{{Infobox Football club |
  clubname      = Sunderland |
  current       = Sunderland A.F.C. season 2008-09|
  image         = Sunderland A.F.C. crest |
  fullname      = Sunderland Association Football Club|
  nickname      = The Black Cats, The Mackems |
  founded       = 1879<ref>[http://www.soccerbase.com/teams2.sd?teamid=2493 soccerbase.com sunderland stats]</ref> (as Sunderland District Teachers) |
  ground        = Stadium of Light<br />Sunderland |
  capacity      = 49,000<ref>[http://www.premierleague.com/page/sunderland Sunderland AFC - Official Site of the Premier League<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
  chairman      =   Niall Quinn |
  manager       =   Roy Keane |
  assistant manager =  Tony Loughlan |
  league        = Premier League |
  season        = 2007–08 |
  position      = Premier League, 15th|
  shirtsupplier = Umbro |
  shirtsponsors = Boylesports |
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  leftarm3=FFFFFF|body3=FFFFFF|rightarm3=FFFFFF|shorts3=FFFFFF|socks3=FFFFFF|}}
'''Sunderland Association Football Club''' is a professional most successful clubs in English football, having won six First Division titles and two 1997 after 99 years at Roker Park. Famed for their large support, Sunderland fans were voted the loudest supporters in the Premier League 2007-08 season following a survey which was carried out at every ground in the league.<ref></ref><ref></ref>

Before the Second World War, Sunderland were league champions six times - in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and most recently in 1936, when they became the last team wearing striped shirts to win the league. They were elected into the football league in 1890, becoming the first team to join after the league's birth in 1888. Sunderland stayed in the top flight until 1958, a record which only Arsenal have bettered since, in 1992. The club won their first 1937 with a 3-1 victory over Preston North End.<ref></ref> Sunderland's only major triumph post 1973, when the club secured a 1-0 victory over Leeds United thanks to an Ian Porterfield goal.

They have a long-standing rivalry with local team Newcastle United. The Tyne-Wear derby has been contested since 1898.

== History ==
thumb|200px|'''Sunderland A.F.C.''' club badge, used from 1972 until changed in 1997 at the time of the club's move to the Stadium of Light
thumb|200px|'''Sunderland A.F.C.''' badge before the 1970s

Glasgow born Sunderland-based school teacher James Allan started the "Sunderland and District Teachers Association Football Club" formed Sunderland A.F.C. on 1880 the club changed its name to "Sunderland Teachers Association Football Club" i.e. the Teachers bit remained, but the statement which announced this indicated that the club opened its membership to all in order to relax financial troubles and increase the pool of players available to it. Sunderland Teachers A.F.C. became Sunderland A.F.C. on limited company status. Sunderland enjoyed an extremely "unhealthy" rivalry with Sunderland Albion F.C. (who confusingly had the same initials) until their demise in the late 19th century.  

Ironically it was James Allan who founded Albion following dissatisfaction with the way that Sunderland AFC were being run as professionalism was creeping into football. 
 
Sunderland were admitted into 1890-91 season, replacing Stoke. It was the first time a new club had joined the league since its inauguration in 1888. During the late 19th century they were still famously declared as the "Team of All Talents" by 1892 and 1902 the team won the league three times and were runners-up a further three times. 

In 1913, Sunderland again won the league and lost their first FA Cup Final 1&ndash;0 to Aston Villa. It was the closest the club has ever come to The Double.

The club's sixth (and to this day last) league championship came in the 1935&ndash;36 season, and the next season the club finally won the F.A. Cup after a 3&ndash;1 victory against Preston North End at Wembley Stadium.

In January 1949 Sunderland were involved in what is often regarded as the first case of a player transferring himself when they paid £18,000 for Carlisle United player-manager Ivor Broadis.<ref>http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/localheroes/columnists/backtrack/display.var.1904999.0.broadis_still_bubbling_along_at_85.php</ref> This along with Sunderland spending the likes of record breaking transfer fees on Len Shackleton and Wales' Trevor Ford led to the club being known at this time as the "Bank of England" club.

In 1957 the club were implicated in a major financial scandal (the second in their history after the Andrew MacCombie scandal in 1904), resulting in an unprecedented fine of £5,000 and the suspension of the club chair and three directors. In 1958 Sunderland were relegated from the top-flight for the first time in their 68-year league history.

