History of Sunderland A.F.C.

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

Sunderland A.F.C. are an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. The club was originally formed in 1879, and played several years solely in the FA Cup, before joining The Football League in the 1890–91 season in place of Stoke. The team played in the top league in England until the 1957–58 season when they were relegated into the Second Division. They currently play in the Premier League. Sunderland are England's sixth most successful club of all time having won the English league championship six times, in; 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and most recently in 1936. They have also been runners-up in a further five occasions, in; 1894, 1898, 1901, 1923 and 1935.

Sunderland have also won the FA Cup twice, in 1937 against Preston North End and in 1973 against Leeds United. They were finalists in 1913 and 1992 where they were beaten by Aston Villa and Liverpool respectively. They were finalists in the 1985 Football League Cup Final but were beaten by Norwich City. Their other honours include two Charity Shields in 1902 and 1935.

1879–1913

The club was founded by James Allan—head teacher of Hendon boarding school—in 1879 to provide "recreational amusement" for the area's schoolteachers. They were formed as Sunderland & District Teachers Association Football Club. The club's first recorded competitive game was against Ferryhill Athletic on 13 November 1880, when Sunderland lost 1–0. Their first kit was an all blue strip, in a sharp contrast to the red and white stripes they play in today. The club's first ground was the Blue House Field in Hendon, close to James Allan's boarding school, and would change their home four more times in seven years before settling at the Newcastle Road ground in 1886.

In 1881, to relax financial troubles, the name was changed to Sunderland Association Football Club and non-teachers were allowed to join. They turned professional in 1885, the same year that the club recruited a number of Scotsmen, their first international players. Founder James Allan left the club and formed Sunderland Albion F.C. because of his dislike for the "professionalism" that had been creeping into the club. Tom Watson became the club's first manager when he was appointed in 1888. Sunderland A.F.C. joined the Football League in time for the 1890–91 season, which was only the league's third season. Stoke, one of the twelve Football League founder members dropped out after two seasons. Sunderland took their place, effectively making them the "thirteenth" team in English football.

The club shared this period of success with Aston Villa, and the battles between these clubs were shown in a famous Thomas Hemy painting of the two clubs in action during the 1894–1895 season, the first ever painting of a competitive football league match. Entitled A Corner Kick, the painting now stands in the doorway of the club's current stadium, the Stadium of Light. Manager Tom Watson resigned as manager, in order to join Liverpool, after taking the club to three English league championship titles. Robert Campbell replaced Watson as manager in 1896. From 1886 until 1898, their home was Newcastle Road. In 1898, the club moved to what would become their home for almost a century, Roker Park. Initially the ground had a capacity of 30,000. However, over the following decades it was continually expanded, and at its peak held an official crowd of over 75,000 in a 6th round FA Cup replay against Derby County on 8 March 1933. Robert Campbell did not achieve the same success as former manager Tom Watson, and failed to win any titles in his three seasons at the club. He left Sunderland in the 1898–99 season to join Bristol City. Scotsman Alex Mackie replaced Campbell as manager, and gained success in the 1901–02 season as Sunderland won their fourth league title, He followed this up with a Sheriff of London Charity Shield, which was a competition that featured the best amateur and professional sides in England, as Sunderland beat Corinthians 3–0.

Early souvenir card dating back from around 1980.

In 1904, the club suffered a financial irregularity involving the club's right back Andy McCombie, in which Sunderland's board of Directors gave the player £100 to start up in business, with the view that his benefit game would see him repay the money. McCombie, however, saw the money as a gift and refused to pay back the club. The Football Association launched an inquiry and agreed with McCombie, stating that it was a "resigning/win/draw bonus". Additionally, the books of Sunderland showed financial irregularities, and so violated the rules of the game. Sunderland were fined £250; six directors were being suspended for two and a half years. McCombie would go on to sign for Newcastle United, and be help in Newcastle's spell of league success of the era. After 214 matches in charge of Sunderland, Mackie left the club as a result of the "McCombie affair". He was replaced by Irishman Bob Kyle; another 70 candidates had also applied for the managerial position at Sunderland. In 1905 the club were involved in the first £1,000 transfer fee for a player when Alf Common signed for Middlesbrough. The 1907–08 season included the club's record win, a 9–1 win against Newcastle United at St James' Park.

