List of Sunderland A.F.C. seasons explained

Sunderland Association Football Club was founded in 1879 ^[1] as Sunderland & District Teachers Association Football Club by James Allan.^[2] They turned professional in 1885.^[3] Sunderland won their first Football League championship in the 1891–92 season two years after joining the league. They won the next Football League First Division on three occasions in four seasons; in 1892, 1893 and 1895, separated by a runner-up spot in 1894. In the 1901–02 season, Sunderland won their fifth Football League First Division championship. They came close to completing the "league and cup double" in the 1912–13 season, winning the league but losing to Aston Villa in the 1913 FA Cup Final. The team's next success came in the 1935–36 season when they won the League Championship and also the Charity Shield. They had not won the FA Cup until the 1936–37 season when they defeated Preston North End in the 1937 FA Cup Final. Sunderland entered The Football League in 1890 and were not relegated from the top division until the 1957–58 season; a total of 58 seasons in the highest division of England. Their next trophy came in the 1973 FA Cup Final as they beat Leeds United 1–0. They reached the 1985 Football League Cup Final but finished as runners-up to Norwich City after being beaten 1–0. In the 1986–87 season Sunderland were relegated to the Football League Third Division for the first time in their history under the management of Lawrie McMenemy, they however, returned to the second division the following season as champions–their lowest position in the English football league system until 2019. Their first appearance in the Premier League came in the 1996–97 season after being promoted as champions from Division One. They were relegated after a single campaign but won promotion as Champions again in the 1998/99 season acquiring 105 points on the way, a second tier record at the time. Sunderland gained just 15 points in the 2005–06 season, which set the record for the lowest number of points in a top flight season for 3 points for a win, which has since been eclipsed by Derby County.^[4]

Sunderland have won the League Championship six times, the FA Cup twice, and the Charity Shield three times (including the Sheriff of London Charity Shield). They have been runners-up in the League Championship five times, in the FA Cup twice and in the League Cup twice. In European competitions, Sunderland have reached the second round stage of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The table details the club's achievements in all national and European first-team competitions, and records their top league goalscorer, for each completed season.

Key

Key to league record:

• Pld = Matches played
• W = Matches won
• D = Matches drawn
• L = Matches lost
• GF = Goals for
• GA = Goals against
• Pts = Points
• Pos = Final position

Key to divisions:

• FL = Football League
• Div 1 = Football League First Division
• Div 2 = Football League Second Division
• Div 3 = Football League Third Division
• Prem = Premier League
• Chmp = Championship
• One = League One
• n/a = Not applicable

Key to rounds:

• DNE = Did not enter
• Disq = Disqualified
• QR = Qualifying round
• Grp = Group stage
• R1 = Round 1
• R2 = Round 2
• R3 = Round 3
• R4 = Round 4
• R5 = Round 5

• QF = Quarter-finals
• SF = Semi-finals
• AQF = Area quarter-finals
• ASF = Area semi-finals
• AF = Area final
• RU = Runners-up
• WS = Shared
• W = Winners

bgcolor=gold

Winners

bgcolor=silver

Runners-up

3rd place

Play-offs

Test matches

Semi-finals

bgcolor=PaleGreen

Promoted

bgcolor=Pink

Relegated

bgcolor=SkyBlue

Current Season

Divisions in bold indicate a change in division.
Players in bold indicate the top scorer in the division that season.
Players in italics indicate the top scorer in Europe that season.