Sunderland won their last major trophy in 1973 courtesy of 1&ndash;0 victory over Leeds United in the FA Cup Final. Sunderland, a second division club at the time, won the game thanks to an amazing double save of Southampton in 1976 and West Ham United in 1980) have equalled Sunderland's achievement of lifting the FA Cup while playing outside the top tier of English football.

In 1985, Sunderland appeared in their first and only (to 2008) League Cup final, losing 1&ndash;0 to Norwich City. 

1987 saw one of the lowest points in Sunderland's history, as they were relegated to the third division of the English league for the first and only time. 

Under new Chairman Denis Smith the club were promoted as champions the following season. In 1990, they were promoted back to the top flight, after losing to Swindon Town in the play off final, but Swindon's victory being revoked after being found guilty of financial irregularities. They stayed up for one year before being relegated on the final day of the season.
  
Sunderland's last outing in a major final came in 1992 when, as a second division club, they returned to the FA Cup Final. There was to be no repeat of the heroics of 1973, with Sunderland losing 2&ndash;0 to Liverpool.

The early 1990s was a turbulent period for the club. In 1995, they faced the prospect of a return the third-tier of English football. Peter Reid was brought in, and quickly turned things around. Reid's time in charge had a stabilising effect; he remained manager for seven years, one of the longest tenures in Sunderland's history.

In 1997, Sunderland left Roker Park, their home for 99 years. They moved to the Stadium of Light, a 42,000-seat arena that, at the time, was the biggest new stadium built in England since World War II. The move saw a renaissance at the club, as attendances jumped dramatically. The Stadium capacity was later increased to 49,000.

Sunderland returned to the top-flight as champions in 1999 with a then record points total of 105. Two consecutive seventh place finishes in the Premier League were followed by two less successful seasons and they were relegated to the second-tier with a record low points total of 19 in 2003. 

Former Ireland manager 2007-08 by , who finished on eleven points.

Following their relegation, the club was taken over by the Irish Manchester United captain Crystal Palace on April 29.

On May 6 2007 Sunderland were crowned winners of Championship after beating Luton Town 5&ndash;0 at Kenilworth Road.

The club's form in the 2007&ndash;08 season was far better than that demonstrated during their last season in the Premier League, and despite ending 2007 in 18th position, January signings helped the club improve during the second half of the season, eventually finishing in 15th with 39 points, retaining Premier League status for the 2008-09 season.

==Club colours==

Sunderland  began playing in an all-blue kit, then red and white halved shirts, settling on red-and-white stripes in 1887,<ref></ref> parading this new kit in a game against Notts Mellors. The red and white stripes can be traced back to a gift from fellow North East team South Bank F.C. who helped Sunderland out when they faced financial difficulties. They donated a set of red-and-white striped kits, complete with black shorts, and Sunderland have been wearing those colours ever since. For the 08/09 season, the away kit is blue with black stripes. The 3rd kit is all white with red on the shoulders (it was used as the club's away kit in the 2007/2008 season).

== Statistics ==

In 117 years (76 in the top division), they have played over 4700 league games, of which they have won 41%, drawn 24% and lost 35%. Sunderland has an all-time positive league goal-difference of over 600.

Sunderland last won the league in 1936. Since then, their highest league finish was 3rd in 1950, although they did reach seventh in consecutive seasons at the turn of the 21st century. 
Since they were first relegated in 1958, Sunderland has not spent longer than 6 years in a division without being promoted or relegated.

The club also boast one of the biggest supports in English football along with Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Newcastle United. 
== Nicknames ==

In 2000 following a poll on the official Sunderland A.F.C. website, Sunderland confirmed the football club's traditional nickname of "the Mackems", however, this name along with the initials SMB was considered derogatory and so they changed it and went with the "Black Cats".

There is a long historical link between Black Cats and Sunderland; including the "Black Cat Battery", a battery gun based on the River Wear, according to Sunderland A.F.C.. This link is reinforced by folklore in which the black cat is said to bring luck. 

