Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system.

Formed in 1879, the club has won six top-flight titles (1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and 1936) in the First Division, and finished runners-up five times. The club has also won the FA Cup twice (1937 and 1973), and been runners-up twice (1913 and 1992), and won the FA Charity Shield in 1936. They were also Football League Cup finalists in 1985 and 2014.

Nicknamed the Black Cats, Sunderland play home games at the 49,000-capacity Stadium of Light, having moved from Roker Park in 1997. The club has a fierce long-standing rivalry with nearby Newcastle United, with whom the Tyne–Wear derby has been contested since 1898. They play in red and white-striped shirts and black shorts.

The club was founded as Sunderland and District Teachers A.F.C. by schoolmaster James Allan in what has commonly been believed to be October 1879. However, evidence suggests that the club was not formally created until a year later, on 25 September 1880. It was renamed as Sunderland A.F.C. and became open to more than just school teachers in October 1880.

Sunderland joined The Football League for the 1890–91 season. Tom Watson became Sunderland's first manager when he was appointed 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, 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 their Scottish centre forward John 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.

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, with Campbell becoming league top scorer for the third time. Sunderland then beat Scottish champions Heart of Midlothian in a game described as the "World Championship" match. Their goalkeeper Ned Doig set a 19th-century world record by not conceding any goals in 87 of his 290 top division appearances (30%). From 1886 until 1898, Sunderland's home ground was in Newcastle Road. In 1898, the club moved to what would become their home for almost a century, Roker Park. Initially the ground had a capacity of 30,000.

After taking Sunderland to three English League championship titles manager Watson resigned at the end of the 1895–96 season, in order to join Liverpool. Robert Campbell replaced him. Campbell did not achieve the same playing success as Watson, as Sunderland failed to win any titles in his three seasons at the club.

Scotsman Alex Mackie replaced Campbell as manager for the 1899 season. Following a second-place finish in 1900–01, the club won their fourth league title in the 1901–02 season, and followed this up with victory in the Sheriff of London Charity Shield.