Kyle achieved his only league championship in charge of the club in the 1912–13 season as they won the league with 54 points. On 19 April 1913, Sunderland narrowly missed out on becoming one of the first clubs to win the double, when they were beaten 1–0 by Aston Villa in the FA Cup Final at Crystal Palace; watching were a crowd of 120,081. This decade in the club's history also saw the goalscoring of Charles Buchan, who played also in the 1913 cup final and went on to score 221 goals for the club, currently standing as the second highest goal-scorer in the club's history, after Bob Gurney's record of 227.

1913–1939

File:Bobbygurney.JPG

Bobby Gurney, Sunderland's all-time leading goalscorer, after scoring 227 goals in 390 games

Sunderland finished in 8th place in Division One in the 1914–15 season, before World War I saw the break-up of the Sunderland team as men went off to fight on the continent. Charlie Buchan and Bob Young went on to win the Military Medal for serving their country. After the resumption of The Football League after the war, Sunderland finished 5th in the 1919–20 season. In an attempt to consolidate the club in the First Division, Sunderland produced several big money signings, including the world record signing of Warney Cresswell for £5,500 from South Shields. The club came close to another league championship title in the 1922–23 season where Charlie Buchan broke to 30 goal mark, as they finished runners-up to Liverpool by six points. Sunderland were involved in a club vs country dispute in the 1923–24 season, after Charlie Buchan and William Clunas had joined up with England and Scotland respectively. Sunderland were two points clear at the top of the table, but without Buchan and Clunas, travelled to Arsenal and were beaten 2–0 meaning they dropped further out of the title race.

In April 1925 Sunderland completed the signing of centre forward Dave Halliday, after Charlie Buchan had left for Arsenal. In his second season he scored 38 goals to help Sunderland to 3rd place in the league. Though in the 1928–29 season, Halliday scored 43 goals which became a club record for most individual goals in a season. Manager Bob Kyle, who had been at the club since 1905, announced he had resigned on 15 March 1928. Kyle had ammased a total of 25 seasons in charge of the club, while managing 817 matches and taking Sunderland close to a league and cup double. He was replaced by Johnny Cochrane who arrived from St. Mirren. With Cochrane in charge, Sunderland made their way to the FA Cup semi-final in the 1930–31 season where they met Birmingham City, Birmingham though won the match and knocked Sunderland out of the cup. Sunderland's next success came in the 1934–35 season where they finished as runners-up to Arsenal. They finished on 54 points, just four behind The Gunners. The following season, Sunderland managed to surpass the runners-up spot and win their sixth league title. They scored 109 goals through the season, with both Raich Carter and Bobby Gurney hitting 31 each whilst they won the league by 8 points. This era best saw the goalscoring of Bobby Gurney, who is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, in total he scored 227 goals in 390 games in all competitions.

The league championship win led to Sunderland playing in the Charity Shield, they met Arsenal who had won the FA Cup. Sunderland lifted the shield after goals from Eddie Burbanks and Raich Carter. The club's success continued in the 1936–37 season as Sunderland achieved their first FA Cup win. They beat Preston North End 3–1 in the final as Bobby Gurney, Raich Carter, and Eddie Burbanks all scored goals at the Wembley Stadium. Sunderland took their place in the Charity Shield for successive seasons, this time against Manchester City who had won the league title. They were beaten 2–0. The Black Cat's FA Cup success looked set to continue in the 1937–38 season when they reached the semi-finals, they came up against Huddersfield Town but were beaten 3–1 to end their chances. On 3 March 1939, manager Johnny Cochrane announced his retirement from management, he had been in charge of the club for 11 seasons, taking them to a league title, and an FA Cup win.

1939–1959

Sunderland's stadium for 99 years, Roker Park

Bill Murray filled the managerial job at the club in 1939, but the league was postponed shortly into the 1939–40 season to halt progress with the new manager. The FA Cup was also postponed, but a replacement tournament, the Football League War Cup was introduced in its absence. Sunderland took place in the two-legged War Cup final in the 1941–42 season against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The first leg was tied 2–2 at Roker Park, but Wolves won the return leg at Molineux 4–1 to win the trophy. Following the war, the FA Cup was resumed in the 1945–46 season where Sunderland finished in the fifth round. During the war, Roker Park suffered damage from bombs, in which the Roker End clubhouse has destroyed, a police constable was killed by bombs whilst patrolling the stadium's perimeter. In the 1945–46 season ,after the end of the war while the league was still postponed, the FA Cup resumed, where Sunderland reached the Fifth round until they were beat by Birmingham City. The leauge resumed in the following season, and Sunderland finished in 9th place, however, the 1947–48 season was a much less successful season for the wearsiders, as they finished in 20th, on the brink of relegation for the first time.

