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 (£800 today).[14][77] The club relocated briefly to Groves Field in Ashbrooke in 1882, before moving again the following season.[78] 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,[79] 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.[80]
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 (£8.3 thousand today) a year.[14][81] 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,[82] 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.[83] 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.[84] 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.[85] The report recommended that all major stadiums must be converted to an all-seater design.[86] As a result, Roker Park's capacity was reduced. It was demolished in 1997 and a housing estate built in its place.[82]
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.[87] 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.[88] Future reconstruction would allow the stadium's capacity to reach 66,000.[89]
[edit] Supporters and rivalries
Sunderland held the fifth highest average home attendance out of the 20 clubs in the Premier League at the end of the 2007–08 season with an average of 43,344.[90] The club has many supporter groups from various countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada and Ireland.[91] The Sunderland fans were recorded as the loudest crowd in the 2007–08 season, following a survey carried out at every ground in the league; the highest peak volume was measured at 129.2 decibels.[92]
The club has an official monthly subscription magazine, called the Legion of Light, which season ticket holders receive for no cost.[93] The club's current fanzine is A Love Supreme.[94] Others in the past have been It's The Hope I Can't Stand, Sex and Chocolate, Wise Men Say, and The Roker Roar (later The Wearside Roar).[95]
Traditionally, Sunderland's main rivals are Newcastle United and against whom the Tyne–Wear derby is competed.[96] The club were rivals with fellow Sunderland-based team, Sunderland Albion, in the 1880s and 1890s. The clubs met in the FA Cup in the third qualifying round; Sunderland, however, withdrew from the competition to deny Albion a share of the gate receipts.[5] In the same season the clubs were drawn again in the Durham Challenge Cup; in a ploy again to prevent Albion from gaining money from the ticket sales, Sunderland proposed that the gate money be donated to charity. Albion declined and Sunderland won the match 2–0.[5] Sunderland achieved their first victory over Newcastle United at home in 28 years, when they won the derby in the 2008–09 season.[97]
[edit] Statistics and records
Main article: List of Sunderland A.F.C. statistics and records
League positions since 1890–91 season.
Coloured horizontal lines indicate league divisions. Blue and green lines represent the divide between first and second divisions, and divides between second and third divisions respectively.
The holder of the record for the most league appearances is Jimmy Montgomery, having made 527 first team appearances between 1961 and 1976.[98] The club's top league goal scorer is Charlie Buchan, who scored 209 goals from 1911–1925;[99] Bobby Gurney is the record goalscorer over all competitions with 227 goals between 1926 and 1939.[100] Dave Halliday holds the record for the most goals scored in a season: 43 in the 1928–29 season in the Football League First Division.[99] Charlie Hurley is the most capped player for the club, making 36 appearances for the Republic of Ireland.[99]
The club's widest victory margin in the league was in the 9–1 win against Newcastle United in the First Division in 1908.[101] Their heaviest defeats in the league were 8–0 against Sheffield Wednesday in 1911, West Ham United in 1968 and Watford in 1982.[101] Sunderland joined the top division in England, The Football League, in the 1890–91 season and were not relegated until 1957–58 (a span of 67 seasons).
Sunderland's record home attendance is 75,118 for a sixth round replay FA Cup match against Derby County on 8 March 1933.[102] The highest transfer fee received for a Sunderland player is £5 million, from Leeds United for Michael Bridges in July 1999,[99] while the most spent by the club on a player was £10 million for Darren Bent from Tottenham Hotspur in August 2009.[103] although this fee could rise to £16 million, dependent upon goals and appearances.
