–99	Div 1 (1)	34	15	6	13	41	41	36	7th	R2				Jim Leslie	9
1899–1900	Div 1 (1)	34	19	3	12	50	35	41	3rd	R2				Colin McLatchie	10
1900–01	Div 1 (1)	34	15	13	6	57	26	43	2nd	R1				Geordie Livingstone	12
1901–02	Div 1 (1)	34	19	6	9	50	35	44	1st	R2				Jimmy Gemmell Billy Hogg	10
1902–03	Div 1 (1)	34	16	9	9	51	36	41	3rd	R1		Sheriff of London Charity Shield[lower-alpha 6]	W	Jimmy Gemmell Joe Hewitt Jimmy Millar	7
1903–04	Div 1 (1)	34	17	5	12	63	49	39	6th	R1				Jack Craggs Billy Hogg	12
1904–05	Div 1 (1)	34	16	8	10	60	44	40	5th	R1				George Holley Walter Watkins	9
1905–06	Div 1 (1)	38	15	5	18	61	70	35	14th	R3				Arthur Bridgett	17
1906–07	Div 1 (1)	38	14	9	15	65	66	37	10th	R3				Arthur Bridgett	25
1907–08	Div 1 (1)	38	16	3	19	78	75	35	16th	R1				George Holley	23
1908–09	Div 1 (1)	38	21	2	15	78	63	44	3rd	QF				George Holley	18
1909–10	Div 1 (1)	38	18	5	15	66	51	41	8th	R3				George Holley	20
1910–11	Div 1 (1)	38	15	15	8	67	48	45	3rd	R1				Tim Coleman	19
1911–12	Div 1 (1)	38	14	11	13	58	51	39	8th	R3				George Holley[lower-alpha 7]	25
1912–13	Div 1 (1)	38	25	4	9	86	43	54	1st	RU				Charlie Buchan	27
1913–14	Div 1 (1)	38	17	6	15	63	52	40	7th	QF				George Holley	15
1914–15	Div 1 (1)	38	18	5	15	81	72	41	8th	R1				Charlie Buchan	23
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the First World War.
1919–20	Div 1 (1)	42	22	4	16	72	59	48	5th	R3				Charlie Buchan	21
1920–21	Div 1 (1)	42	14	13	15	57	60	41	12th	R1				Charlie Buchan	27
1921–22	Div 1 (1)	42	16	8	18	60	62	40	12th	R1				Charlie Buchan	21
1922–23	Div 1 (1)	42	22	10	10	72	54	54	2nd	R2				Charlie Buchan	30
1923–24	Div 1 (1)	42	22	9	11	71	54	53	3rd	R1				Charlie Buchan	26
1924–25	Div 1 (1)	42	19	10	13	64	51	48	7th	R2				Bobby Marshall	18
1925–26	Div 1 (1)	42	21	6	15	96	80	48	3rd	R5				Dave Halliday	38
1926–27	Div 1 (1)	42	21	7	14	98	70	49	3rd	R3				Dave Halliday	36
1927–28	Div 1 (1)	42	15	9	18	74	76	39	15th	R4				Dave Halliday	35
1928–29	Div 1 (1)	42	20	7	15	93	75	47	4th	R3				Dave Halliday	43[lower-alpha 8]
1929–30	Div 1 (1)	42	18	7	17	76	80	43	9th	R5				Bobby Gurney	15
1930–31	Div 1 (1)	42	16	9	17	89	85	41	11th	SF				Bobby Gurney	30
1931–32	Div 1 (1)	42	15	10	17	67	73	40	13th	R4				Bobby Gurney	16
1932–33	Div 1 (1)	42	15	10	17	63	80	40	12th	QF				Bobby Gurney	15
1933–34	Div 1 (1)	42	16	12	14	81	56	44	6th	R4				Bobby Gurney	21
1934–35	Div 1 (1)	42	19	16	7	90	51	54	2nd	R4				Bobby Gurney	30
1935–36	Div 1 (1)	42	25	6	11	109	74	56	1st	R3				Raich Carter Bobby Gurney	31
1936–37	Div 1 (1)	42	19	6	17	89	87	44	8th	W[lower-alpha 9]		Charity Shield[lower-alpha 10]	W	Raich Carter	26
1937–38	Div 1 (1)	42	14	16	12	55	57	44	8th	SF		Charity Shield	RU	Raich Carter	13
1938–39	Div 1 (1)	42	13	12	17	54	67	38	16th	R5				Raich Carter	15
1939–40	Div 1 (1)	3	1	0	2	6	7	2	—[lower-alpha 11]	—
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the Second World War.
