List of Sunderland A.F.C. records and statistics

This article is about all-time records. For a season-by-season statistical breakdown, see List of Sunderland A.F.C. seasons.

Sunderland Association Football Club, are a professional football club based in Sunderland, North East England. They were announced to the world by the local newspaper, The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette on 27 September 1880 as Sunderland & District Teachers Association Football Club^[1] following a meeting of the Teachers at Rectory Park school in Sunderland on 25 September 1880. The football club changed their name to the current form on 16 October 1880, just 20 days after the September announcement. They were elected into The Football League in the 1890–91 season, becoming the first team to join the league since its inauguration in the 1889–90 season, replacing Stoke F.C.

Transfers

All figures are based on the maximum potential fee and are correct as at 24 June 2025.

In

Date	Pos	Name	From	Fee	Report
3 June 2025	MF	Enzo Le Fée	AS Roma	£19 million	[2]
31 August 2016	MF	Didier N'Dong	FC Lorient	£13.8 million	[3]
31 August 2010	FW	Asamoah Gyan	Rennes	£13 million	[4]
24 August 2012	FW	Steven Fletcher	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£12 million	[5]
29 June 2011	FW	Connor Wickham	Ipswich Town	£12 million (£8M up front)	[6]
5 August 2014	MF	Jack Rodwell	Manchester City	£10 million	[7]
23 August 2012	MF	Adam Johnson	Manchester City	£10 million	[8]
5 August 2009	FW	Darren Bent	Tottenham Hotspur	£10 million	[9]
31 August 2015	FW	Fabio Borini	Liverpool	£10 million (£8M up front)	[10]
1 August 2015	MF	Ricardo Álvarez	Inter Milan	£9 million [A]	[11]
30 January 2016	MF	Wahbi Khazri	Bordeaux	£9 million	[12]
8 August 2007	GK	Craig Gordon	Hearts	£9 million (£7M up front)	[13]
15 July 2015	MF	Jeremain Lens	Dynamo Kyiv	£8 million	[14]
27 August 2013	DF	Anton Ferdinand	West Ham United	£8 million (£6.75M up front)	[15]
5 August 2016	DF	Papy Djilobodji	Chelsea	£8 million	[16]
30 August 2002	FW	Tore André Flo	Rangers	£6.75 million	[17]
16 July 2013	MF	Emanuele Giaccherini	Juventus	£6.5 million	[18]
30 June 2013	MF	Jozy Altidore	AZ Alkmaar	£6 million	[19]
30 June 2011	MF	Craig Gardner	Birmingham City	£6 million	[20]
29 August 2007	FW	Kenwyne Jones	Southampton	£6 million	[21]
12 August 2009	FW	Lee Cattermole	Wigan Athletic	£6 million	[22]
29 January 2011	FW	Stéphane Sessègnon	Paris Saint-Germain	£6 million	[23]
1 September 2008	DF	George McCartney	West Ham United	£5.5 million (£4.5M up front)	[24]
16 July 2007	MF	Kieran Richardson	Manchester United	£5.5 million	[25]
31 January 2013	FW	Danny Graham	Swansea City	£5 million	[26]
30 July 2008	MF	Steed Malbranque	Tottenham Hotspur	£5 million	[27]
26 July 2009	MF	Lorik Cana	Marseille	£5 million	[28]
13 July 2007	FW	Michael Chopra	Cardiff City	£5 million	[29]
7 July 2011	DF	John O'Shea	Manchester United	£5 million	[30]