Raine's "Eye Plan" of c.1785-90 <ref name="autogenerated1">"John Rain's An Eye Plan of Sunderland and Bishopwearmouth", ed. Clay, Milburn and Miller (1984), Frank Graham, ISBN 978-0859831871</ref> shows two of the (ultimately four) gun batteries on the south side of the Wear which guarded the rivermouth during the Napoleonic wars.  This battery site would later evolve into Militia Barracks during the course of the nineteenth century <ref>"Sunderland: River, Town and People" ,G Milburn and S Miller (1989), Thomas Reed Publications, ISBN 978-0947637064</ref>. An annotation to the 1984 published version of Raine's Eye Plan <ref name="autogenerated1" /> states that one of the two batteries was named the John Paul Jones Battery after the American naval hero who sailed down the English East coast in 1779 with a squadron of warships intending to disrupt the coal trade. 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, it was said,  "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.

A Sunderland supporter (Billy Morris) took a Black Cat to the 1937 FA Cup Final in his top pocket as a good luck charm, it worked as Sunderland brought home the trophy for the first time. During the 1960s a Black Cat lived in Roker Park and was fed and watered by the football club; its reward for catching mice and rats.

Since the 1960s, the emblem of the ''Sunderland A.F.C. Supporters Association'' has been a black cat. 
After 2000, Sunderland's Vaux Samson bitter). Biblical couple.

As well as the "Team of All Talents" at the turn of the 20th century, Sunderland was also known as the "transfer market at the time, which saw the transfer-record broken twice.

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 (nine players out of 34) led some fans to jokingly dub the team "Sund-Ireland".

== Fanzines ==
The current fanzine of choice is ''A Love Supreme''<ref>[http://www.a-love-supreme.com/ A love supreme]</ref>. 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'').

== Sponsorship ==
Sunderland A.F.C. is currently sponsored by the Irish bookmaker Boylesports, who signed a four year contract with the club in 2007 worth up to £12 million which will see the company become the main shirt sponsors until 2011.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.safc.com/news/?page_id=12164
|title=Sunderland reveal Boylesports deal
|accessdate= 2007-04-12
|publisher=SAFC.COM
}}</ref> The club were sponsored by the Vaux breweries between 1985 and 1999, and subsequently Sunderland car room Reg Vardy from 1999-2007. They have also been sponsored for a small period by transport company "Cowies,"  which later became Arriva.

== Honours ==
{| width=95%
|- bgcolor=#ff0000
!width=35%|'''Honours'''
!width=5%|'''Times'''
!!width=55%|'''Years'''
|-
!colspan=6 bgcolor=#EFEFEF| '''League'''
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| '''First Division''' ''Top Flight''    '''Champions'''
|align=center|'''6'''
| 1891/1892, 1892/1893, 1894/1895, 1901/1902, 1912/1913, 1935/1936
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| '''First Division''' ''Top Flight''    '''Runners-up'''
|align=center|'''5'''
| 1893/1894, 1897/1898, 1900/1901, 1922/1923, 1934/1935
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| '''Championship''' ''Second Flight''   '''Champions'''
|align=center|'''2'''
| 2004/2005, 2006/2007
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| ''''New' First Division''' ''Second Flight''    '''Champions'''
|align=center|'''2'''
| 1995/1996, 1998/1999
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| ''''Old' Second Division''' ''Second Flight''  '''Champions'''
|align=center|'''1'''
| 1975/1976
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| ''''Old' Second Division''' ''Second Flight'' '''Runners-up'''
|align=center|'''1'''
| 1963/1964
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| ''''Old' Third Division''' ''Third Flight''    '''Champions'''
|align=center|'''1'''
| 1987/1988
|-
!colspan=6 bgcolor=#EFEFEF| '''Cups'''
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| '''FA Cup Winners'''
|align=center|'''2'''
| 1937, 1973
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| '''FA Cup Runners-up'''
|align=center|'''2'''
| 1913, 1992
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
|'''FA Youth Cup '''
|align=center|'''2'''
| 1967, 1969
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| '''League Cup Runners-up'''
|align=center|'''1'''
| 1984/1985
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| '''War Cup Runners-up'''
|align=center|'''1'''
| 1942
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| '''Charity Shield Winners'''
|align=center|'''1'''
| 1936/1937
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| '''Sheriff of London Charity Shield Winners'''
|align=center|'''1'''
| 1902/1903
|- bgcolor=#ffe4e1
| '''Charity Shield Runners-up'''
|align=center|'''1'''
| 1937/1938
|}

=== Top flight ===
Reached the First Division in 1890 and over the next 50 years were league champions six times. 

