1995–96 Sunderland A.F.C. season

Sunderland

1995–96 season
Chairman	Bob Murray
Manager	Peter Reid
Stadium	Roker Park
First Division	1st
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Russell (13) All: Russell (14)
Highest home attendance	22,027 vs. West Bromwich Albion (27 April 1996)
Lowest home attendance	12,282 vs. Portsmouth (12 September 1995)
Average home league attendance	17,482

During the 1995–96 English football season, Sunderland A.F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

After saving Sunderland from relegation the season before, Peter Reid was appointed manager on a permanent basis. In his first full season as Sunderland manager, 1995–96, was successful as the club won the First Division title and gained promotion to the Premier League for the first time since the League restructuring which had taken effect in 1992–93.

Final league table

Main article: 1995–96 Football League

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Sunderland	46	22	17	7	59	33	83
2.	Derby County	46	21	16	9	71	51	79
3.	Crystal Palace	46	20	15	11	67	48	75
4.	Stoke City	46	20	13	13	60	49	73
5.	Leicester City	46	19	14	13	66	60	71
6.	Charlton Athletic	46	17	20	9	57	45	71
7.	Ipswich Town	46	19	12	15	79	69	69
8.	Huddersfield Town	46	17	12	17	61	58	63
9.	Sheffield United	46	16	14	16	57	54	62
10.	Barnsley	46	14	18	14	60	66	60
11.	West Bromwich Albion	46	16	12	18	60	68	60
12.	Port Vale	46	15	15	16	59	66	60
13.	Tranmere Rovers	46	14	17	15	64	60	59
14.	Southend United	46	15	14	17	52	61	59
15.	Birmingham City	46	15	13	18	61	64	58
16.	Norwich City	46	14	15	17	59	55	57
17.	Grimsby Town	46	14	14	18	55	69	56
18.	Oldham Athletic	46	14	14	18	54	50	56
19.	Reading	46	13	17	16	54	63	56
20.	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	13	16	17	56	62	55
21.	Portsmouth	46	13	13	20	61	69	52
22.	Millwall	46	13	13	20	43	63	52
23.	Watford	46	10	18	18	62	70	48
24.	Luton Town	46	11	12	23	40	64	45

See also: Play-off results

Key
Promoted to the Premiership
Qualified for the promotion playoff
Relegated to Division Two

NB In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference

Results

Sunderland's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12 August 1995	Leicester City	H	1–2	18,593	Agnew
19 August 1995	Norwich City	A	0–0	16,739
26 August 1995	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–0	16,816	Melville, P Gray
30 August 1995	Port Vale	A	1–1	7,693	P Gray
2 September 1995	Ipswich Town	A	0–3	12,390
9 September 1995	Southend United	H	1–0	13,805	Russell
12 September 1995	Portsmouth	H	1–1	12,282	Melville
16 September 1995	Luton Town	A	2–0	6,955	Mullin, P Gray
23 September 1995	Millwall	A	2–1	8,691	Scott (pen), Smith
30 September 1995	Reading	H	2–2	17,503	Kelly, Melville
7 October 1995	Crystal Palace	A	1–0	13,754	Kelly
14 October 1995	Watford	H	1–1	17,790	Scott
21 October 1995	Huddersfield Town	A	1–1	16,054	P Gray
28 October 1995	Barnsley	H	2–1	17,024	Russell, Howey
5 November 1995	Charlton Athletic	A	1–1	11,626	M Gray
18 November 1995	Sheffield United	H	2–0	16,640	P Gray (2)
22 November 1995	Stoke City	A	0–1	11,754
25 November 1995	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–0	15,931	Howey
3 December 1995	Crystal Palace	H	1–0	12,777	Scott (pen)
9 December 1995	Millwall	H	6–0	18,951	Russell (4), Scott (pen), P Gray
16 December 1995	Reading	A	1–1	9,431	Smith
23 December 1995	Derby County	A	1–3	16,882	M Gray
14 January 1996	Norwich City	H	0–1	14,983
21 January 1996	Leicester City	A	0–0	16,130
24 January 1996	Grimsby Town	H	1–0	14,656	Ord
30 January 1996	Tranmere Rovers	H	0–0	17,616
3 February 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–3	26,537
10 February 1996	Port Vale	H	0–0	15,934
17 February 1996	Portsmouth	A	2–2	12,241	Howey, Agnew
20 February 1996	Ipswich Town	H	1–0	14,052	Russell
24 February 1996	Luton Town	H	1–0	16,693	James (own goal)
27 February 1996	Southend United	A	2–0	5,786	Scott (pen), Bridges
3 March 1996	Grimsby Town	A	4–0	5,318	Ball, P Gray, Bridges, Russell
9 March 1996	Derby County	H	3–0	21,644	Russell (2), Agnew
12 March 1996	Oldham Athletic	A	2–1	7,149	Ball, M Gray
17 March 1996	Birmingham City	A	2–0	23,251	Agnew, Melville
23 March 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	1–0	20,631	Scott
30 March 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	3–2	20,131	Bridges (2), Ball
2 April 1996	Watford	A	3–3	11,195	Russell, Agnew, Ball
6 April 1996	Barnsley	A	1–0	13,189	Russell
8 April 1996	Charlton Athletic	H	0–0	20,914
13 April 1996	Sheffield United	A	0–0	20,050
16 April 1996	Birmingham City	H	3–0	19,831	M Gray, Stewart, Russell
21 April 1996	Stoke City	H	0–0	21,276
27 April 1996	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–0	22,027
5 May 1996	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–2	16,193

FA Cup

Main article: 1995–96 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	6 January 1996	Manchester United	A	2–2	41,563	Russell, Agnew
R3R	16 January 1996	Manchester United	H	1–2	21,378	P Gray

League Cup

Main article: 1995–96 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	15 August 1995	Preston North End	A	1–1	6,323	Angell
R1 Second Leg	22 August 1995	Preston North End	H	3–2	7,407	Howey (2), Ryan Kidd (own goal)
R2 First Leg	20 September 1995	Liverpool	A	0–2	25,579
R2 Second Leg	4 October 1995	Liverpool	H	0–1	20,560

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
-	GK	ENG	Alec Chamberlain
-	DF	POL	Dariusz Kubicki
-	DF	WAL	Gareth Hall
-	DF	ENG	Lee Howey
-	DF	ENG	Michael Gray
-	MF	ENG	Steve Agnew
-	MF	ENG	Martin Gray
-	FW	ENG	Brett Angell
-	DF	WAL	Andy Melville
-	MF	ENG	Gordon Armstrong
-	DF	ENG	Richard Ord
-	MF	ENG	John Mullin
-	FW	NIR	Phil Gray
-	DF	ENG	Martin Scott
-	FW	ENG	Paul Stewart
-	GK	EIR	Shay Given (on loan from Blackburn Rovers)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
-	MF	ENG	Kevin Ball
-	DF	ENG	Gary Bennett
-	FW	ENG	Michael Bridges
-	MF	ENG	Brian Atkinson
-	FW	ENG	Martin Smith
-	FW	ENG	David Kelly
-	MF	ENG	Terry Cooke (on loan from Manchester United)
-	MF	ENG	Paul Bracewell
-	FW	ENG	Craig Russell
-	DF	ENG	Darren Holloway
-	GK	ENG	David Preece
-	FW	ENG	Steve Brodie
-	MF	ENG	Sam Aiston
-	FW	EIR	Stephen Grant
-	DF	ENG	Paul Heckingbottom