Seasons

Season	League									FA Cup	EFL Cup	Europe / Other	Top league goalscorer(s)^[5]
	Division (tier)	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Pos			Player(s)	Goals
1884–85	There was no league football until 1888–89									QR
1885–86										QR
1886–87										QR
1887–88										Disq
1888–89	Sunderland did not join The Football League until 1890–91									QR
1889–90										R1
1890–91	FL (1)	22	10	5	7	51	31	23	7th	SF				Johnny Campbell	19
1891–92	FL (1)	26	21	0	5	93	36	42	bgcolor=gold	1st	SF		Football World Championship	bgcolor=gold	W	Johnny Campbell	32
1892–93	Div 1 (1)	30	22	4	4	100	36	48	bgcolor=gold	1st	QF		Football World Championship	bgcolor=gold	W	Johnny Campbell	31
1893–94	Div 1 (1)	30	17	4	9	72	44	38	bgcolor=silver	2nd	R2				Jimmy Millar	20
1894–95	Div 1 (1)	30	21	5	4	80	37	47	bgcolor=gold	1st	SF		Football World Championship	bgcolor=gold	W	Johnny Campbell	22
1895–96	Div 1 (1)	30	15	7	8	52	41	37	5th	R2				Johnny Campbell	15
1896–97	Div 1 (1)	30	7	9	14	34	47	23	15th	R2		Football League Test Matches	bgcolor=silver	2nd	James Gillespie Jimmy Hannah	8
1897–98	Div 1 (1)	30	16	5	9	43	30	37	bgcolor=silver	2nd	R1				John Brown Jim Leslie Hughie Wilson	8
1898–99	Div 1 (1)	34	15	6	13	41	41	36	7th	R2				Jim Leslie	9
1899–1900	Div 1 (1)	34	19	3	12	50	35	41	3rd	R2				Colin McLatchie	10
1900–01	Div 1 (1)	34	15	13	6	57	26	43	bgcolor=silver	2nd	R1				Geordie Livingstone	12
1901–02	Div 1 (1)	34	19	6	9	50	35	44	bgcolor=gold	1st	R2				Jimmy Gemmell Billy Hogg	10
1902–03	Div 1 (1)	34	16	9	9	51	36	41	3rd	R1		Sheriff of London Charity Shield	bgcolor=gold	W	Jimmy Gemmell Joe Hewitt Jimmy Millar	7
1903–04	Div 1 (1)	34	17	5	12	63	49	39	6th	R1				Jack Craggs Billy Hogg	12
1904–05	Div 1 (1)	34	16	8	10	60	44	40	5th	R1				George Holley Walter Watkins	9
1905–06	Div 1 (1)	38	15	5	18	61	70	35	14th	R3				Arthur Bridgett	17
1906–07	Div 1 (1)	38	14	9	15	65	66	37	10th	R3				Arthur Bridgett	25
1907–08	Div 1 (1)	38	16	3	19	78	75	35	16th	R1				George Holley	23
1908–09	Div 1 (1)	38	21	2	15	78	63	44	3rd	QF				George Holley	18
1909–10	Div 1 (1)	38	18	5	15	66	51	41	8th	R3				George Holley	20
1910–11	Div 1 (1)	38	15	15	8	67	48	45	3rd	R1				Tim Coleman	19
1911–12	Div 1 (1)	38	14	11	13	58	51	39	8th	R3				George Holley	25
1912–13	Div 1 (1)	38	25	4	9	86	43	54	bgcolor=gold	1st	bgcolor=silver	RU				Charlie Buchan	27
1913–14	Div 1 (1)	38	17	6	15	63	52	40	7th	QF				George Holley	15
1914–15	Div 1 (1)	38	18	5	15	81	72	41	8th	R1				Charlie Buchan	23
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the First World War.
1919–20	Div 1 (1)	42	22	4	16	72	59	48	5th	R3				Charlie Buchan	21
