Sunderland - English Premiership

Sunderland - The Black Cats

Show your support for Sunderland FC and put your money where your mouth is! Ground Stadium of Light, Capacity, 48,300 manager Roy Keane.

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Players In: Greg Halford Loan : Expired Charlton

Players Out: Andy Cole Nominal Nottm Forest
Out Greg Halford On Loan Sheff Utd
Out Ian Harte Contract Ended
Out Stephen Wright Contract Ended

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Sunderland Potted History

They are known as the 'Black Cats'; formerly they were the 'Rokermen' after Roker Park, which was their stadium from 1898 until 1997 or the 'Bank of England club' due to their prodigious spending on players in the first half of the 20th century. Sunderland A.F.C. was founded in 1879 under the name of 'Sunderland & District Teachers Association'. The team soon changed its name to Sunderland Association Football Club and began to recruit players who were not teachers. S.A.F.C. turned professional in 1885, the same year they recruited a number of Scotsmen, their first international players.

In 1913 Sunderland narrowly missed out on becoming one of the first clubs to win the double when they were beaten by Aston Villa — their major rivals for silverware at the time — in the final of the FA Cup.

When the League restarted after World War II, Sunderland’s fortunes took a turn for the worse; in 1958 they were relegated from Division One for the first time. Sunderland's 68 unbroken years in the top league remained a record until surpassed by Arsenal F.C.

1986-87 was the worst season in the history of SAFC, when they were relegated to the Third Division for the first time. Dennis Smith was appointed as a new manager and in the following season led Sunderland to their worst-ever league position as champions of Division 3. In 1996 they were promoted to the premiership but this lasted just one season.

Sunderland became Division One champions, making away with a record 105 points.

In the 1999-2000 season, Sunderland finished seventh in the Premiership — their highest finish since 4th place in 1955. Again the team was pipped at the post on the last day of the season, this time missing out on a place in European competition. The next season followed in a similar vein with a seventh place finish — narrowly missing out on Europe — and saw Kevin Phillips becoming the third Sunderland player this side of the war to score 100 goals. Stadium of Light was expanded from a capacity of 42,000 to 48,300.

2001-02 was disappointing. Sunderland struggled in mid-table for much of the time, and fretted on the edge of relegation during the last days of the season.

The next season showed no signs of recovery, and so then-manager Peter Reid was sacked in October 2002 after nearly eight years with the Club. He was replaced by Howard Wilkinson, who proved greatly ineffective, winning just 2 out of 20 games and dragging Sunderland into the relegation struggle. In March 2003 the former Republic of Ireland national coach Mick McCarthy was appointed as a new manager. However the team was suffering from terrible moral problems due to the loss of two managers in one season and their losing streak meant McCarthy's appointment was too late to avoid relegation.

In the meantime, successful Sunderland Premiership players like Kevin Phillips and Thomas Sorensen had to be sold to solve debt problems created by Sunderland losing it's Premiership status.

Given the recent history, Sunderland could be forgiven if they had been fighting against relegation in their first season back in the first division. However things didn't go as badly as expected; McCarthy managed to rebuild a team spirit and brought the club to a third place finish. Luck was not on Sunderland's side during the playoff semifinal however, and they again lost a penalty shoot out, leaving the club in the first division for another season. In this season Sunderland reached the semifinals of the F.A. Cup, their best position in eleven years

They now play in the newly built Stadium of Light. They have been the English champions six times, but the last time was 1936. They have also won the FA Cup twice, most famously as a Second Division club in 1973, when they beat the then-mighty Leeds United.

Soccer the History of the Beautiful Game Read it here