Out

Date	Pos	Name	To	Fee	Report
10 June 2025	MF	Jobe Bellingham	Borussia Dortmund	£32 million (£27.8M up front)	[31]
15 June 2017	GK	Jordan Pickford	Everton	£30 million (£25M up front)	[32]
18 January 2011	FW	Darren Bent	Aston Villa	£24 million (£18M up front)	[33]
9 June 2011	MF	Jordan Henderson	Liverpool	£20 million (£16.25M up front)	[34]
24 August 2024	MF	Jack Clarke	Ipswich Town	£20 million (£15M up front)	[35]
30 January 2017	DF	Patrick van Aanholt	Crystal Palace F.C.	£14 million (£9M up front)	[36]
25 June 2013	GK	Simon Mignolet	Liverpool	£11.25 million (£9M up front)	[37]
1 June 2025	FW	Tom Watson	Brighton and Hove Albion	£10 million	[38]
1 September 2023	FW	Ross Stewart	Southampton	£10 million (£8M up front)	[39]
3 August 2015	FW	Connor Wickham	Crystal Palace F.C.	£9 million (£7M up front)	[40]
17 July 2018	MF	Wahbi Khazri	Saint-Étienne	£9 million (£6M up front)	[41]
12 August 2010	FW	Kenwyne Jones	Stoke City	£8 million	[42]
31 August 2013	FW	Stéphane Sessègnon	West Bromwich Albion	£6.5 million	[43]
9 July 2012	FW	Asamoah Gyan	Al-Ain	£6 million (added to £6M loan fee received previously)	[44]
1 June 2018	MF	Jeremain Lens	Beşiktaş	£6 million (including £6M loan fee)	[45]
30 June 2017	FW	Fabio Borini	AC Milan	£5.3 million (£1M up front)	[46]
30 August 2001	MF	Don Hutchison	West Ham United	£5.25 million	[47]
8 July 2010	MF	Lorik Cana	Galatasaray	£5.1 million	[48]
24 July 2009	MF	Dean Whitehead	Stoke City	£5 million	[49]
23 July 1999	FW	Michael Bridges	Leeds United	£5 million	[50]
26 June 2018	DF	Paddy McNair	Middlesbrough	£5 million	[51]

Honours and achievements

Sunderland have won a total of six Football League Championships including three in the space of four seasons, along with being runners-up five times. Sunderland have also experienced success in the FA Cup, winning it twice; in 1937 and 1973. They have never won the League Cup but finished as finalists in 1985 and 2014.^[52][53][54]

League

• First Division (level 1):
  • Winners (6): 1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1901–02, 1912–13, 1935–36
  • Runners-up (5): 1893–94, 1897–98, 1900–01, 1922–23, 1934–35
• Football League Championship (level 2):
  • Winners (2): 2004–05, 2006–07
• Second Division (level 2):
  • Winners (1): 1975–76
  • Runners-up (2): 1963–64, 1979–80
  • Promotion (1): 1989–90^[B]
• First Division (level 2):
  • Winners (1): 1995–96, 1998–99
• Third Division (level 3):
  • Winners (1): 1987–88

Cup

• FA Cup:
  • Winners (2): 1937, 1973
  • Finalists (2): 1913, 1992
• Football League Cup:
  • Finalists (2): 1985, 2014
• FA Charity Shield:
  • Winners (1): 1936
  • Finalists (1): 1937
• Sheriff of London Charity Shield:
  • Winners (1): 1903
• Football League War Cup:
  • Finalists (1): 1942
• Durham Challenge Cup:
  • Winners (4): 1884, 1887, 1888, 1890,
• Northern Temperance Festival Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1884,
• Durham and Northumberland Championship:
  • Winners (1): 1888
• British Cup:
  • Runners Up (1): 1902
• Dewar Sheriff of London Shield:
  • Winners (1): 1903
• Newcastle and Sunderland Hospitals Cup:
  • Winners (3): 1912, 1913, 1914
  • Runners Up (1): 1911
• Durham Senior Cup:
  • Winners (11): 1919, 1923, 1924, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939
  • Runners Up (3): 1925, 1926, 1928
• Northern Victory League:
  • Runners Up (1): 1919
• North East Counties Cup:
  • Winners (2): 1920, 1921
• Northumberland and Durham Challenge Cup:
  • Runners Up (1): 1883

Player records

See also: List of Sunderland A.F.C. players

Appearances

• Youngest first-team player: Derek Forster, 15 years 185 days (vs Leicester City, 22 August 1964).^[55]
• Oldest first-team player: Jermain Defoe, 39 years 163 days (vs Lincoln City, 19 March 2022).^{[citation needed]}Charles Thompson was 41 when he played his last game for Sunderland in 1919

Most appearances

Competitive matches only. Each column contains appearances in the starting eleven, followed by appearances as substitute in brackets.^[56]