1945–46	n/a[lower-alpha 12]									R5
1946–47	Div 1 (1)	42	18	8	16	65	66	44	9th	R3				Jackie Robinson Cliff Whitelum	17
1947–48	Div 1 (1)	42	13	10	19	56	67	36	20th	R3				Dickie Davis	12
1948–49	Div 1 (1)	42	13	17	12	49	58	43	8th	R4				Dickie Davis	10
1949–50	Div 1 (1)	42	21	10	11	83	62	52	3rd	R4				Dickie Davis	25
1950–51	Div 1 (1)	42	12	16	14	63	73	40	12th	QF				Trevor Ford	16
1951–52	Div 1 (1)	42	15	12	15	70	61	42	12th	R3				Trevor Ford Len Shackleton	22
1952–53	Div 1 (1)	42	15	13	14	68	82	43	9th	R4				Trevor Ford	20
1953–54	Div 1 (1)	42	14	8	20	81	89	36	18th	R3				Tommy Wright	18
1954–55	Div 1 (1)	42	15	18	9	64	54	48	4th	R4				Ken Chisholm	18
1955–56	Div 1 (1)	42	17	9	16	80	95	43	9th	SF				Charlie Fleming	29
1956–57	Div 1 (1)	42	12	8	22	67	88	32	20th	R4				Charlie Fleming	25
1957–58	Div 1 (1) ↓	42	10	12	20	54	97	32	21st	R3				Alan O'Neill	13
1958–59	Div 2 (2)	42	16	8	18	64	75	40	15th	R3				Don Kichenbrand	21
1959–60	Div 2 (2)	42	12	12	18	52	65	36	16th	R3				Ian Lawther	17
1960–61	Div 2 (2)	42	17	13	12	75	60	47	6th	QF	R2			Ian Lawther	24
1961–62	Div 2 (2)	42	22	9	11	85	50	53	3rd	R4	QF			Brian Clough	29
1962–63	Div 2 (2)	42	20	12	10	84	55	52	3rd	R5	SF			Brian Clough	24
1963–64	Div 2 (2)	42	25	11	6	81	37	61	2nd	QF	R2			Johnny Crossan	22
1964–65	Div 1 (1)	42	14	9	19	64	74	37	15th	R4	R4			Nick Sharkey	18
1965–66	Div 1 (1)	42	14	8	20	51	72	36	19th	R3	R3			Neil Martin George Mulhall	8
1966–67	Div 1 (1)	42	14	8	20	58	72	36	17th	R5	R2			Neil Martin	20
1967–68	Div 1 (1)	42	13	11	18	51	61	37	15th	R3	R4			Colin Suggett	14
1968–69	Div 1 (1)	42	11	12	19	43	67	34	17th	R3	R2			Colin Suggett	9
1969–70	Div 1 (1) ↓	42	6	14	22	30	68	26	21st	R3	R2	Anglo-Italian Cup	Grp	Gordon Harris	7
1970–71	Div 2 (2)	42	15	12	15	52	54	42	13th	R3	R2			Joe Baker	10
1971–72	Div 2 (2)	42	17	16	9	67	57	50	5th	R4	R2	Anglo-Italian Cup	Grp	Dennis Tueart Dave Watson	13
1972–73	Div 2 (2)	42	17	12	13	59	49	46	6th	W[lower-alpha 13]	R2			Billy Hughes	15
1973–74	Div 2 (2)	42	19	9	14	58	44	47	6th	R3	R3	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	R2[lower-alpha 14]	Vic Halom	18
1974–75	Div 2 (2)	42	19	13	10	65	35	51	4th	R4	R2	Texaco Cup	Grp	Pop Robson	19
1975–76	Div 2 (2)	42	24	8	10	67	36	56	1st	QF	R2	Anglo-Scottish Cup	Grp	Pop Robson	13
1976–77	Div 1 (1) ↓	42	11	12	19	46	54	34	20th	R3	R3			Bob Lee	13
1977–78	Div 2 (2)	42	14	16	12	67	59	44	6th	R3	R2			Gary Rowell	18
1978–79	Div 2 (2)	42	22	11	9	70	44	55	4th	R4	R2	Anglo-Scottish Cup	Grp	Gary Rowell	21
1979–80	Div 2 (2)	42	21	12	9	69	42	54	2nd	R3	R4	Anglo-Scottish Cup	Grp	Pop Robson	20
1980–81	Div 1 (1)	42	14	7	21	52	53	35	17th	R3	R2			Gary Rowell	10
1981–82	Div 1 (1)	42	11	11	20	38	58	44[lower-alpha 15]	19th	R4	R3			Gary Rowell	9
1982–83	Div 1 (1)	42	12	14	16	48	61	50	16th	R3	R3			Gary Rowell	16
1983–84	Div 1 (1)	42	13	13	16	42	53	52	13th	R4	R3			Colin West	9
1984–85	Div 1 (1) ↓	42	10	10	22	40	62	40	21st	R3	RU[lower-alpha 16]			Clive Walker	10
1985–86	Div 2 (2)	42	13	11	18	47	61	50	18th	R4	R2	Full Members' Cup	ASF	Eric Gates	9