Were relegated from the First Division for the first time in 1958, making 68 consecutive seasons spent in the English top league, still the second highest total in English football. Since then though, they have struggled to establish themselves back in the top flight.

Played their first Premiership season in 1996-97, which ended in relegation on the final day of the season.

Returned to the Premiership in 1999 and finished seventh in both of their first two seasons back at the highest level. 

Were relegated from the Premiership in 2003 with a record low of four wins, 21 goals and 19 points.  They returned to the Premiership in 2005/2006 season, but went down after just one season, breaking their own record by attaining just 3 wins and 15 points (this honour now rests with Derby County who amassed just 11 points and 1 win in season 2007/8).

They then returned to England's top flight after a successful 2006/07 season in the Championship, winning it under the leadership of manager Roy Keane.

=== Second flight ===
Have spent most of their time since 1958 bouncing between the top two tiers of the English professional league.

{{Klub piłkarski infobox
 |nazwa_klubu       = Sunderland A.F.C.
 |grafika           = 
 |pełna_nazwa_klubu = Sunderland Association Football Club
 |przydomek         = ''The Black Cats (Czarne Koty), The Mackems''
 |barwy             = 
 |założony          = 1879
 |adres_klubu       = 
 |stadion           = Stadium of Light<br/> Sunderland
 |ilość_miejsc      = 49,000
 |prezes            =  Niall Quinn
 |trener            =  Roy Keane
 |liga              = Premier League
 |rozgrywki         = 
 |sezon             = 2007/08
 |miejsce           = 18. miejsce 
 |sezon2            = 
 |miejsce2          = 
 |debiut_1_liga     = 
 |sukcesy           = 
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 |paski_sr1         = _whitestripes
 |paski_pr1         = _red_stripes
 |lewareka1         = FFFFFF
 |srodek1           = FF0000
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 |grafika_dodatkowa = 
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}}

'''Sunderland Association Football Club''' - angielski klub piłkarski z siedzibą w Sunderlandzie, założony w 1879 roku. Sunderland AFC to sześciokrotny mistrz Anglii i wieloletni angielski pierwszoligowiec, który w sezonie 2007/08 występuje w Premier League.

==Sukcesy==
* '''Mistrzostwo Anglii (6):''' 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, 1936
* '''Puchar Anglii (2):''' 1937, 1973
* '''Tarcza Dobroczynności (2):''' 1902, 1936

==Klubowe rekordy==
*'''Najwyższe zwycięstwo''': 23:0 vs Castletown (20 grudnia 1884, Durham Challenge Cup)
*'''Najwyższe zwycięstwo na Roker Park''': 9:1 vs Newcastle United, Division 1, 5 grudnia 1908
*'''Najwyższa porażka''': 0:8 vs West Ham United, Division 1, 19 października 1968
*'''Najwyższa frekwencja w historii''': 75,118 vs Derby County, FA Cup 6 Runda powtórka 8 marca, 1933 na Roker Park)
*'''Najwyższa frekwencja''': 48,353 widzów vs FC Liverpool, Premier League, 13 kwietnia 2002
*'''Najwięcej meczów w lidze''': Jim Montgomery, 537
*'''Najwięcej bramek w lidze''': Charlie Buchan, 209
*'''Najwięcej bramek w lidze w jednym sezonie''': 98
*'''Najdrożej kupiony zawodnik''': Craig Gordon w sezonie 2007/2008 z Hearts, za 9 mln funtów.

==Stadion==
*'''Nazwa:''' Stadium of Light
*'''Pojemność:''' 49,000
*'''Inauguracja:''' 1997
*'''Wymiary boiska:''' 115 x 75 yd

Poprzednie stadiony:
* 1879-1882 - Blue House Field, Hendon
* 1882-1883 - Groves Field, Ashbrooke
* 1883-1884 - Horatio Street, Roker
* 1884-1886 - Abbs Field, Fulwell
* 1886-1898 - Newcastle Road, Monkwearmouth
* 1898-1997 - Roker Park, Roker
* 1997      - Stadium of Light, Monkwearmouth