[edit] Nicknames
Sunderland's official nickname is The Black Cats. They have other nicknames, such as The Rokerites, Roker Men, the Light Brigade, the Miners and the Sols.[104] After leaving Roker Park for the Stadium of Light in 1997, the club decided on a vote to settle the nickname for the last time.[104] The Black Cats won the majority of the 11,000 votes, beating off other suggestions such as the Light Brigade, the Miners, the Sols and the Mackems.[104] There is a long historical link between black cats and Sunderland, including the "Black Cat Battery", a battery gun based on the River Wear.[104] Around the early 1800s, the southern side of the River Wear contained four gun batteries, which guarded the river mouth during the Napoleonic wars.[105] In 1805, the battery was manned by local militia, the Sunderland Loyal Volunteers, one of whom was a cooper by trade named Joshua Dunn. He was said to have "fled from the howling of an approaching black cat, convinced by the influence of the full moon and a warming dram or two that it was the devil incarnate". From that point onwards the John Paul Jones Battery was known as the Black Cat Battery.[105] A Sunderland supporter, Billy Morris, took a black cat in his top pocket as a good luck charm to the 1937 FA Cup final in which Sunderland brought home the trophy for the first time.[104] During the 1960s a black cat lived in Roker Park, fed and watered by the football club.[104] Since the 1960s the emblem of the Sunderland A.F.C. Supporters Association has been a black cat.[106]
As well as the "Team of All Talents" at the turn of the 20th century,[107] Sunderland were known as the "Bank of England club" during the 1950s. This was a reference to the club's spending in the transfer market at the time, which saw the transfer-record broken twice.[108] At the beginning of the 2006–07 season, the purchase of the club by the Irish Drumaville Consortium, the appointments of Niall Quinn and Roy Keane to their respective roles as chairman and manager, as well as the relatively large number of Irish players in the squad, led some fans to jokingly dub the team "Sund-Ireland".[109]
[edit] Sponsorship
Sunderland are sponsored by the Irish bookmaker Boylesports, who signed a four-year contract with the club in 2007 worth up to £12 million, which will ensure that the company is the main shirt sponsor until 2010. The club was sponsored by the Vaux Breweries between 1985 and 1999, and subsequently by Sunderland car dealership company Reg Vardy from 1999 to 2007.[110][111] They were also sponsored for a short time by the transport company "Cowies," later Arriva, whose headquarters are in Sunderland.[110][112] In April 2010 Sunderland signed a 2 year shirt sponsorship deal with Tombola effective from the 2010/2011 season.[113]
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 (£8.3 thousand today) a year.[14][81] 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,[82] 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.[83] 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.[84] 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.[85] The report recommended that all major stadiums must be converted to an all-seater design.[86] As a result, Roker Park's capacity was reduced. It was demolished in 1997 and a housing estate built in its place.[82]
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.[87] 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.[88] Future reconstruction would allow the stadium's capacity to reach 66,000.[89]
[edit] Supporters and rivalries
Sunderland held the fifth highest average home attendance out of the 20 clubs in the Premier League at the end of the 2007–08 season with an average of 43,344.[90] The club has many supporter groups from various countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada and Ireland.[91] The Sunderland fans were recorded as the loudest crowd in the 2007–08 season, following a survey carried out at every ground in the league; the highest peak volume was measured at 129.2 decibels.[92]
The club has an official monthly subscription magazine, called the Legion of Light, which season ticket holders receive for no cost.[93] The club's current fanzine is A Love Supreme.[94] Others in the past have been It's The Hope I Can't Stand, Sex and Chocolate, Wise Men Say, and The Roker Roar (later The Wearside Roar).[95]
Traditionally, Sunderland's main rivals are Newcastle United and against whom the Tyne–Wear derby is competed.[96] The club were rivals with fellow Sunderland-based team, Sunderland Albion, in the 1880s and 1890s. The clubs met in the FA Cup in the third qualifying round; Sunderland, however, withdrew from the competition to deny Albion a share of the gate receipts.[5] In the same season the clubs were drawn again in the Durham Challenge Cup; in a ploy again to prevent Albion from gaining money from the ticket sales, Sunderland proposed that the gate money be donated to charity. Albion declined and Sunderland won the match 2–0.[5] Sunderland achieved their first victory over Newcastle United at home in 28 years, when they won the derby in the 2008–09 season.[97]
[edit] Statistics and records
Main article: List of Sunderland A.F.C. statistics and records
League positions since 1890–91 season.