In January 1949 Sunderland were involved in what is often regarded as the first case of a player transferring himself when they paid £18,000 for Carlisle United player-manager Ivor Broadis. In the 1948–49 season, Sunderland visited Yeovil Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Yeovil were a non-league club at the time, but beat Division One side Sunderland 2–1 to knock them out. The next season for Sunderland though, was more successful, as they finished 13th. Sunderland were also the top scorers in that season with 83 goals, and had the league's top goalscorer, Dickie Davis with 25 goals. In the 1950–51 season, Sunderland completed the world record signing of Welsh striker Trevor Ford from Aston Villa, for £30,000, in a time when Sunderland was known as the Bank of England Club because of their big money signings. 1 December 1952 was a memorable date for their stadium, Roker Park, as floodlights were experimented with for the first time in a match.

Sunderland made significant progress in the FA Cup for the first time since the resumption of football, they made their way to the semi-final in the 1954–55 season. They played Manchester City at the Wembley Stadium, but were beaten 1–0 to end their chances of playing against Newcastle in the final. In January 1957, a letter was delivered to the FA from 'Mr Smith', in it, the author made allegations that Sunderland were making illegal payments to players. The FA sent an investigation team to the club, who found evidence of illegal activity in the club accounts, including a £3,000 bill for 'straw' to cover the pitch. The team uncovered a string of similar accounting glitches; Contract companies were purposely charging Sunderland excessive fees for services, and later sending credit-notes to redress the balance. These credit notes were passed on to players. In total, just over £5,000 was handled in this way. The club Chairman and chief financier along with three club directors were permanently suspended. The club was fined £5,000, manager Bill Murray was fined £200, and a number of players, including record-signing Trevor Ford were temporarily suspended. In the aftermath of the event, manager Bill Murray was replaced by Alan Brown. In 1958, with Brown in charged, Sunderland were relegated from Division One for the first time in their history, bringing their 68 year stay in England's top division to an end. Going into the final game of the season, they still had a chance of avoiding relegation, if they won their away game to Portsmouth and hoped that Leicester City would be held by Birmingham City. Sunderland won their game 2–0, but Birmingham could not stop Leicester from winning and the Mackems were relegated.

1959–1979

Following Sunderland's first relegation from Division One in the 1957–58 season, they languished in the bottom half of Division Two, eventually finishing the 1959–60 season in 16th place. Two league finishes in third place followed for Sunderland in the 1961–62 and 1962–63 seasons, as they missed out on promotion by just one position. The 1961–62 season also saw the retirement of Brian Clough due to injury, having scored 63 goals in 74 games for the club. Sunderland were promoted back to the First Division in the 1963–64 season; after six years in the Second Division. Manager Alan Brown resigned from his managerial post at Sunderland in 1964, in order to manage Sheffield Wednesday. After playing through three months of the league season managerless, George Hardwick took over as caretaker manager. Ian McColl took the managers job on a permanent basis at the end of the season in 1965. Alan Brown returned for a second spell at the club in 1968. After being promoted to the First Division in the 1963–64 season, Sunderland failed to make an impact and failed to finish higher than 15th, and six years later in 1970, they were eventually relegated for the second time. Billy Elliott, who was a former player at the club, took over from Alan Brown when he left for a second time. He only managed four Sunderland games before former Newcastle United player Bob Stokoe was appointed as full term manager.

File:Sunderland1973cupfinal.jpg

Bob Stokoe embraces Jimmy Montgomery following victory in 1973 FA Cup Final

On 5 May 1973, Second Division side Sunderland ended their cup run by beating cup-holders Leeds United in the FA Cup Final. A first half goal by Scotsman Ian Porterfield was the only goal of the game. Jimmy Montgomery produced a double save, first from a Cherry header, and then a powerful follow-up by Peter Lorimer to keep Leeds from scoring. At the end of the game, Sunderland manager Bob Stokoe ran on to the pitch to embrace his goalkeeper, in the style of the statue currently standing outside the Stadium of Light. 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.

