Sunderland A.F.C.

"SAFC" redirects here. For other uses, see SAFC (disambiguation).

Sunderland

File:Safc badge.png
Full name	Sunderland Association Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Black Cats, The Mackems
Founded	1879 (as Sunderland and District Teachers)
Ground	Stadium of Light Sunderland
Capacity	49,000
Chairman	Niall Quinn
Caretaker manager	Ricky Sbragia
League	Premier League
2007–08	Premier League, 15th
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Sunderland Association Football Club are a professional association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, which plays in the Premier League. Sunderland have won six First Division titles, in: 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and most recently in 1936.

They were elected into The Football League in 1890, becoming the first team to join after the league's inauguration in 1888. Sunderland stayed in the top flight until 1958, a record for successive seasons which only Arsenal, in 1992, surpassed. The club won their first FA Cup in 1937 with a 3–1 victory over Preston North End. Sunderland's only major triumph after the Second World War was the club's second FA Cup victory in 1973, when the club secured a 1–0 victory over Leeds United thanks to a goal by Ian Porterfield. They have a long-standing rivalry with local team Newcastle United, and the Tyne-Wear derby has been contested since 1898.

The club's home stadium is the Stadium of Light, an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 49,000 into which they moved in 1997 after leaving Roker Park in order to increase ground attendances. It is commonly likened to Benfica's Estádio da Luz, which translates into English as "Stadium of Light". The stadium originally held 42,000, but the capacity increased to 49,000 after redevelopment in 2000.

History

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

For a statistical breakdown by season, see Sunderland A.F.C. seasons.

Glasgow-born and Sunderland-based school teacher James Allan started the Sunderland & District Teachers Association Football Club in October 1879. In 1880, the club changed its name to Sunderland Association Football Club, indicating that the club had opened membership to all in order to relax financial troubles and increase the pool of players available to it. Sunderland had a brief rivalry with Sunderland Albion, until the latter club's demise in the late 19th century. Ironically, it was James Allan who founded Albion following dissatisfaction with the way that Sunderland A.F.C. was being run, as professionalism was creeping into the game.

Sunderland were admitted into The Football League for the 1890–91 season, replacing Stoke, which was the first time a new club had joined the league since its inauguration in 1888. During the late 19th century they were famously declared the "Team of All Talents" by William McGregor, the founder of the league, after a 7–2 win against Aston Villa at Perry Barr. Sunderland won the league championship in the 1891–92 season just one season after joining The Football League. They finished the season as champions after gaining 42 points. Their performance in the previous season led to them being labelled by The Times newspaper as "a wonderfully fine team". Centre forward Johnny Campbell broke the 30 goal mark for the second time in consecutive seasons as Sunderland recorded two league titles in the space of two years. In the same season, they also became the first team to score 100 goals in a season, before West Bromwich Albion achieved the same feat in the 1919–20 season.

Sunderland came close to winning their third successive league championship in the 1893–94 season as they finished six points behind Aston Villa. However, they returned to the top of the English league in the 1894–95 season as they were crowned champions, finishing the campaign five points ahead of Everton. After winning the English League Championship, Sunderland took part in a game with champions of Scotland, Heart of Midlothian. The game was played on 27 April 1895, it was described as the Championship of the World title match. Sunderland won the game 5–3 and were crowned "champions of the world". Sunderland came close to winning another league title in the 1897–98 season, when they finished as runners-up to Sheffield United. That season was also their last at Newcastle Road, as they moved to Roker Park the following season. The club won their fifth league title in the 1901–02 season, after finishing second in the previous campaign; they finished just three points above Everton to secure the title.