1986–87	Div 2 (2) ↓	42	12	12	18	49	59	48	20th[lower-alpha 17]	R3	R1	Full Members' Cup	R2	David Buchanan Mark Proctor	8
1987–88	Div 3 (3)	42	27	12	7	92	48	93	1st	R2	R1	Associate Members' Cup	AQF	Marco Gabbiadini	21
1988–89	Div 2 (2)	46	16	15	15	60	60	63	11th	R3	R2	Full Members' Cup	R2	Marco Gabbiadini	18
1989–90	Div 2 (2)	46	20	14	12	70	64	74	6th[lower-alpha 18]	R3	QF	Full Members' Cup Second Division Play-offs	R1 RU	Marco Gabbiadini	21
1990–91	Div 1 (1) ↓	38	8	10	20	38	60	34	19th	R3	R3	Full Members' Cup	R3	Marco Gabbiadini	9
1991–92	Div 2 (2)	46	14	11	21	61	65	53	18th	RU	R2			Don Goodman	11
1992–93	Div 1[lower-alpha 19] (2)	46	13	11	22	50	64	50	21st	R4	R1	Anglo-Italian Cup	Grp	Don Goodman	16
1993–94	Div 1 (2)	46	19	8	19	54	57	65	12th	R4	R3	Anglo-Italian Cup	Grp	Phil Gray	14
1994–95	Div 1 (2)	46	12	18	16	41	45	54	20th	R4	R2			Phil Gray	12
1995–96	Div 1 (2)	46	22	17	7	59	33	83	1st	R3	R2			Craig Russell	13
1996–97	Prem (1) ↓	38	10	10	18	35	53	40	18th	R3	R3			Craig Russell Paul Stewart	4
1997–98	Div 1 (2)	46	26	12	8	86	50	90	3rd[lower-alpha 20]	R4	R3	First Division Play-offs	RU	Kevin Phillips	29
1998–99	Div 1 (2)	46	31	12	3	91	28	105	1st	R4	SF			Kevin Phillips	23
1999–2000	Prem (1)	38	16	10	12	57	56	58	7th	R4	R3			Kevin Phillips	30
2000–01	Prem (1)	38	15	12	11	46	41	57	7th	R5	QF			Kevin Phillips	14
2001–02	Prem (1)	38	10	10	18	29	51	40	17th	R3	R2			Kevin Phillips	11
2002–03	Prem (1) ↓	38	4	7	27	21	65	19	20th	R5	R4			Kevin Phillips	6
2003–04	Div 1 (2)	46	22	13	11	62	45	79	3rd[lower-alpha 21]	SF	R2	First Division Play-offs	SF	Marcus Stewart	14
2004–05	Chmp[lower-alpha 22] (2)	46	29	7	10	76	41	94	1st	R4	R2			Marcus Stewart	16
2005–06	Prem (1) ↓	38	3	6	29	26	69	15	20th	R4	R3			Liam Lawrence Anthony Le Tallec Tommy Miller Dean Whitehead	3
2006–07	Chmp (2)	46	27	7	12	76	47	88	1st	R3	R1			David Connolly	13
2007–08	Prem (1)	38	11	6	21	36	59	39	15th	R3	R2			Kenwyne Jones	7
2008–09	Prem (1)	38	9	9	20	34	54	36	16th	R4	R4			Djibril Cissé Kenwyne Jones	10
2009–10	Prem (1)	38	11	11	16	48	56	44	13th	R4	R4			Darren Bent	25
2010–11	Prem (1)	38	12	11	15	45	56	47	10th	R3	R3			Asamoah Gyan	10
2011–12	Prem (1)	38	11	12	15	45	46	45	13th	QF	R2			Nicklas Bendtner	8
2012–13	Prem (1)	38	9	12	17	41	54	39	17th	R3	R4			Steven Fletcher	11
2013–14	Prem (1)	38	10	8	20	41	60	38	14th	QF	RU[lower-alpha 23]	Premier League Asia Trophy	RU	Adam Johnson	8
2014–15	Prem (1)	38	7	17	14	31	53	38	16th	R5	R3			Steven Fletcher Connor Wickham	5
2015–16	Prem (1)	38	9	12	17	48	62	39	17th	R3	R3			Jermain Defoe	15
2016–17	Prem (1) ↓	38	6	6	26	29	69	24	20th	R3	R4			Jermain Defoe	14
2017–18	Chmp (2) ↓	46	7	16	23	52	80	37	24th	R3	R3			Lewis Grabban	12
2018–19	One (3)	46	22	19	5	80	47	85	5th[lower-alpha 24]	R2	R1	EFL Trophy League One Play-offs	RU[lower-alpha 25] RU	Josh Maja	15
2019–20	One (3)	36	16	11	9	48	32	59	8th[lower-alpha 26]	R1	R4	EFL Trophy	Grp	Chris Maguire	10
2020–21	One (3)	46	20	17	9	70	42	77	4th[lower-alpha 27]	R1	R1	EFL Trophy League One Play-offs	W SF	Charlie Wyke	26

Notes