1920–21	Div 1 (1)	42	14	13	15	57	60	41	12th	R1				Charlie Buchan	27
1921–22	Div 1 (1)	42	16	8	18	60	62	40	12th	R1				Charlie Buchan	21
1922–23	Div 1 (1)	42	22	10	10	72	54	54	bgcolor=silver	2nd	R2				Charlie Buchan	30
1923–24	Div 1 (1)	42	22	9	11	71	54	53	3rd	R1				Charlie Buchan	26
1924–25	Div 1 (1)	42	19	10	13	64	51	48	7th	R2				Bobby Marshall	18
1925–26	Div 1 (1)	42	21	6	15	96	80	48	3rd	R5				Dave Halliday	38
1926–27	Div 1 (1)	42	21	7	14	98	70	49	3rd	R3				Dave Halliday	36
1927–28	Div 1 (1)	42	15	9	18	74	76	39	15th	R4				Dave Halliday	35
1928–29	Div 1 (1)	42	20	7	15	93	75	47	4th	R3				Dave Halliday	43
1929–30	Div 1 (1)	42	18	7	17	76	80	43	9th	R5				Bobby Gurney	15
1930–31	Div 1 (1)	42	16	9	17	89	85	41	11th	SF				Bobby Gurney	30
1931–32	Div 1 (1)	42	15	10	17	67	73	40	13th	R4				Bobby Gurney	16
1932–33	Div 1 (1)	42	15	10	17	63	80	40	12th	QF				Bobby Gurney	15
1933–34	Div 1 (1)	42	16	12	14	81	56	44	6th	R4				Bobby Gurney	21
1934–35	Div 1 (1)	42	19	16	7	90	51	54	bgcolor=silver	2nd	R4				Bobby Gurney	30
1935–36	Div 1 (1)	42	25	6	11	109	74	56	bgcolor=gold	1st	R3				Raich Carter Bobby Gurney	31
1936–37	Div 1 (1)	42	19	6	17	89	87	44	8th	bgcolor=gold	W		Charity Shield	bgcolor=gold	W	Raich Carter	26
1937–38	Div 1 (1)	42	14	16	12	55	57	44	8th	SF		Charity Shield	bgcolor=silver	RU	Raich Carter	13
1938–39	Div 1 (1)	42	13	12	17	54	67	38	16th	R5				Raich Carter	15
1939–40	Div 1 (1)	3	1	0	2	6	7	2	—	—
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the Second World War.
1945–46	n/a									R5
1946–47	Div 1 (1)	42	18	8	16	65	66	44	9th	R3				Jackie Robinson Cliff Whitelum	17
1947–48	Div 1 (1)	42	13	10	19	56	67	36	20th	R3				Dickie Davis	12
1948–49	Div 1 (1)	42	13	17	12	49	58	43	8th	R4				Dickie Davis	10
1949–50	Div 1 (1)	42	21	10	11	83	62	52	3rd	R4				Dickie Davis	25
1950–51	Div 1 (1)	42	12	16	14	63	73	40	12th	QF				Trevor Ford	16
1951–52	Div 1 (1)	42	15	12	15	70	61	42	12th	R3				Trevor Ford Len Shackleton	22
1952–53	Div 1 (1)	42	15	13	14	68	82	43	9th	R4				Trevor Ford	20
1953–54	Div 1 (1)	42	14	8	20	81	89	36	18th	R3				Tommy Wright	18
1954–55	Div 1 (1)	42	15	18	9	64	54	48	4th	SF				Ken Chisholm	18
1955–56	Div 1 (1)	42	17	9	16	80	95	43	9th	SF				Charlie Fleming	29
1956–57	Div 1 (1)	42	12	8	22	67	88	32	20th	R4				Charlie Fleming	25
1957–58	bgcolor=Pink	Div 1 (1)	42	10	12	20	54	97	32	bgcolor=Pink	21st	R3				Alan O'Neill	13
1958–59	Div 2 (2)	42	16	8	18	64	75	40	15th	R3				Don Kichenbrand	21
1959–60	Div 2 (2)	42	12	12	18	52	65	36	16th	R3				Ian Lawther	17
1960–61	Div 2 (2)	42	17	13	12	75	60	47	6th	QF	R2			Ian Lawther	24
1961–62	Div 2 (2)	42	22	9	11	85	50	53	3rd	R4	QF			Brian Clough	29
1962–63	Div 2 (2)	42	20	12	10	84	55	52	3rd	R5	SF			Brian Clough	24