In 1904, Sunderland were involved in a payment scandal involving player Andrew McCombie. The club were said to have given the player £100 to help him start his own business, with the understanding that he would repay the money after his benefit game. However, McCombie refused to repay the money saying it had been a gift received from the club. The Football Association started an investigation into the payment, and they said that the money given to McCombie had been a 're-signing/win/draw bonus', which violated the game's rules. Sunderland were fined £250 and six directors suspended for two and a half years for not showing a true record of the club's financial dealings. Sunderland manager Alex Mackie was also suspended for three months for his inclusion in the affair. On 5 December 1908, Sunderland achieved their highest ever league win, against North-East rivals Newcastle United. They won 9–1 as Billy Hogg and George Holley recorded hat-tricks.

In 1913, Sunderland again won the league, but lost their first FA Cup final 1–0 to Aston Villa. This was the closest the club has ever come to The Double. Due to the outbreak of the First World War in 1915, the league was brought to a halt. Sunderland came close to winning another league championship in the 1922–23 season; when they finished as runners-up behind Liverpool. They also came close in the following season; when they ended it in third place, just four points from the top of the league. The Wearsiders escaped relegation from the First Divison by one point in the 1927–28 season despite 35 goals from Dave Halliday. They needed a win against Middlesbrough to survive relgation; they won the match, and finished in fifteenth place. Dave Halliday improved his goalscoring the following season, scoring 43 goals in 42 games, which is an all-time Sunderland record for most goals in a season.

The club's sixth league championship came in the 1935–36 season, and the next season the club finally won the FA Cup after a 3–1 victory against Preston North End at Wembley Stadium. Sunderland had played just three games of the 1939–40 season before it was abandoned due to the Second World War. In January 1949, Sunderland paid £18,000 for Carlisle United's Ivor Broadis. As Broadis was also Carlisle's manager at the time, this is said to be the first instance of a player transferring himself to another club. This, along with Sunderland spending record breaking transfer fees on Len Shackleton and Wales' Trevor Ford, led to the club being known at the time as the "Bank of England" club. The club finished third in the First Division in 1950, the highest finish to date since the 1936 championship.

Memorial for 1973 FA Cup final winning manager, Bob Stokoe as he ran towards Jimmy Montgomery

In 1957, the club were implicated in a major financial scandal for the second time in their history. They were accused of breaking the wage cap, resulting in an unprecedented fine of £5,000 and the suspension of the club chairman and three directors. In 1958, Sunderland were relegated from the highest division for the first time in their 68-year league history. Sunderland won their last major trophy in 1973 courtesy of a 1–0 victory over Leeds United in the FA Cup Final. Sunderland, a Second Division club at the time, won the game thanks to a double save from Jimmy Montgomery to deny Peter Lorimer, described by many as the most famous save, in an FA Cup Final, of all time. Ian Porterfield scored a volley in the 30th minute to beat 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.

After the 1973 FA Cup final win, Sunderland qualified for European competition in the form of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup for the only time to date. Sunderland beat Vasas Budapest 3–0 on aggregate, and drew against Sporting Lisbon in the second round. They won the first leg 2–1 at Roker Park but were defeated 2–0 in the away leg, meaning they were knocked out of the competition 3–2 on aggregate. After spending six seasons in the Second Division, Sunderland were promoted to Division One in the 1975–76 season, they topped the table over Bristol City by three just points. However, Sunderland were relegated the following season back into Divison Two, without their FA Cup Final winning manager Bob Stokoe who had resigned due to health problems at the start of the season. The club celebrated their 100 year centenary in the 1979–80 season, which they christened with a testimonial against an England XI side, where they were beaten 2–0.

In 1985, Sunderland appeared in their only League Cup final, losing 1–0 to Norwich City. As a result of the League Cup final, every time Sunderland and Norwich meet, the Friendship Trophy is contested. Both Sunderland and Norwich were relegated in the same season of appearing in the League Cup Final. In 1987, Sunderland saw one of the lowest points in their history, as they were relegated to the Third Division of the English league for for the first 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, Swindon's victory was revoked after being found guilty of financial irregularities and Sunderland were instead promoted. They stayed up for one year before being relegated on the final day of the following season.

