Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland F.C. club crest
Sunderland A.F.C. are a football club from Sunderland, on Wearside in the North-East of England. For most of the late 1990s, under the management of Peter Reid, they were in the FA Premier league; however, after a dreadful run of results they finished bottom of the league in 2002-2003 and were relegated. They are currently in Division One of the English Football League.
They are known as the "Black Cats"; formerly they were the "Rokermen" after Roker Park, the stadium they played in from 1898 until 1997, when they moved to the newly-built Stadium of Light. They have been the English champions six times, but not since 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 of Don Revie, Billy Bremner, et al.
Since March 2003 they have been managed by Mick McCarthy.
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Sunderland A.F.C were founded in 1879 under the name of 'Sunderland & District Teachers Association'. The team quickly changed their name to Sunderland AFC and began to recruit players who were not teachers. SAFC turned professional in 1885, the same year they recruited their first international players with a number of Scotsmen.
Sunderland were admitted to the Football League in 1890 after beating their rivals Sunderland Albion FC. In the early years of the English league the club were the most northerly top flight team and often had to pay their opposition's travel expenses. Over six seasons they lost only one home game and were the first side to win the league three times.
The club moved to their long-standing home Roker Park in 1898, having previously played at the unfortunately named Newcastle Road from 1886-98.
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 FA Cup final.
When the league resarted after World War II, SunderlandÃÂÃÂs fortunes took a turn for the worse; in 1958 they were relegated from Division One for the first time in their history. In the following years they had several spells in the top flight, such as from 1964-70; however, they have yet to regain their place in the top flight of English football.
In 1997 Sunderland moved to their current home at the Stadium of Light and changed their club crest from their traditional simple shield-shaped one to a logo more like a coat of arms.History