#	Name	Years	League	FA Cup	League Cup	Other[57]	Total
1	Jimmy Montgomery	1960–1977	537 (0)	41 (0)	33 (0)	16 (0)	627 (0)
2	Len Ashurst	1957–1971	403 (6)	26 (0)	23 (0)	0 (0)	452 (6)
3	Ned Doig	1890–1904	417 (0)	35 (0)	0 (0)	5 (0)	457 (0)
4	Stan Anderson	1951–1963	402 (0)	34 (0)	11 (0)	0 (0)	447 (0)
5	Gary Bennett	1984–1995	362 (7)	17 (1)	34 (1)	21 (0)	434 (9)
6	Bobby Kerr	1964–1979	355 (13)	29 (1)	14 (0)	21 (0)	419 (14)
7	Gordon Armstrong	1983–1996	331 (18)	19 (0)	25 (4)	18 (1)	393 (23)
8	Charlie Buchan	1911–1925	379 (0)	32 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	411 (0)
9	Michael Gray	1990–2004	341 (22)	17 (1)	23 (4)	2 (0)	383 (27)
10	Charlie Hurley	1957–1969	357 (1)	26 (0)	17 (0)	0 (0)	400 (1)

Goalscorers

Top goalscorers

Competitive matches only, appearances including substitutes appear in brackets.^[58]

#	Name	Years	League	FA Cup	League Cup	Other[57]	Total
1	Bobby Gurney	1925–50	205 (348)	23 (40)	0 (0)	0 (2)	228 (390)
2	Charlie Buchan	1911–25	209 (379)	13 (32)	0 (0)	0 (0)	222 (411)
3	Dave Halliday	1925–29	156 (166)	9 (9)	0 (0)	0 (0)	165 (175)
4	George Holley	1904–19	150 (280)	9 (35)	0 (0)	0 (0)	159 (315)
5	Johnny Campbell	1890-97	135 (186)	25 (19)	0 (0)	0 (0)	154 (215)

• Most Hat Tricks: Dave Halliday – 12 (11 league and 1 cup)^[59]

Managerial records

See also: List of Sunderland A.F.C. managers

• First full-time manager: Tom Watson managed the club for 191 matches, from August 1888 to August 1896.^[60]
• Longest serving manager: Bob Kyle managed the club for 817 matches, from August 1905 to May 1928, a total of 23 years.^[61]

Club records

Goals

• Most league goals scored in a season: 109 (in 42 matches in the 1935–36 season, First Division).^[62]
• Fewest league goals scored in a season: 21 (in 38 matches in the 2002–03 season, Premier League).^[62]
• Most league goals conceded in a season: 97 (in 42 matches in the 1957–58 season, First Division).^[62]
• Fewest league goals conceded in a season: 26 (in 34 matches in the 1900–01 season, First Division).^[62]

Points

• Most points in a season:
  • Two points for a win: 61 (in 42 games in the 1963–64 season, Second Division).^[62]
  • Three points for a win: 105 (in 46 games in the 1998–99 season, First Division).^[62]
• Fewest points in a season:
  • Two points for a win: 23 (in 22 games in the 1890–91 season, The Football League) and (in 30 games in the 1896–97 season, First Division).^[62]
  • Three points for a win: 15 (in 38 games in the 2005–06 season, Premier League).^[62]

Matches

Firsts

• First match: Sunderland 0–1 Ferryhill, 13 November 1880.^[63]
• First competitive match: Sunderland 2–2 Burnopfield in the Durham Challenge Cup, 11 December 1880.^[64]
• First league match: Sunderland 2–3 Burnley, 13 September 1890.^[65]
• First FA Cup match: Redcar 3–1 Sunderland, 8 November 1884.^[66]
• First League Cup match: Brentford 4–3 Sunderland, 26 October 1960.^[67]
• First European match: Vasas Budapest 0–2 Sunderland, 19 September 1973, UEFA Cup Winner's Cup.^[68]

Record wins

• Record Football League win:1-9 (v. Newcastle United (a) 5 Dec 1908)
• Record FA Cup win:11-1 (v. Fairfield FC, 2 February 1895)
• Record Football League Cup win:0-7 (v. Cambridge United, 1 October 2002)
• Record Football League Trophy win:8-1 (v. Aston Villa U21, 8 September 2020)
• Record friendly win:23-0 (v. Castletown FC, 20 December 1884)