Davy lamp monument standing outside the Stadium of Light

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 to the third-tier of English football. Peter Reid was brought in as manager, 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. Upon leaving, former Sunderland player Len Shackleton said "There will never be another place like Roker". 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 the Second World War, the Stadium's capacity was later increased to 49,000.

Sunderland returned to the Premier League 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 for the third time in under ten years. However, the club's stay in the top flight was short-lived; Sunderland finished on another new record-low total of 15 points. McCarthy left the club in mid-season and was replaced temporarily by Kevin Ball, a former Sunderland player. The record-low fifteen-point performance was surpassed in the 2007–08 season by Derby County, who finished on eleven points.

Following their relegation, the club was taken over by the Irish Drumaville Consortium, headed by ex-player Niall Quinn who replaced former chairman Bob Murray in July 2006. The consortium appointed former Manchester United captain Roy Keane as their new manager. Quinn oversaw a poor start to the first few games of the season, 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, Sunderland won promotion to the Premier League, and were crowned winners of the Championship after beating Luton Town 5–0 at Kenilworth Road on 6 May 2007. The club's form in the 2007–08 season was better than demonstrated during their last season in the Premier League as they eventually finished in 15th with 39 points, retaining Premier League status for the 2008–09 season.

Colours and crest

Sunderland A.F.C. club badge, used from 1972 until changed in 1997

Sunderland began playing in an all blue strip from their formation, until they changed to a red and white halved strip in 1884. In the 1887–88 season, they gained the red and white stripes in which they have played since. Their badge included the upper part of the Sunderland coat of arms, a black cat and a football in front of Sunderland's red and white stripes. In 1972 the badge was changed, but still included the ship, football and the background of red and white stripes.

This badge was used up to the move from Roker Park to the Stadium of Light. In conjuction with the move to Stadium of Light, Sunderland released a new crest divided into four quarters; the upper right and lower left featured their traditional red and white colours, but the ship was left out. The upper left section features the Penshaw Monument and the lower right section shows the Wearmouth Bridge. A colliery wheel lies at the top of the crest, to commemorate the County Durham's mining history, and also the land the Stadium of Light lies on, which was formerly Monkwearmouth Colliery. The crest also contains two lions, the black cats of Sunderland and a banner reading the club's motto Consectatio Excellentiae which means "In pursuit of excellence".

Stadiums

Main articles: Stadium of Light and Roker Park

Stadium of Light, Sunderland's stadium since 1997

Sunderland have had seven stadiums through their history; they started at Blue House Field in Hendon in 1879. The ground was close to the place where Sunderland began, at Hendon Board School, at that time the rent for use of the ground was £10. The club moved from Blue House Field to Groves Field in Ashbrooke in 1882, though the stay was a short one, as they moved to a new home the following season. The club's third stadium was Horatio Street in Roker which became the first Sunderland stadium to be north of the River Wear; the club played a single season there before moving. They moved to Abbs Field in Fulwell and stayed at the ground for two seasons. Abbs Field was notable for being the first Sunderland ground for which they charged an admission.

Average attendances since 1891

Sunderland then moved to Newcastle Road which came to be the longest serving ground to the club up to that point. It served them from 1886 until 1898, and the ground reached a capacity of 15,000 after renovations. When Sunderland left Newcastle Road, the rent per year had risen to £100. Nearing the turn of the century, Sunderland moved to Roker Park, returning to Roker. They moved there after recognising the need for a bigger stadium. It was opened on 10 September 1898, and Sunderland played the same day against Liverpool, which Sunderland opened with a win. After redevelopment in 1913 the stadium's capacity had risen to 50,000. After renovating the Main Stand, the club were nearly bankrupted as a result of it, and Roker Park was put up for sale but no further action was taken. On 8 March 1933, Roker Park witnessed the highest ever attendance at a Sunderland match, 75,118 against Derby County in a FA Cup sixth round replay. By the 1990s, the stadium was no longer large enough for the club, and with no room for possible expansion, it was knocked down in 1997 and a housing estate built in its place.