The FA Cup win in 1973 led to Sunderland qualifying for European competition for the first time in their history, in the form of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. They were first drawn against Hungarian side Vasas Budapest, who they beat 3–0 on aggregate. After passing through the First round, Sunderland drew Sporting Lisbon. They won the first leg 2–1 at Roker Park, but in the return leg in Lisbon, they were beaten 2–0 and knocked out of the competition in the Second round. In 1976, Sunderland were once again promoted to the First Division as champions. After 1973 winning FA Cup manager Bob Stokoe became ill in the 1976–77 season, he stepped down from the job, where he was replaced temporarily by caretaker manager Ian MacFarlane. McFarlane's stay was short as he was then replaced by Jimmy Adamson in 1976. After promotion the previous season, they were relegated back to the Second Division. Adamson managed the club for just two seasons, before resigning to move to Leeds United. In a flurry of many managers in a short time period, David Merrington firstly took over as caretaker manager. Billy Elliot joined the club as manager for a second time, replacing Merrington unyil the end of the season.

1979–1997

Sunderland celebrated their 100 year centenary in the 1979–80 season with a testimonial match for the club. They played an 'England XI' side featuring teams from both Newcastle and Middlesbrough on 7 November 1979. They lost the game 2–0. The club appointed yet another manager in 1979 as Ken Knighton took the vacant managers position, after Billy Elliot ended his end of season stint. Knighton managed the club for 94 games leading the club to a 2nd position finish, in which they were promoted to the First Division. Though he was sacked the following season with Sunderland struggling towards the bottom of Division One. Mick Docherty was brought in as caretaker until the end of the season, and helped the club survive relegation. There was a lot of activity in the Sunderland managers seat, and was changed again after Alan Durban was made permanent manager in 1981. Following a defeat against Manchester United in the 1983–84 season, Durban was sacked and former player Bryan 'Pop' Robson brought in for a single game as caretaker manager.

Len Ashurst was then brought in as manager and had a mixed season. He took them to their first League Cup final, but lost 1-0 to Norwich after an own goal from Gordon Chisholm, while Clive Walker had earlier missed a penalty for Sunderland. At the end of the season they were relegated back to the Second Division, and Ashurst was sacked. Lawrie McMenemy was brought in as manager in 1985, but Sunderland reached their lowest point in their history in 1987 when they suffered relegation to the Third Division, after losing in a two-leg play-off to Gillingham. The return of 1973 FA Cup winning manager Bob Stokoe, who was caretaker manager, following the sacking of manager Lawrie McMenemy couldn't help Sunderland avoid relegation. It was the first time in the club's history that they had fallen into the Third Division of English football. Under their new manager Denis Smith, promotion was gained at the first attempt as Sunderland returned to the Second Division as champions in 1988.

Peter Reid was appointed Sunderland manager in 1997, and served until 2002

Two years later, they reached the Second Division play-off final after beating Newcastle United in the semi-final. This fixture is noted for the final leg at St. James' Park on 16 May 1990 where Newcastle fans, seeing their team two-nil down with only five minutes remaining, invaded the pitch in the hope of forcing an abandonment. However, the game was resumed and Sunderland completed the win. Despite losing 1–0 to Swindon Town at Wembley, Sunderland were promoted a few weeks later in place of Swindon — who remained in the Second Division after admitting financial irregularities.

Sunderland went back down after just one season in the First Division, despite taking over 15,000 fans to the final game of the season away at Manchester City. The Wearsiders subsequently struggled in mid-table in 1991-92. However, the club embarked on a run leading to the FA Cup final — where they lost 2-0 to Liverpool on 9 May 1992, after having beat Chelsea in a quarter-final replay on 18 March. Smith had quit as manager during the season and was replaced by his assistant Malcolm Crosby, who in turn resigned after less than a year despite success in taking the club to only the fourth FA Cup final in their history. Crosby was replaced by Terry Butcher.

Before the end of 1993, Butcher's short-lived reign as manager came to an end after 45 games in charge, and he was replaced by Mick Buxton. In a period including six managers in ten years, Buxton was sacked in 1995. The club's board turned to Peter Reid as manager to keep Sunderland clear of relegation. That objective was achieved within weeks and he was rewarded with a permanent contract. Peter Reid's first full season as Sunderland manager was successful as they won the Division One title and gained promotion to the Premier League for the first time since the league re-structuring. In the 1996-97 season, despite beating Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea they were relegated. As at Maine Road six years earlier, they went into the final day of the season unsure of safety and were relegated on the last day of the season, this time at Selhurst Park, losing 1-0 to Wimbledon.