1. The League Cup competition started in the 1960–61 season.
2. Sunderland were disqualified from the FA Cup after beating Middlesbrough 4–2 in a third qualifying round replay, Middlesbrough protested that Sunderland had paid three of their players, they were disqualified for "professionalism".^[2]
3. Sunderland were deducted two points due to fielding Ned Doig, an ineligible player, finishing the season on 23 points.^[3]
4. The Football League expanded to two divisions in 1892, absorbing most of the teams from the Football Alliance. The league previously known simply as the Football League became the Football League First Division.
5. Sunderland retained their place in Division One by winning one and drawing two of four test matches, playing home and away against Notts County and Newton Heath.^[3][4]
6. The Sheriff of London Charity Shield was a football competition in England, which lasted from 1898 to 1907, it was last won by Newcastle United. It was made defunct, and succeeded by the Charity Shield.^[5]
7. Holley was joint-top Division One scorer with Harry Hampton and David McLean of Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday respectively.^[1]
8. Club record for most league goals (43) scored in a season.^[1]
9. Won against Preston North End 3–1 in final at the old Wembley Stadium.
10. The Charity Shield was first played for in 1908. In its early years, the match took place at the end of the season, but was subsequently moved to September or October of the following season. From 1959 onwards it has been played in August, prior to the beginning of the league programme. It was renamed the FA Community Shield in 2002.^[5]
11. The 1939–40 season was abandoned in early September and all results annulled.^[6]
12. The FA Cup was contested in 1945–46 but the Football League did not resume until the following season.
13. Won against Leeds United 1–0 in final at the old Wembley Stadium.
14. Sunderland qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup after winning the 1973 FA Cup Final, they made it to the Second Round where they won the first leg of their match against Sporting CP 2–1. They lost 0–2 in the second leg, and were knocked out, beaten 2–3 on aggregate.^[7]
15. The 1981–82 season saw the introduction of three points for a win.
16. Lost to Norwich City 0–1 in final at the old Wembley Stadium.
17. Relegated through promotion-relegation play-offs, after being beaten on the away goals rule in a 6–6 draw over two legs against Gillingham. This was also the first time they had been relegated to the third tier of English football.^[3][8]
18. Swindon Town were initially promoted to Division One through the play-offs after beating Sunderland 1–0 at the old Wembley Stadium. However, Sunderland were instead promoted as Swindon had made illegal payments that season.^[3]
19. With the advent of the Premier League, the second tier of English football became known as the First Division.
20. Lost 6–7 on penalties, after finishing 4–4 after extra time, to Charlton Athletic in play-off final at the old Wembley Stadium.^[3]
21. Lost 4–5 on penalties, after finishing 4–4 on aggregate, in play-off semi-finals to Crystal Palace.^[3]
22. In 2004–05 the Football League First Division had been renamed the Football League Championship as part of a re-branding exercise by the Football League.
23. Lost to Manchester City 1–3 in final at Wembley Stadium.
24. Lost to Charlton Athletic 1–2 in play-off final at Wembley Stadium.
25. Lost to Portsmouth 4–5 on penalties, after finishing 2–2 after extra time, in final at Wembley Stadium.
26. Lowest League finish.
27. Lost to Lincoln City 2–3 on aggregate in play-off semi-finals.

References

1. "English League Leading Goalscorers 1889–2007". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
2. "Sunderland 4–2 Middlesbrough". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
3. "Sunderland Association Football Club". Football Club history Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
4. "Sunderland AFC Season Details – 1896–97". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
5. Ross, James (21 July 2007). "England — List of FA Charity/Community Shield Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
6. "Sunderland AFC Season Details – 1939–40". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
7. "Sunderland ECWC results 1973/74". Football Site. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
8. "Sunderland AFC Season Details – 1986–87". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2008.