In 1997, Sunderland moved to its present stadium, Stadium of Light in Monkwearmouth and was opened by Prince Andrew, Duke of York. It was built with an original capacity of 42,000 and hosted its first game against Ajax. The stadium bears the same name as S.L. Benfica's ground Estádio da Luz, though albeit in a different language. Renovations in 2000 saw the capacity rise to 49,000. A Davy lamp monument stands outside the stadium, as a reminder of the Monkwearmouth Colliery pit that the stadium was built on.

Supporters and rivalries

Sunderland held the fifth highest average home attendance out of 20 clubs at the end of the 2007–08 season with an average of 43,344. The club has many different supporters groups, including from; America, Australia, Canada and Ireland. The Seaburn Casuals are the hooligan firm associated with the club. They were of particular notoriety on 12 March 2002 at a home game between Sunderland and Middlebrough, when the Seaburn Casuals and Newcastle's firm The Gremlins brawled. Special case work lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service Kingsley Hyland OBE said "It was violence and disorder on a massive scale", the jury stated it was described as "like a scene from the film Braveheart" by some. Like some other professional football clubs in England, Sunderland have number of supporters who have had Banning Orders placed on them by court order for unreasonable behaviour. The Sunderland fans were voted as the loudest ground in the 2007–08 season following a survey which was carried out at every ground in the league; the highest peak volume was measured at 129.2 decibels.

For home games, the club's official programme is called Red and White, it consists of 84 pages and costs £3 as 28 November 2008. They also have an official monthly subscription magazine, which season ticket holders receive free. The club's current fanzine is A Love Supreme. Others in the past have been It's The Hope I Can't Stand, Sex and Chocolate, Wise Men Say, and The Roker Roar (later The Wearside Roar).

Traditionally, Sunderland's two main rivalries have been with Newcastle United and Middlesbrough of which the Tyne–Wear derby and the Tees–Wear derby are competed respectively, though their rivalries also extend to Leeds United. In the 1880s and 1890s, Sunderland were rivals with fellow Sunderland based team Sunderland Albion. The clubs met in the FA Cup in the third qualifying round, Sunderland however withdrew from the competition to prevent Albion from benefiting from the gate receipts. In the same season the clubs were drawn again in the Durham Association Challenge Cup; in a ploy to again prevent Albion from gaining money from the ticket sales, Sunderland proposed that the gate money to be donated to charity; Albion declined and Sunderland won the match 2–0.

Statistics and records

Main article: List of Sunderland A.F.C. statistics and records‎

League positions since 1890–91 season.
Coloured horizontal lines indicate league divisions. Blue and green lines represent the divide between first and second divisions, and divides between second and third divisions respectively.

The holder of the record for the most league appearances is Jimmy Montgomery, having made 537 first team appearances between 1961 and 1976. The club's top league goalscorer is Charlie Buchan, who scored 208 goals between 1911 and 1925, with Bobby Gurney being the record goalscorer over all competitions with 227 goals from 1926 to 1939. Dave Halliday holds the record for the most goals scored in a season, 43 in the 1928–29 season in the Football League First Division. Charlie Hurley is the most capped player for the club, making 36 appearances for Republic of Ireland.

The club's widest victory margin in the league was in their 9–1 win against Newcastle United in the First Division in 1908. Their heaviest defeats in the league were 8–0 against West Ham United in 1968 and Watford in 1982. Sunderland joined the top division in England, The Football League, in the 1890–91 season and did not experience relegation until 1957–58 (a span of 67 seasons seasons).

Sunderland's record home attendance is 75,118 for a sixth round replay FA Cup match against Derby County on 8 March 1933. The highest transfer fee received for a Sunderland player is £5.5 million, from West Ham United for Don Hutchison in August 2001, while the most spent by the club on a player was £9 million for Craig Gordon from Heart of Midlothian in August 2007.

