Sunderland A.F.C.
| Full name | Sunderland Association Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Black Cats, The Mackems | ||
| Founded | 1879 | ||
| Ground | Stadium of Light Sunderland | ||
| Capacity | 49,000 | ||
| Chairman |  Niall Quinn | ||
| Manager | Roy Keane | ||
| League | The Championship | ||
| 2005-06 | FA Premier League, 20th (Relegated) | ||
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Sunderland Association Football Club are a professional football club, based at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, North-East England. They are currently nicknamed the 'Black Cats', after being previously known as 'The Rokerites'. They moved to the Stadium of Light in 1997 after 99 years at Roker Park. Sunderland's traditional local rivals are Newcastle United.
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 football club wearing striped shirts to win the English football league. They were elected into the football league in 1890, becoming the first team to join the league after its birth in 1888; and stayed in the top flight of English football until 1958, a record of consecutive seasons which only Arsenal have bettered in 1992. The club won their first F.A. Cup in 1937 with a 3-1 victory over Preston North End.
Their only major trophy post WWII was the club's second F.A Cup, which was secured in 1973 thanks to a shock 1-0 win over Leeds United.
History
Sunderland A.F.C. were formed in 1879 by Glaswegian schoolteacher James Allan as 'Sunderland and District Teachers Association Football Club'. In 1881, the club opened its membership to all in order to relax financial troubles, and therefore becoming Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland were admitted into The Football League for the 1890-91 season, replacing Stoke City. During the late 19th century they were declared as the "Team of All Talents" by William McGregor, the founder of the English Football League, 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), resulting in an unprescendented fine of £5,000 and the suspension of the club chairman 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.
In 1985 Sunderland appeared in their first ever 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 divsion 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. A few seasons later, despite losing the 1990 play off final, Sunderland returned to the top flight.
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. Between 1990 and 1995 Sunderland had 5 managers. 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 reign 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 which, at the time, was the biggest new stadium built in England since the war. 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 and had two good season in the Premier League, finishing seventh on both occasions. The following two seasons were not as successful and Sunderland were relegated back to the second-tier. Former Ireland manager Mick McCarthy took over at the club. He once again took Sunderland up as champions (the third time in under ten years), but the following season was a disaster; Sunderland finished on a 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 his Drumaville Consortium, successfully launched a bid to buy out former chairman Bob Murray in July 2006. The consortium appointed former Manchester United skipper Roy Keane, a former international team-mate of chairman Niall Quinn, as their new manager.
Colours
Sunderland began playing in an all-blue kit, but changed to red-and-white stripes in 1887. This is because they had run into financial difficuly and asked for help from their neighbours, fellow North-East side South Bank FC, who donated some red-and-white striped kits, complete with black shorts, and Sunderland have been wearing those colours ever since. [1]
Statistics
Following relegation from the Premier League in the previous season, Sunderland are in their 106th full professional league season in the Football League Championship. In 116 years (76 in the top division) they have played over 4000 league games, of which they have won 41%, drawn 24% and lost 35%. Sunderland have 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 7th in consecutive seasons at the turn of the 21st century. Since they were first relegated in 1958, Sunderland have not spent longer than 6 years in a division without being promoted or relegated.
Nicknames
In 2000 following a poll on the official SAFC website, Sunderland announced the new club nickname would be "The Black Cats". The alternatives were, "The SOLs", "The Miners" and "the Mackems". The club had been without a nickname since 1997 when it moved away from Roker Park - the nickname "The Rokerites" was no longer relevant.
There is a long historical link between Black Cats and Sunderland; including the "Black Cat Battery", a battery gun based on the River Wear. This link is reinforced by folklore in which the black cat is said to bring luck. 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 he was joined by Delilah. 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 were 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 on the squad (nine players out of 34) led some fans to jokingly dub the team "Sund-ireland".
Fanzines
The official club fanzine is called 'Legion of Light', but perhaps the most popular currently is 'A Love Supreme'. Others have included 'It's The Hope I Can't Stand', 'Sex and Chocolate', and 'The Roker Roar' (later 'The Wearside Roar').
The most popular medium for opinion regarding the club and its fans is Sunderland Message Board which is the joint venture of A Love Supreme and the online fan site ReadyToGo.net.
Honours
| Honour | Times | Years | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | |||||
| First Division Top Flight Champion | 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 Champion | 1 | 2004/2005 | |||
| 'New' First Division Second Flight Champion | 2 | 1995/1996，1998/1999 | |||
| 'Old' Second Division Second Flight Champion | 1 | 1975/1976 | |||
| 'Old' Second Division Second Flight Runners-up | 1 | 1963/1964 | |||
| 'Old' Third Division Third Flight Champion | 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 | 1901/1902 | |||
| Charity Shield Runners-up | 1 | 1937/1938 | |||
Top flight
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. For nearly 50 years since then, they have struggled to establish themselves back in the top flight.
