1991–92 Sunderland A.F.C. season

Sunderland

1991–92 season
Chairman	Bob Murray
Manager	Denis Smith (until 30 December) Malcolm Crosby (from 30 December)
Stadium	Roker Park
Second Division	18th
FA Cup	Runners up
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	Don Goodman (11)
Average home league attendance	18,390
Home colours

During the 1991–92 English football season, Sunderland A.F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Season summary

Having been relegated from the First Division in 1990-91, Sunderland were widely expected to perform well in 1991-92, but ultimately struggled in the Second Division, finishing in a disappointing 18th position. However, in that same season, the Rokerites embarked on a run leading to the FA Cup final, becoming the first club from the second tier since 1980 to reach Wembley, where they lost 2–0 to Liverpool, They had previously beaten Chelsea in a quarter-final replay. Smith was sacked as manager during the season, and was replaced by his assistant Malcolm Crosby.

Final league table

Main article: 1991–92 Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
16	Barnsley	46	16	11	19	46	57	−11	59
17	Bristol City	46	13	15	18	55	71	−16	54
18	Sunderland	46	14	11	21	61	65	−4	53
19	Grimsby Town	46	14	11	21	47	62	−15	53
20	Newcastle United	46	13	13	20	66	84	−18	52

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

Results

Sunderland's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1991	Derby County	H	1–1	20,509	Armstrong
20 August 1991	Barnsley	A	3–0	12,454	Owers, Armstrong, Pascoe
24 August 1991	Millwall	A	1–4	10,016	Owers (pen)
31 August 1991	Oxford United	H	2–0	16,151	Gabbiadini, Armstrong
3 September 1991	Portsmouth	A	0–1	9,621
7 September 1991	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–1	17,043	Atkinson
14 September 1991	Swindon Town	A	3–5	11,417	Owers, Gabbiadini, Armstrong
17 September 1991	Charlton Athletic	A	4–1	5,807	Owers (pen), Gabbiadini (3)
21 September 1991	Grimsby Town	H	1–2	16,535	Pascoe
28 September 1991	Middlesbrough	A	1–2	19,424	Brady
5 October 1991	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	4–2	15,119	Beagrie, Rush (2), Armstrong
12 October 1991	Cambridge United	A	0–3	7,857
19 October 1991	Port Vale	A	3–3	7,525	Brady (2), Ball
26 October 1991	Bristol Rovers	H	1–1	14,746	Bennett
2 November 1991	Watford	H	3–1	12,790	Byrne (2), Armstrong
5 November 1991	Ipswich Town	A	1–0	9,768	Armstrong
9 November 1991	Bristol City	A	0–1	10,570
17 November 1991	Newcastle United	H	1–1	29,224	Davenport
23 November 1991	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–1	6,007
30 November 1991	Southend United	H	1–2	13,575	Byrne
7 December 1991	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–1	11,922
14 December 1991	Leicester City	H	1–0	15,094	Goodman
21 December 1991	Portsmouth	H	1–0	14,432	Awford (own goal)
26 December 1991	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–1	13,658
28 December 1991	Oxford United	A	0–3	6,140
1 January 1992	Barnsley	H	2–0	16,107	Armstrong, Goodman
11 January 1992	Millwall	H	6–2	16,533	Hardyman, Byrne, Goodman (3), Davenport
18 January 1992	Derby County	A	2–1	15,384	Goodman, Byrne
1 February 1992	Port Vale	H	1–1	19,488	Armstrong
8 February 1992	Bristol Rovers	A	1–2	6,318	Byrne
11 February 1992	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–1	18,060	Hardyman
22 February 1992	Southend United	A	0–2	7,473
29 February 1992	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–0	20,106	Byrne (pen)
14 March 1992	Watford	A	0–1	8,091
21 March 1992	Bristol City	H	1–3	18,933	Atkinson
29 March 1992	Newcastle United	A	0–1	30,306
8 April 1992	Leicester City	A	2–3	16,533	Bennett, Goodman
11 April 1992	Charlton Athletic	H	1–2	21,326	Bennett
14 April 1992	Ipswich Town	H	3–0	22,131	Goodman (2), Rush
16 April 1992	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–1	23,813
18 April 1992	Grimsby Town	A	0–2	8,864
20 April 1992	Middlesbrough	H	1–0	25,098	Davenport
25 April 1992	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	2–2	9,851	Goodman, Rogan
27 April 1992	Swindon Town	H	0–0	16,716
29 April 1992	Blackburn Rovers	A	2–2	15,079	Armstrong, Davenport
2 May 1992	Cambridge United	H	2–2	19,042	Goodman, Rush

FA Cup

Main article: 1991–92 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1992	Port Vale	H	3–0	15,564	Atkinson, Davenport, Byrne
R4	5 February 1992	Oxford United	A	3–2	9,968	Byrne, Hardyman, Atkinson
R5	15 February 1992	West Ham United	H	1–1	25,475	Byrne
R5R	26 February 1992	West Ham United	A	3–2	25,830	Byrne (2), Rush
QF	9 March 1992	Chelsea	A	1–1	33,498	Byrne
QFR	18 March 1992	Chelsea	H	2–1	26,039	Davenport, Amstrong
SF	5 April 1992	Norwich City	N	1–0	40,102	Byrne
F	9 May 1992	Liverpool	N	0–2	79,544

League Cup

Main article: 1991–92 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 First Leg	24 September 1991	Huddersfield Town	H	1–2	8,161	Hauser
R2 Second Leg	9 October 1991	Huddersfield Town	A	0–4 (lost 1–6 on agg)	11,177

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Tim Carter
—	GK	WAL	Tony Norman
—	DF	ENG	Gary Bennett
—	DF	ENG	Paul Hardyman
—	DF	ENG	John Kay
—	DF	ENG	Richard Ord
—	DF	ENG	Ian Sampson
—	DF	ENG	Anthony Smith
—	DF	ENG	Paul Williams
—	DF	NIR	Anton Rogan
—	MF	ENG	Gordon Armstrong
—	MF	ENG	Brian Atkinson
—	MF	ENG	Kevin Ball
—	MF	ENG	Peter Beagrie (on loan from Everton)
—	MF	ENG	Paul Bracewell
—	MF	ENG	Tony Cullen

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Peter Davenport
—	MF	ENG	Steve Gaughan
—	MF	ENG	Martin Gray
—	MF	ENG	Gary Owers
—	MF	WAL	Colin Pascoe
—	MF	IRL	Kieron Brady
—	MF	IRL	Brian Mooney
—	FW	ENG	Steve Brodie
—	FW	ENG	Don Goodman
—	FW	ENG	Warren Hawke
—	FW	ENG	David Rush
—	FW	ENG	Craig Russell
—	FW	IRL	John Byrne
—	FW	GER	Thomas Hauser

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	NGA	Reuben Agboola (to Swansea City)
—	FW	ENG	Marco Gabbiadini (to Crystal Palace)