Nicknames

Sunderland's official nickname is The Black Cats. They also have other nicknames which include; The Rokerites, Roker Men, the Light Brigade, the Miners, the Sols and the Mackems. After leaving Roker Park for the Stadium of Light in 1997, the club decided that they would have a vote on the nickname to clarify the situation once and for all. The Black Cats nickname received the majority of the 11,000 votes beating off other suggestions such as: the Light Brigade, the Miners, the Sols and the Mackems. There is a long historical link between Black Cats and Sunderland; including the "Black Cat Battery", a battery gun based on the River Wear.

Raine's "Eye Plan" of c.1785–90 shows two of the (ultimately four) gun batteries on the south side of the Wear which guarded the rivermouth during the Napoleonic wars. 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 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. Since the 1960s the emblem of the Sunderland A.F.C. Supporters Association has been a black cat.

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 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 led some fans to jokingly dub the team "Sund-Ireland".

Sponsorship

Sunderland are currently sponsored by the Irish bookmaker Boylesports, who signed a four year contract with the club in 2007 worth up to £12 million which will see the company become the main shirt sponsors until 2011. The club were sponsored by the Vaux breweries between 1985 and 1999, and subsequently Sunderland car dealership company Reg Vardy from 1999 to 2007. They have also been sponsored for a small period by transport company "Cowies," later Arriva, which is also headquartered in Sunderland.

Players

As of 28 November 2008.

Current squad

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	SCO	Craig Gordon
2	DF	ENG	Philip Bardsley
3	DF	NIR	George McCartney
4	MF	FIN	Teemu Tainio
5	DF	JAM	Nyron Nosworthy
6	MF	ENG	Dean Whitehead (captain)
7	MF	TRI	Carlos Edwards
8	MF	FRA	Steed Malbranque
9	FW	FRA	Djibril Cissé (on loan from Olympique Marseille)
10	MF	ENG	Kieran Richardson
11	FW	SEN	El-Hadji Diouf
12	MF	IRL	Liam Miller
13	GK	WAL	Darren Ward
14	FW	IRL	Daryl Murphy
15	DF	WAL	Danny Collins
17	FW	TRI	Kenwyne Jones
18	MF	ENG	Grant Leadbitter
19	FW	TRI	Dwight Yorke (vice-captain)
20	MF	EIR	Andy Reid

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	DF	FRA	Pascal Chimbonda
23	FW	NIR	David Healy
25	DF	FRA	Jean-Yves M'voto
26	DF	ENG	Anton Ferdinand
29	DF	ENG	Peter Hartley
31	FW	IRL	David Connolly
32	GK	HUN	Márton Fülöp
34	MF	ENG	Jack Colback
35	DF	ENG	Michael Kay
36	MF	ENG	Nathan Luscombe
37	MF	NIR	Robbie Weir
38	MF	ENG	Jamie Chandler
40	FW	ENG	David Dowson
41	MF	IRL	David Meyler
42	MF	ENG	Jordan Henderson
43	MF	IRL	Conor Hourihane
45	FW	SWE	Rade Prica
46	GK	IRL	Nick Colgan

Out on loan

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	FW	ENG	Michael Chopra (at Cardiff City until January 2009)
24	GK	NIR	Trevor Carson (at Chesterfield until the end of the 2008–09 season)
27	DF	SCO	Russell Anderson (at Burnley until the end of the 2008–09 season)
28	MF	IRL	Graham Kavanagh (at Carlisle United until December 2008)
30	DF	EIR	Paul McShane (at Hull City until the end of the 2008–09 season)
33	DF	IRL	Michael Liddle (at Carlisle United until January 2009)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
39	FW	ENG	Martyn Waghorn (at Charlton Athletic until December 2008)
44	FW	IRL	Anthony Stokes (at Sheffield United until January 2009)
––	MF	ESP	Arnau Riera (at Falkirk until the end of the 2008–09 season)
––	DF	ENG	Greg Halford (at Sheffield United until the end of the 2008–09 season)
––	FW	IRL	Roy O'Donovan (at Dundee United until the end of the 2008–09 season)
––	MF	SCO	Ross Wallace (at Preston North End until the end of the 2008–09 season)

Notable players

Main article: List of Sunderland A.F.C. players

Managers

Main article: List of Sunderland A.F.C. managers

As of 28 September 2008. Only managers in charge for a minimum of 50 professional, competitive matches are counted.

