Sunderland
Formed 1879
Elected to the Football League 1890
Kit History
Date unknown e
1882 a l
1884 r
Date Unknown e
1886-1897 a h l r
1897 b h
1901-1902 b h r
1910-1911 a
1913-1923 b q r
1930-1931 r
1931-1937 g
1937-1938 p
1938-1950 a b
1950-1951 q
1951-1956 a b
1956-1957 b
1960-1961 q
1961-1964 b i r
1967-1969 b r
1969-1973 b c n o
1973-1975 b i o
1975-1977 b i o
1977-1978 d o
1978-1981 b d j o
1981-1983 f
1983-1985 d f k
1985-1986 d k
1986-1988 d j
1988-1991 d
1991-1994 b d f k
1994-1996 d f
1996-1997 a d
1997-1999 d f
1999-2000 d f
2000-2002 d f
2002-2004 d
2004-2005 d
2005-2007 a d
2009-2010 a
Background
James Allen, a teacher at the
Hendon Board School, formed the club with some of his colleagues in 1879
as Sunderland & District Teachers AFC. A year later the club opened
its membership to non-teachers and became Sunderland AFC. In 1884, playing
in all-blue, Sunderland won their first trophy, the Durham Senior Cup.
In 1887, with professionalism now legal, players began to arrive from Scotland (where payments were still outlawed). A number of established players, seeing their places in the team being taken by these newcomers, set up the rival Sunderland Albion. Rivalry was intense but with wealthy directors from the coal and shipbuilding industry, Sunderland were able to build the stronger side, dubbed “The Team of All the Talents. In 1890 they became the first new club to be voted into the Football League, replacing Stoke. As the only club from the north-east in the competition, Sunderland was not a popular destination and they had to agree to pay their visitors’ traveling expenses. They made their intentions clear by erecting a sign outside the ground stating, “We have arrived and we’re staying here.”
It was not long before the chippy newcomers made their mark, winning the League championship in 1892, 1893 and 1895 (they were runners up in 1894). In 1898 the club moved into their new Roker Park stadium, which could hold 30,000 spectators. In 1902 Sunderland won their fourth League title
Their fifth title came in 1913 and they almost completed “the double,” losing 0-1 to Aston Villa in front of a record 120,000 spectators at Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final. During the 1920s “The Roker Men” had a relatively lean time but regularly finished near the top of the First Division. The club’s sixth championship title came in 1936 and a year later they won the FA Cup for the first time.
After the Second World War, huge crowds flocked to Roker Park and the directors’ policy of paying large transfer fees earned them the nickname of “The Bank of England.” The high spending did not bring success and in 1958 they were relegated to the Second Division. Sunderland had spent 68 years in the top flight, a record only recently surpassed by Arsenal.
During the early 1960s the club played in white shorts as they tried to rebuild and in 1964 they were promoted back to Division One. They were never far from the foot of the table and in 1970 they dropped back into Division Two.
In 1973, while still in the Second Division, Sunderland reached the FA Cup final where they met the holders Leeds United, then at the height of their powers. The rank outsiders famously won the match by the only goal to record one of the most romantic FA Cup feats ever. It took until 1976 for Sunderland to regain their place in Division One but a disastrous season saw them relegated immediately in 1977.
In 1980 Sunderland returned to the top flight. The traditional kit was abandoned between 1981 and 1983 for an odd concoction designed by French firm Le Coq Sportif. This proved deeply unpopular and was replaced in 1983 with a more traditional design. Despite these sartorial changes, Sunderland struggled near the foot of the table every season until they were relegated in 1985. Then in 1987, the unthinkable happened and they were relegated again, this time through the new play-off system to Division Three. The humiliation was short lived and the club stormed to the Third Division championship. Only two seasons later, in 1990, Sunderland returned to Division One in extraordinary circumstances. They were beaten in the play-off final by Swindon Town but the Wiltshire club were later denied promotion as a punishment for making illegal payments to players and Sunderland went up instead.
The return was brief and Sunderland were back in Division Two after one season. The 1990s brought promotion and relegation with astonishing frequency. In 1997, after 99 years at Roker Park, Sunderland moved into their brand new Stadium of Light, one of the most impressive grounds in the country. A competition was launched to find a new nickname for the club, with over half of the 11,000 fans who participated voting for “The Black Cats.” An interesting account of the association between the club and black cats can be found on the club’s website. A new badge was also introduced but the traditional red and white stripes, so beloved by the fanatical supporters of this community minded club, remain.
Sources
- (a) Sunderland Official Website
- (b) Football Focus
- (c) Football Cards
- (d) True Colours (John Devlin 2005)
- (e) Club Colours (Bob Bickerton 1998)
- (f) Sporting Heroes
- (g) One Hundred Years of Goodison Glory (Ken Rogers 1992)
- (h) Association of Football Statisticians - provided by Pete Wyatt
- (i) Pete's Picture Palace
- (j) Iain Affleck
- (k) David King
- (l) safc blog
- (m) Football Shirt Culture
- (n) Football League Review
- (o) Alick Milne
- (p) Toffs
- (q) Simon Monks
- (r) SAFC Photo Archive