Sunderland

Sunderland is one of the oldest football clubs in England. It was founded in 1879 and it is situated in the county Tyne and Wear. Sunderland was the champion of England for six times. All these victories were before the World War II – in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, 1936. The best club’s achievement was the victory in the Cup of England in 1973. Recently the club has left the Premier League, but the season 2009-2010 the team plays in the highest division.

Sunderland was the record holder of the Championship of England because of the number of the seasons participated: the club played during 68 seasons from 1890 till 1958. The record was bitten by Arsenal in 1992. Since 1997 Sunderland has been playing all the domestic matches at the stadium “World”. The stadium capacity is 49 000 after the reconstruction in 2000. Till that time the club played at the stadium “Roker Park”.
The most important matches for Sunderland are the matches with Newcastle United. These matches are known as the Tyne–Wear derby.

History

October, 17 in 1879 a school teacher James Allan formed Sunderland District & Teachers Association Football Club. But the team had the first officially registered game on November, 13 in 1880 against Ferryhill and lost it. The first home stadium was the Blue House Field, not far from James Allan’s school. The club changed three more stadiums before they got the new stadium “Newcastle Road” in 1886. In 1881 the club’s name was changed onto Sunderland Association Football Club. And after that they allowed people of different professions to join the club. This let to attract more players and to improve the financial situation. Allan was not happy that his club intended to become professional. In 1888 he left the club and established a new one – Sunderland Albion. These two clubs competed against each other up to 1892 when Albion was dissolved.

The first team’s coach was Tom Watson. He was appointed in 1889. At that time they mostly played local matches, the Cup of England and some friendly matches with the clubs from the Football League. Because of the growth of the team’s popularity, the club submitted the application to take part in the Football League.

In 1890 the team was permitted to play in the Football League. It replaced Stoke City, which took the last place in the previous season and was not elected again. Sunderland was the first club to enter the League after its formation in 1888. Sunderland won the championship in the season 1891- 1892 having 42 points and left behind its competitor Preston North End. The next season Sunderland became a champion again; the central forward Jonny Campbell scored more than 30 balls. The same season Sunderland scored 100 balls. This record was bitten only in 1919 -1920 when West Bromwich scored 104 balls.

In 1904 Sunderland was involved in the scandal about its player’s bonuses. It was said that the club gave the player 100 pounds to start his business. It was meant that the player would give the money back when he got the first profit. But the player refused to give the money back saying that it was a present. The investigation proved that the money was a bonus to prolong the contact or to play in a draw. But that was banned according to the existing rules. Sunderland was fined and six its directors were suspended to take their posts for about two years and a half  because of club’s financial relation suppression. Because of his involvement in the crime the coach Alex Mackie was also suspended.

In 1905 Bob Kyle became the coach of Sunderland instead of Alex Mackie. The same year Sunderland paid for the transfer for the first time. In 1907-1908 the team had its best victory. They bit Newcastle United with the score 9:1 at the stadium St. James Park.

In the season 1912-1913 Sunderland became the champion for the fifth time. They could win the Golden Double, but in the final match they lost to Aston Villa.

In 2009 the American entrepreneur Ellis Short bought 100% of the club’s shares and became the only owner of the team. Sunderland became the fourth team in the Premier League which has the American owner.

Achievements:

The Championship of England (The First Division):  1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, 1936
The Championship of England (The Second Division):  1976
The Championship of England (The Third Division):  1988
The Football League First Division: 1996, 1999
The Football League Championship: 2005, 2007
The Cup of England: 1937, 1973
The Cup of England (finals): 1913, 1992
The English Super Cup: 1936
The Youth Cup of England: 1967, 1969

Current squad:

1.    Craig Gordon (goal-keeper)
2.    Phil Bardsley (defender)
3.    George McCartney (defender)
4.    Michael Turner (defender)
5.    Anton Ferdinand (defender)
6.    Nyron Nosworthy (defender)
7.    Boudewijn Zenden (midfielder)
8.    Steed Malbranque (midfielder)
9.    Fraizer Campbell (forward)
10.    Kieran Richardson (midfielder)
11.    Darren Bent (forward)
12.    John Mensah (on loan from Lyon) (defender)
13.    Daryl Murphy (forward)
14.    Jordan Henderson (midfielder)
15.    Kenwyne Jones (forward)
16.    Lorik Cana (captain) (midfielder)
17.    Andy Reid (midfielder)
18.    Paulo da Silva (defender)
19.    David Healy (forward)
20.    Trevor Carson (goal-keeper)
21.    Roy O'Donovan (forward)
22.    Russell Anderson (defender)
23.    Márton Fülöp (goal-keeper)
24.    Lee Cattermole (midfielder)

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