Sunderland

They were founded by schoolteacher James Allan, moved towards professionalism and were elected into The Football League in 1890 where they performed well in the league, earning plaudits such as a "wonderfully fine team".

Sunderland won their first FA Cup in 1937 with a 3–1 victory over Preston North End, and remained in the top league for 68 successive seasons, losing the record Arsenal when they were relegated in 1958. Sunderland's most notable trophy win after the Second World War was their second FA Cup in 1973, when they secured a 1–0 victory over Leeds United. They have won the second tier title 5 times in that period and the third tier title once.

Sunderland play their home games at the 49,000 capacity all-seater Stadium of Light having moved from Roker Park in 1997. The original ground capacity was 42,000 which was increased to 49,000 following redevelopment in 2000. Sunderland have a long-standing rivalry with their neighbouring club Newcastle United, with whom they have contested the Tyne–Wear derby since 1898.

HISTORY

Sunderland-based schoolteacher James Allan founded the Sunderland District & Teachers Association Football Club on 17 October 1879.[3]  The name of the club was changed to Sunderland Association Football Club in 1881, after other professions were allowed to join. This increased the pool of players and improved the club's financial base.  However, Allan grew dissatisfied with the changing attitude in the club towards professionalism. He left to found Sunderland Albion, and the two Sunderland clubs formed a rivalry that lasted until Albion's demise in 1892.

Sunderland were admitted into The Football League for the 1890–91 season. They replaced Stoke City, who had failed to be re-elected, becoming the first new club to join the league since its inauguration in 1888. During the late 19th century, they were declared the "Team of All Talents" by William McGregor, the founder of the league, after a 7–2 win against Aston Villa. Sunderland won the league championship in the 1891–92 season, one season after joining The Football League. The club's 42 points were five clear of nearest rivals Preston North End, and this performance led The Times to describe the players as "a wonderfully fine team".  Sunderland successfully defended the title the following season, aided by centre forward Johnny Campbell, who broke the 30-goal mark for the second time in consecutive seasons. In the process, they became the first team to score 100 goals in a season, a feat not matched until 1919–20, when West Bromwich Albion set a new record.

Sunderland came close to winning a third successive league championship in the 1893–94 season, finishing second behind Aston Villa. However, they regained the title in the 1894–95 season, ending the season five points ahead of Everton. After winning the English League Championship, Sunderland played against Heart of Midlothian, the champions of the Scottish League, in a game described as the Championship of the World title match.  Sunderland won the game 5–3 and were announced "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 their last at Newcastle Road, as they moved to Roker Park the following season. After coming second in 1900–01, the club won their fourth league title in the 1901–02 season, beating Everton by a three point margin

In 1904, Sunderland's management was embroiled in a payment scandal involving player Andrew McCombie. The club was said to have given the player £100 (£7.7 thousand today) to help him start his own business, on the understanding that he would repay the money after his benefit game  However, McCombie refused to repay the money, claiming it had been a gift. An investigation conducted by the Football Association concluded that the money given to McCombie was part of a "re-signing/win/draw bonus", which violated the Association's rules. Sunderland were fined £250 (£19.3 thousand today), and six directors were 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 involvement in the affair.

Further league championship titles

On 5 December 1908, Sunderland achieved their highest ever league win, against north-east rivals Newcastle United. They won the game 9–1; Billy Hogg and George Holley each scored hat-tricks. The club won the league again in 1913,[17] but lost their first FA Cup final 1–0 to Aston Villa.  This was the closest the club has come to winning the league title and the FA Cup in the same season. Two seasons later the First World War brought the league to a halt. After the league's resumption, Sunderland came close to winning another championship in the 1922–23 season, when they were runners-up to Liverpool. They also came close the following season, finishing third, four points from the top of the league.  The club escaped relegation from the First Division by one point in the 1927–28 season despite 35 goals from Dave Halliday. The point was won in a match against Middlesbrough, and they finished in fifteenth place.  Halliday improved his goal scoring to 43 goals in 42 games the following season,  an all-time Sunderland record for goals scored in a single season.

The club's sixth league championship came in the 1935–36 season,  and they won the FA Cup the following season, after a 3–1 victory against Preston North End at Wembley Stadium.  The remainder of the decade saw mid-table finishes, until the league and FA Cup were suspended for the duration of the Second World War. Some football was still played as a morale boosting exercise, in the form of the Football League War Cup. Sunderland were finalists in the tournament in 1942, but were beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers.

For Sunderland, the immediate post-war years were characterised by significant spending; the club paid £18,000 (£458 thousand today) for Carlisle United's Ivor Broadis in January 1949. Broadis was also Carlisle's manager at the time, and this is the first instance of a player transferring himself to another club.[28] This, along with record-breaking transfer fees to secure the services of Len Shackleton and Welsh international Trevor Ford, led to a contemporary nickname, the "Bank of England". The club finished third in the First Division in 1950,  their highest finish since the 1936 championship.

STADIUM

Sunderland have had seven stadia throughout their history; the first was at Blue House Field in Hendon in 1879. The ground was close to the place where Sunderland formed, at Hendon Board School; at that time the rent for use of the ground was £10 (£700 today).   The club relocated briefly to Groves Field in Ashbrooke  in 1882, before moving again the following season.  The club's third stadium was Horatio Street in Roker, the first Sunderland stadium north of the River Wear; the club played a single season there before another move,  this time to Abbs Field in Fulwell for two seasons. Abbs Field was notable for being the first Sunderland ground to which they charged admission.

Sunderland moved to Newcastle Road in 1886. By 1898, the ground reached a capacity of 15,000 after renovations, and its rent had risen to £100 (£8 thousand today) a year. Near the turn of the century, Sunderland needed a bigger stadium. They returned to Roker and set up home in Roker Park. It was opened on 10 September 1898, and the home team played a match the same day against Liverpool, which they won. The stadium's capacity increased to 50,000 after redevelopment with architect Archibald Leitch in 1913. Sunderland were nearly bankrupted by the cost of renovating the Main Stand, and Roker Park was put up for sale but no further action was taken. On 8 March 1933, an overcrowded Roker Park recorded the highest ever attendance at a Sunderland match, 75,118 against Derby County in a FA Cup sixth round replay. Roker Park suffered a bombing in 1943, in which once corner of the stadium was destroyed. A special constable was killed whilst patrolling the stadium. By the 1990s, the stadium was no longer large enough, and had no room for possible expansion. In January 1990, the Taylor Report was released after overcrowding at the Hillsborough Stadium resulted in 96 deaths, an incident known as the Hillsborough Disaster. The report recommended that all major stadiums must be converted to an all-seater design. As a result, Roker Park's capacity was reduced. It was demolished in 1997 and a housing estate built in its place.

The Stadium of Light has been Sunderland's home ground since 1997.

In 1997, Sunderland moved to their present ground, Stadium of Light in Monkwearmouth, which was opened by Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Built with an original capacity of 42,000, it hosted its first game against Dutch team Ajax. The stadium bears the same name as the Portuguese club Benfica's ground Estádio da Luz, albeit in a different language. Stadium expansion in 2000 saw the capacity increase to 49,000. A Davy lamp monument stands outside the stadium, as a reminder of the Monkwearmouth Colliery pit the stadium was built on. Future reconstruction would allow the stadium's capacity to reach 66,000.