1963–64	bgcolor=PaleGreen	Div 2 (2)	42	25	11	6	81	37	61	bgcolor=PaleGreen	2nd	QF	R2			Johnny Crossan	22
1964–65	Div 1 (1)	42	14	9	19	64	74	37	15th	R4	R4			Nick Sharkey	18
1965–66	Div 1 (1)	42	14	8	20	51	72	36	19th	R3	R3			Neil Martin George Mulhall	8
1966–67	Div 1 (1)	42	14	8	20	58	72	36	17th	R5	R2			Neil Martin	20
1967–68	Div 1 (1)	42	13	11	18	51	61	37	15th	R3	R4			Colin Suggett	14
1968–69	Div 1 (1)	42	11	12	19	43	67	34	17th	R3	R2			Colin Suggett	9
1969–70	bgcolor=Pink	Div 1 (1)	42	6	14	22	30	68	26	bgcolor=Pink	21st	R3	R2	Anglo-Italian Cup	Grp	Gordon Harris	7
1970–71	Div 2 (2)	42	15	12	15	52	54	42	13th	R3	R2			Joe Baker	10
1971–72	Div 2 (2)	42	17	16	9	67	57	50	5th	R4	R2	Anglo-Italian Cup	Grp	Dennis Tueart Dave Watson	13
1972–73	Div 2 (2)	42	17	12	13	59	49	46	6th	bgcolor=gold	W	R2			Billy Hughes	15
1973–74	Div 2 (2)	42	19	9	14	58	44	47	6th	R3	R3	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	R2	Vic Halom	18
1974–75	Div 2 (2)	42	19	13	10	65	35	51	4th	R4	R2	Texaco Cup	Grp	Pop Robson	19
1975–76	bgcolor=PaleGreen	Div 2 (2)	42	24	8	10	67	36	56	bgcolor=PaleGreen	1st	QF	R2	Anglo-Scottish Cup	Grp	Pop Robson	13
1976–77	bgcolor=Pink	Div 1 (1)	42	11	12	19	46	54	34	bgcolor=Pink	20th	R3	R3			Bob Lee	13
1977–78	Div 2 (2)	42	14	16	12	67	59	44	6th	R3	R2			Gary Rowell	18
1978–79	Div 2 (2)	42	22	11	9	70	44	55	4th	R4	R2	Anglo-Scottish Cup	Grp	Gary Rowell	21
1979–80	bgcolor=PaleGreen	Div 2 (2)	42	21	12	9	69	42	54	bgcolor=PaleGreen	2nd	R3	R4	Anglo-Scottish Cup	Grp	Pop Robson	20
1980–81	Div 1 (1)	42	14	7	21	52	53	35	17th	R3	R2			Gary Rowell	10
1981–82	Div 1 (1)	42	11	11	20	38	58	44	19th	R4	R3			Gary Rowell	9
1982–83	Div 1 (1)	42	12	14	16	48	61	50	16th	R3	R3			Gary Rowell	16
1983–84	Div 1 (1)	42	13	13	16	42	53	52	13th	R4	R3			Colin West	9
1984–85	bgcolor=Pink	Div 1 (1)	42	10	10	22	40	62	40	bgcolor=Pink	21st	R3	bgcolor=silver	RU			Clive Walker	10
1985–86	Div 2 (2)	42	13	11	18	47	61	50	18th	R4	R2	Full Members' Cup	ASF	Eric Gates	9
1986–87	bgcolor=Pink	Div 2 (2)	42	12	12	18	49	59	48	bgcolor=Pink	20th	R3	R1	Full Members' Cup	R2	David Buchanan Mark Proctor	8
1987–88	bgcolor=PaleGreen	Div 3 (3)	42	27	12	7	92	48	93	bgcolor=PaleGreen	1st	R2	R1	Associate Members' Cup	AQF	Marco Gabbiadini	21
1988–89	Div 2 (2)	46	16	15	15	60	60	63	11th	R3	R2	Full Members' Cup	R2	Marco Gabbiadini	18
1989–90	bgcolor=PaleGreen	Div 2 (2)	46	20	14	12	70	64	74	6th	R3	QF	Full Members' Cup Second Division Play-offs	R1 RU	Marco Gabbiadini	21
1990–91	bgcolor=Pink	Div 1 (1)	38	8	10	20	38	60	34	bgcolor=Pink	19th	R3	R3	Full Members' Cup	R3	Marco Gabbiadini	9
1991–92	Div 2 (2)	46	14	11	21	61	65	53	18th	bgcolor=silver	RU	R2			Don Goodman	11