1997–Present

In the 1996–97 season the club relocated to the 42,000 seater Stadium of Light at Monkwearmouth after 99 years at Roker Park. Its capacity has since been expanded to 49,000 seats and is currently the fourth largest club stadium in England. Due to the mining industry of Sunderland's area of support, a Davy Lamp currently stands outside the stadium.

The Stadium of Light

In their first season at their new ground, Sunderland finished third. After beating Sheffield United in the playoff semi-final, they reached the final at Wembley. Over 40,000 fans travelled from the North-East to see an game against Charlton Athletic which ended 4–4 after extra time. Charlton, however, went on to win the game on a penalty shootout, after Michael Gray had his penalty saved by Charlton goalkeeper Saša Ilić. Sunderland returned to the English Premiership winning the Division One title in 1998–99 season with a then record 105 league points. The 1998–99 season saw Sunderland beat Oxford United 7–0 on 19 September 1998. They clinched promotion at Bury after winning 5-2 on 13 April 1999.

Kevin Phillips won the European Golden Shoe in his first top-flight season with Sunderland, scoring 30 goals. The 1999-2000 season started at Stamford Bridge as Sunderland were beat 4–0 at the hands of Chelsea on 7 August 1999. On their ascension of the table, Sunderland turned the tables on Chelsea, avenging their 4–0 defeat with a 4–1 win at the Stadium of Light on 4 December 1999. On 25 August 1999 Sunderland achieved a 2–1 victory over rivals Newcastle United at St. James' Park, which saw Magpies boss Ruud Gullit resign shortly after. Sunderland finished seventh, just missing out on a place in European competition in both the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 seasons.

In 2001-02, however, the club narrowly avoided relegation. They were the lowest scoring team in the Premiership, with just 29 goals and were knocked out of both cup competitions in their first rounds ending the season in 17th place. In 2002-03 they finished bottom, with an English Premiership record low of 4 wins, 21 goals and 19 points. Peter Reid had been sacked in October and been replaced with Howard Wilkinson, with Steve Cotterill as his assistant. Wilkinson's reign was unsuccessful, and he left the club after only six months in charge. Former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy came to the club in mid-March 2003, but couldn't prevent relegation. In addition to relegation, heavy activity in the transfer market including £10m paid for Tore André Flo and Marcus Stewart, shortly before Reid's sacking meant that Sunderland found itself in debt for more than £35 million.

Sunderland finished a respectable third, and only a penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace prevented them from reaching the playoff final. In the 2004-05 season, Sunderland finished top of the table in the Coca-Cola Championship, returning to the Premiership. The 2005–06 season was disappointing for Sunderland as they failed to win a home game before Christmas and were relegated with what was then the lowest points tally of 15 points. Manager Mick McCarthy was sacked in March, and replaced by caretaker manager Kevin Ball. He took Sunderland to their first home win of the season with a 2–1 win over Fulham.

Sunderland began the 2006-07 with new backroom staff, as former player Niall Quinn, backed by the Drumaville Consortium, completed their £10m takeover of the club. Chairman Bob Murray left Sunderland after two decades in charge; where he was given the role as honorary lifetime president. Quinn brought former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland player Roy Keane to take his first managerial post in charge of Sunderland, after they had lost their first four games with Niall Quinn as manager. Sunderland went from bottom of the Champioship to champions after beating Luton Town 5–0 away, as Birmingham City lost 1-0 away to Preston North End.

Sunderland celebrated 10 years at the Stadium of Light with a 1-1 draw with Juventus, and prepared for the oncoming season as Roy Keane spent nearly 40 million on new players for the squad, whilst also breaking the British transfer record for a goalkeeper with the £9,000,000 transfer of Craig Gordon. Sunderland's season took off with a 1-0 home victory against Tottenham, as Michael Chopra scored in the very last minute. After a 3-2 derby victory over rivals Middlesbrough F.C. and with teams below failing to win, Sunderland had secured their premier league place for the 2008–09 season. On 25 October 2008, Sunderland defeated rivals Newcastle United 2-1 at the Stadium of Light, their first win over Newcastle since 1980, and the first time they had ever defeated them at that ground.

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 at the Football Club History Database