Record defeats

• Record league defeats:
  • 8–0 (v. Sheffield Wednesday, 26 December 1911).^[69]
  • 8–0 (v. West Ham United, 19 October 1968).^[69]
  • 8-0 (v. Watford, 25 September 1982)
  • 8-0 (v. Southampton, 18 October 2014)
• Record FA Cup defeat:
  • 5-1 (v. Manchester United, 9 March 1964)
• Record Football League Cup defeat:
  • 6-0 (v. Derby County, 31 October 1990)
• Record Football League Trophy defeat:
  • 3-0 (v. Scunthorpe United, 12 November 2019)

Attendances

Average home attendances since 1891

Overall

• Highest overall attendance: 75,118 v. Derby County, FA Cup 6th Round Replay, 8 March 1933 at Roker Park (Sunderland 0 – 1 Derby County)^[70]
• Highest league attendance: 68,004 v. Newcastle United, 4 March 1950 at Roker Park (Sunderland 2 - 2 Newcastle United)^[71]
• Lowest recorded attendance: 880 vs Millwall, Friendly, 28 July 1969 at Roker Park (Sunderland 0 – 1 Millwall)
• Lowest recorded league attendance: 3,841 vs. Manchester City, 11 April 1934 at Roker Park (Sunderland 0 – 0 Manchester City)^[72]
• Lowest approximate competitive attendance: c. 1,500 vs. Birtley Town, Durham Challenge Cup First Round, 20 November 1886 at Newcastle Road (Sunderland 2 – 0 Birtley)^[73]
• Lowest recorded competitive attendance: 3,498 vs. Oldham Athletic, EFL Trophy Second Round, 1 December 2021 at Stadium of Light (Sunderland 0 – 1 Oldham Athletic)^[74]

Competitive Attendance Records by Ground

Attendances at Sunderland's grounds prior to Newcastle Road were rarely recorded. Attendances at Newcastle Road, and in the seasons prior to 1925 at Roker Park were usually approximations.

Ground	Highest		Lowest
	League	Other	League	Other
Newcastle Road	c. 24,000 v. Sheffield United, 5 March 1898[75]	c. 23,000 v. Aston Villa, FA Cup, 10 February 1894[76]	c. 2,000 v. Blackburn Rovers, 19 December 1896[77]	c. 1,500 v. Birtley Town in the Durham Challenge Cup, 20 November 1886[73]
Roker Park	68,004, v. Newcastle United, 4 March 1950[78]	75,118 v. Derby County, FA Cup, 8 March 1933[71]	3,841 v. Manchester City, 11 April 1934[72]	c. 1,500 v Darlington in the Durham Senior Cup, 21 October 1931[79]
Stadium of Light	48,355 v. Liverpool, 13 April 2002[80]	47,543 v. Manchester United, EFL Cup, 28 November 2000[81]	22,167 v. Wigan Athletic, 2 December 2003[82]	3,498 v. Oldham Athletic in the EFL Trophy, 1 December 2021[74]

European statistics

Record by season

Below is Sunderland's record in European competitions.^[68] They have only appeared once in European competition, during the 1973–74 season where they reached the second round. They qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup after winning the 1973 FA Cup Final over Leeds United.

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home result[C]	Away result[C]	Notes
1973–74	European Cup Winners' Cup	R1		Vasas Budapest	2–0	1–0	[D]
		R2		Sporting CP	2–1	0–2

Key

• PR = Preliminary round
• 1R = First round
• 2R = Second round
• 3R = Third round
• QF = Quarter final
• SF = Semi final
• F = Final

Record by competition

Competition	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals for	Goals against
European Cup Winners' Cup	4	3	0	1	5	3
Total	4	3	0	1	5	3

Notes

A. ^ : Payment of the transfer fee for Ricardo Alvarez was imposed on Sunderland in 2017 following the loss of a legal dispute with Inter Milan. The total cost of the Alvarez deal, including compensation and court fees is estimated to be close to £20m.^[83]

B. ^ : Sunderland were promoted in the 1989–90 season despite being beaten in the 1990 play-off final, Swindon Town originally won the match 1–0 but Sunderland took their place in the First Division after Swindon admitted to making illegal payments.^[62]

C. ^{a b} : Sunderland score is given first in each result.

D. ^ : Sunderland qualified for the 1973–74 European Cup Winners' Cup by winning the 1973 FA Cup.