Reached their first League Cup final in 1985 but lost to Norwich City. They were both relegated from the First Division weeks later.
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 4 wins, 21 goals and 19 points.
Returned to the Premiership in 2005 but went down after just one season, breaking their own record by attaining just 3 wins and 15 points.
Second flight
Have spent most of their time since 1958 bouncing between the top two tiers of the English professional league.
Were Division One 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.
Third flight
Spent one season in the Third Division (1987-88). The managerial expertise of Dennis Smith and frequent goalscoring of Marco Gabbiadini ensured that their stay at this level was a short one and they went straight back up as champions.
Cup competitions
Achieved a famous 1-0 victory over Leeds United in the 1973 F.A Cup final thanks to an Ian Porterfield goal and a Jim Montgomery wonder save.
Most recent cup final was the 1992 FA Cup final, which was lost to Liverpool.
Club records
- Attendance
- Highest (Roker Park): 75,118 (v Derby County, FA Cup 6th Round Replay, March 8th, 1933)
- Highest (Stadium of Light): 48,355 (vs Liverpool, FA Premiership, April 13th, 2002)
- Lowest (Stadium of Light): 11,450 (vs Chester City, Carling Cup First Round, August 24th, 2004)
- Scorelines
- Biggest victory (League): 9-1 (v Newcastle United, Division One, 5th December 1908)
- Biggest victory (cup): 11-1 (v Fairfield, FA Cup First round, 2nd 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: £8m (Tore Andre Flo from Rangers)
- Sequences
- Most back-to-back league wins: 13 (November 14th, 1891 - April 2nd, 1892)
- Most back-to-back league draws: 6 (March 26th, 1949 - April 19th, 1949)
- Most back-to-back league losses: 17 (January 18th, 2003 - August 23rd, 2003)
- Longest run without a league defeat: 19 (May 3rd, 1998 - November 11th, 1998)
- Longest run without a league win: 22 (December 21st, 2002 - August 23rd, 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)
Current squad
As of October 13, 2006: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Grounds
- 1879-1882 - Blue House Field, Hendon
- 1882-1883 - Groves Field, Ashbrooke
- 1883-1884 - Horatio Street, Roker
- 1884-1886 - Abbs Field, Fulwell
- 1886-1898 - Newcastle Road, Monkwearmouth
- 1898-1997 - Roker Park, Roker
- 1997-present - Stadium of Light, Monkwearmouth
Managerial history
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(c) - Caretaker Manager
Notable Sunderland players
Alf Common (1900)
Leigh Richmond Roose (1907)- Charlie Buchan (1911)
- Bobby Gurney
- Raich Carter
- Willie Watson
- Len Shackleton (1948)
- Trevor Ford (1950)
Billy Bingham (1950)- Len Ashurst
- Don Revie (1956)
Charlie Hurley (1957)- Brian Clough (1961)
Jim Baxter (1965)- Ian Porterfield (1967)
- Dave Watson (1970)
- Gary Rowell (1972)
- Bobby Park (1973)
- George Burley
- Jimmy Montgomery
- Barry Venison
- Sam Allardyce
- Ally McCoist (1981)
- Marco Gabbiadini (1987)
Stefan Schwarz- Niall Quinn (1996)
- Chris Waddle (1997)
- Kevin Phillips (1997)
Thomas Sørensen (1998)
Julio Arca (2000)
Claudio Reyna (2001)
Notable Sunderland supporters
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- Robert Clarke (b. 1987, Peterborough) Estate Agent And Former AFC Wimbledon Goal Keeper
- Kate Adie (b. 1945, Northumberland) journalist and news reporter
- Tasmin Archer (b. 1963, Bradford, West Yorkshire) singer/songwriter
- The Rt. Hon. Hilary Armstrong MP (b. 1945, Sunderland) Labour Party politician and former Cabinet Chief Whip
- Frank Bough (b. 1933, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) television broadcaster and journalist
- Paul Collingwood (b. 1976, Shotley Bridge, Durham) Durham and England cricketer
- Chris Cowey (b. 1957, Sunderland) former executive producer of 'Top of the Pops'
- Steve Cram (b. 1960, Gateshead) middle-distance athlete turned sports journalist and presenter
- Jared Deacon (b. 1975, South Shields) 400m athlete
- Terry Deary (b. 1946, Sunderland) author of childrens books, including the 'Horrible Histories' series
- Lesley Douglas (b. 1963, Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Controller of BBC Radio 2
- Melanie Hill (b. 1962, Sunderland) television actress
- David Jones (b. 1979, North Yorkshire) journalist and presenter on the 'Sky Sports News' channel
- Alex Kapranos (b. 1972, Almondsbury) lead singer and guitarist with the band 'Franz Ferdinand'
- Khalid Khannouchi (b. 1971, Meknes, Morocco) marathon runner