Coloured horizontal lines indicate league divisions. Blue and green lines represent the divide between first and second divisions, and divides between second and third divisions respectively.
The holder of the record for the most league appearances is Jimmy Montgomery, having made 527 first team appearances between 1961 and 1976.[98] The club's top league goal scorer is Charlie Buchan, who scored 209 goals from 1911–1925;[99] Bobby Gurney is the record goalscorer over all competitions with 227 goals between 1926 and 1939.[100] Dave Halliday holds the record for the most goals scored in a season: 43 in the 1928–29 season in the Football League First Division.[99] Charlie Hurley is the most capped player for the club, making 36 appearances for the Republic of Ireland.[99]
The club's widest victory margin in the league was in the 9–1 win against Newcastle United in the First Division in 1908.[101] Their heaviest defeats in the league were 8–0 against Sheffield Wednesday in 1911, West Ham United in 1968 and Watford in 1982.[101] Sunderland joined the top division in England, The Football League, in the 1890–91 season and were not relegated until 1957–58 (a span of 67 seasons).
Sunderland's record home attendance is 75,118 for a sixth round replay FA Cup match against Derby County on 8 March 1933.[102] The highest transfer fee received for a Sunderland player is £5 million, from Leeds United for Michael Bridges in July 1999,[99] while the most spent by the club on a player was £10 million for Darren Bent from Tottenham Hotspur in August 2009.[103] although this fee could rise to £16 million, dependent upon goals and appearances.
[edit] Nicknames
Sunderland's official nickname is The Black Cats. They have other nicknames, such as The Rokerites, Roker Men, the Light Brigade, the Miners and the Sols.[104] After leaving Roker Park for the Stadium of Light in 1997, the club decided on a vote to settle the nickname for the last time.[104] The Black Cats won the majority of the 11,000 votes, beating off other suggestions such as the Light Brigade, the Miners, the Sols and the Mackems.[104] There is a long historical link between black cats and Sunderland, including the "Black Cat Battery", a battery gun based on the River Wear.[104] Around the early 1800s, the southern side of the River Wear contained four gun batteries, which guarded the river mouth during the Napoleonic wars.[105] In 1805, the battery was manned by local militia, the Sunderland Loyal Volunteers, one of whom was a cooper by trade named Joshua Dunn. He was said to have "fled from the howling of an approaching black cat, convinced by the influence of the full moon and a warming dram or two that it was the devil incarnate". From that point onwards the John Paul Jones Battery was known as the Black Cat Battery.[105] A Sunderland supporter, Billy Morris, took a black cat in his top pocket as a good luck charm to the 1937 FA Cup final in which Sunderland brought home the trophy for the first time.[104] During the 1960s a black cat lived in Roker Park, fed and watered by the football club.[104] Since the 1960s the emblem of the Sunderland A.F.C. Supporters Association has been a black cat.[106]
As well as the "Team of All Talents" at the turn of the 20th century,[107] Sunderland were known as the "Bank of England club" during the 1950s. This was a reference to the club's spending in the transfer market at the time, which saw the transfer-record broken twice.[108] At the beginning of the 2006–07 season, the purchase of the club by the Irish Drumaville Consortium, the appointments of Niall Quinn and Roy Keane to their respective roles as chairman and manager, as well as the relatively large number of Irish players in the squad, led some fans to jokingly dub the team "Sund-Ireland".[109]
[edit] Sponsorship
Sunderland are sponsored by the Irish bookmaker Boylesports, who signed a four-year contract with the club in 2007 worth up to £12 million, which will ensure that the company is the main shirt sponsor until 2010. The club was sponsored by the Vaux Breweries between 1985 and 1999, and subsequently by Sunderland car dealership company Reg Vardy from 1999 to 2007.[110][111] They were also sponsored for a short time by the transport company "Cowies," later Arriva, whose headquarters are in Sunderland.[110][112] In April 2010 Sunderland signed a 2 year shirt sponsorship deal with Tombola effective from the 2010/2011 season.[113]
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