Sunderland have had 33 managers, nine being caretaker managers and the other 24 on a full time basis. They have also had three periods without having a manager.

Name	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	%W
Tom Watson		August 1888	August 1896	191	119	28	44	62.31
Bob Campbell		August 1896	April 1899	103	41	22	40	41.75
Alex Mackie		August 1899	June 1905	214	104	46	64	48.60
Bob Kyle		August 1905	March 1928	817	371	155	291	45.41
Johnny Cochrane		May 1928	March 1939	500	212	122	166	42.40
Bill Murray		April 1939	June 1957	512	186	140	186	36.33
Alan Brown		June 1957	May 1964	332	138	88	106	41.57
Ian McColl		June 1965	February 1968	124	39	27	58	31.45
Alan Brown		February 1968	November 1972	219	63	68	88	28.77
Bob Stokoe		November 1972	August 1976	197	92	49	256	46.70
Jimmy Adamson		December 1976	August 1978	88	29	28	31	32.95
Ken Knighton		June 1979	April 1981	94	34	25	35	36.17
Alan Durban		June 1981	March 1984	130	37	40	53	28.46
Len Ashurst		March 1984	May 1985	66	21	16	29	31.81
Lawrie McMenemy		June 1985	April 1987	90	27	24	39	30.00
Denis Smith		June 1987	December 1991	238	91	64	83	38.24
Malcolm Crosby		December 1991	February 1993	60	21	15	24	35.00
Mick Buxton		November 1993	March 1995	76	25	24	27	32.89
Peter Reid		March 1995	November 2002	353	159	95	99	45.04
Mick McCarthy		March 2003	March 2006	147	63	26	58	42.86
Roy Keane		August 2006	December 2008	100	42	41	17	42.00

Honours

The following are the honours Sunderland have achieved since their foundation in 1879.

League

• First Division (level 1)

Winners (6): 1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1901–02, 1912–13, 1935–36

Runners-up (5): 1893–94, 1897–98, 1900–01, 1922–23, 1934–35

• Football League Championship (level 2)

Winners (2): 2004–05, 2006–07

• Second Division (level 2)

Winners (1): 1975–76

Runners-up (2): 1963–64, 1979–80

Promotion (1): 1989–90

• First Division (level 2)

Winners (2): 1995–96, 1998–99

• Third Division (level 3)

Winners (1): 1987–88

Domestic cup

• FA Cup

Winners (2): 1936–37, 1972–73

Runners-up (2): 1912–13, 1991–92

• League Cup

Runners-up (1): 1984–85

• Charity Shields

Winners (1): 1936

Runners-up (1): 1937

• Sheriff of London Charity Shield

Winners (1): 1903

• Football League War Cup

Runners-up (1): 1942

Friendship Trophy

Each time Sunderland and Norwich City meet, they contest the Friendship Trophy, an honour dating back to the camaraderie forged between supporters of the two clubs in the 1985 Football League Cup Final that they contested. Sunderland are the current holders of the trophy, having beaten Norwich 1–0 on 2 December 2006.

Footnotes and references

Footnotes:

References:

• Days, Paul (1 December 1999). Sunderland AFC: The Official History 1879–2000. Business Education Publishers Ltd. p. 336. ISBN 978-0953698417. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
• "Sunderland AFC — Statistics, History and Records". The Stat Cat. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
• "Sunderland AFC honours". Ready To Go : Independant Sunderland AFC. Retrieved 19 September 2008.

External links

• Sunderland A.F.C. Official Website
• Sunderland Echo—Latest Sunderland A.F.C. news
• Sunderland A.F.C. on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results and fixtures