- Olga Korbut (b. 1955, Hrodna, Belarus) four-times Olympic champion in gymnastics
- Gina McKee (b. 1961, Peterlee, County Durham) film and television actress, and narrator of the docusoap chronicling the club, 'Premier Passions'²
- Martin O'Neill (b. 1952, Kilrea, Northern Ireland) footballer and manager³
- Sonia O'Sullivan (b. 1969, Cobh, Cork, Republic of Ireland) former 5000m World Champion athlete
- David Parfitt (b. 1945, Sunderland) Academy Award-winning film producer (1998 - for 'Shakespeare in Love')
- Lyn Paul (b. 1949, Manchester) 'The New Seekers' singer, and West End and television actress
- Alan Price (b. 1942, Fatfield, County Durham) musician and songwriter¹
- David Puttnam (b. 1941, London) Academy Award-winning film producer (1982 - for 'Chariots of Fire') and life peer
- Tim Rice (b. 1944, Amersham, Buckinghamshire) lyricist, author and broadcaster
- Denise Robertson (b. 1934, Sunderland) writer and agony aunt on television magazine 'This Morning'
- Barry Venison (b. 1964, Consett, County Durham) footballer and sports pundit
- Chris Waddle (b. 1960, Heworth, Gateshead) footballer
¹Feature 'Football fan Alan returns to his roots' from The 'Sunderland Echo', 7 June 2005 [2]
²Interview given to 'The Observer' newspaper, 27 August 2000 [3]
³Article from 'The Independent' newspaper, 12 February 2006 [4]
Trivia
- Sunderland received the first 4-figure transfer-fee in football history; £1,002 was paid by Middlesbrough for Alf Common.
- Arsenal's highest ever attendance at Highbury was against Sunderland; a crowd of 73,295 watched a First Division game on March 9 1935. The record attendance of Arsenal's local rivals Tottenham Hotspur was also against Sunderland - On March 5 1938 75,038 fans watched the game at White Hart Lane.
- Sunderland were also the visitors for record attendances of Leeds United (57,892 at Elland Road on March 15 1967), Watford (all-seater record, 21,590 at Vicarage Road on November 27 1999), Bristol Rovers (record at the Memorial Ground, 11,433 on October 31 2000) and Yeovil Town in one of the most embarrassing moments in Sunderland's history, when they lost 2-1 to the then non-league club at Huish Park on January 29 1949 in the FA Cup 4th Round.
- Sunderland's record attendance of 75,118 at Roker Park is the 6th highest record attendance of all league clubs - behind Manchester City (84,569), Chelsea (82,905), Everton (78,299), Aston Villa (76,588) and Manchester United (75,664).
- Sunderland have broken the British football transfer record on at least five different occasions, and they have been the selling club on at least three occasions.
- In 1895, after winning the English league for the third time, Scottish champions Hearts challenged Sunderland to an exhibition match, billed as the 'Championship of the World'. Sunderland won the game 5-3.
- In 1903, Sunderland fans - disgruntled following a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday - stoned the referee and the Wednesday team bus. The FA banned Sunderland from playing their next game at Roker Park; instead they had to play it at St. James' Park in Newcastle.
- Sunderland's record win, 9-1 at Newcastle United is still a record away win in England's top division.
- Between 2003 and 2006, Sunderland held two very distinct English professional league records; both the highest number of points in a season (105 in First Division, now known as the Championship, in 1998-99) and also the lowest number of points in a season (19 in the Premiership in 2002-03). In 2006, Reading broke the record for the highest number of points with 106, and in the same season, Sunderland broke the record for the lowest number of points with 15 in the Premiership, based on three points for a win this is the lowest ever total by an English top flight club and the worst by any club for over seventy years.
- The club's Latin motto, "Consectatio Excellentiae", means "In pursuit of excellence".
References
- Club Records - readytogo.net
External links
Official website
Other sites
- Sunderland A.F.C. on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results and fixtures
- SunderlandMAD
- Mackem Poetry
- The Stat Cat - Comprehensive collection of Sunderland AFC statistics
- Ready To Go
- OneSunderland.com
- A Love Supreme
- Mackem Memories
- Red White and Barmy.com
- Sunderland Football Chants
- Sunderland - Premierleague.com
- Sunderland Kits from the Past
Forums
Sunderland blogs
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