1992–93	Div 1 (2)	46	13	11	22	50	64	50	21st	R4	R1	Anglo-Italian Cup	Grp	Don Goodman	16
1993–94	Div 1 (2)	46	19	8	19	54	57	65	12th	R4	R3	Anglo-Italian Cup	Grp	Phil Gray	14
1994–95	Div 1 (2)	46	12	18	16	41	45	54	20th	R4	R2			Phil Gray	12
1995–96	bgcolor=PaleGreen	Div 1 (2)	46	22	17	7	59	33	83	bgcolor=PaleGreen	1st	R3	R2			Craig Russell	13
1996–97	bgcolor=Pink	Prem (1)	38	10	10	18	35	53	40	bgcolor=Pink	18th	R3	R3			Craig Russell Paul Stewart	4
1997–98	Div 1 (2)	46	26	12	8	86	50	90	3rd	R4	R3	First Division Play-offs	bgcolor=silver	RU	Kevin Phillips	29
1998–99	bgcolor=PaleGreen	Div 1 (2)	46	31	12	3	91	28	105	bgcolor=PaleGreen	1st	R4	SF			Kevin Phillips	23
1999–2000	Prem (1)	38	16	10	12	57	56	58	7th	R4	R3			Kevin Phillips	bgcolor=Gold	30
2000–01	Prem (1)	38	15	12	11	46	41	57	7th	R5	QF			Kevin Phillips	14
2001–02	Prem (1)	38	10	10	18	29	51	40	17th	R3	R2			Kevin Phillips	11
2002–03	bgcolor=Pink	Prem (1)	38	4	7	27	21	65	19	bgcolor=Pink	20th	R5	R4			Kevin Phillips	6
2003–04	Div 1 (2)	46	22	13	11	62	45	79	3rd	SF	R2	First Division Play-offs	SF	Marcus Stewart	14
2004–05	bgcolor=PaleGreen	Chmp (2)	46	29	7	10	76	41	94	bgcolor=PaleGreen	1st	R4	R2			Marcus Stewart	16
2005–06	bgcolor=Pink	Prem (1)	38	3	6	29	26	69	15	bgcolor=Pink	20th	R4	R3			Liam Lawrence Anthony Le Tallec Tommy Miller Dean Whitehead	3
2006–07	bgcolor=PaleGreen	Chmp (2)	46	27	7	12	76	47	88	bgcolor=PaleGreen	1st	R3	R1			David Connolly	13
2007–08	Prem (1)	38	11	6	21	36	59	39	15th	R3	R2			Kenwyne Jones	7
2008–09	Prem (1)	38	9	9	20	34	54	36	16th	R4	R4			Djibril Cissé Kenwyne Jones	10
2009–10	Prem (1)	38	11	11	16	48	56	44	13th	R4	R4			Darren Bent	25
2010–11	Prem (1)	38	12	11	15	45	56	47	10th	R3	R3			Asamoah Gyan	10
2011–12	Prem (1)	38	11	12	15	45	46	45	13th	QF	R2			Nicklas Bendtner	8
2012–13	Prem (1)	38	9	12	17	41	54	39	17th	R3	R4			Steven Fletcher	11
2013–14	Prem (1)	38	10	8	20	41	60	38	14th	QF	bgcolor=silver	RU	Premier League Asia Trophy	bgcolor=silver	RU	Adam Johnson	8
2014–15	Prem (1)	38	7	17	14	31	53	38	16th	R5	R3			Steven Fletcher Connor Wickham	5
2015–16	Prem (1)	38	9	12	17	48	62	39	17th	R3	R3			Jermain Defoe	15
2016–17	bgcolor=Pink	Prem (1)	38	6	6	26	29	69	24	bgcolor=Pink	20th	R3	R4			Jermain Defoe	14
2017–18	bgcolor=Pink	Chmp (2)	46	7	16	23	52	80	37	bgcolor=Pink	24th	R3	R3			Lewis Grabban	12
2018–19	One (3)	46	22	19	5	80	47	85	5th	R2	R1	EFL Trophy League One Play-offs	bgcolor=Silver	RU RU	Josh Maja	15
2019–20	One (3)	36	16	11	9	48	32	59	8th	R1	R4	EFL Trophy	Grp	Chris Maguire	10
2020–21	One (3)	46	20	17	9	70	42	77	4th	R1	R1	EFL Trophy League One Play-offs	W SF	Charlie Wyke	26
2021–22	bgcolor=PaleGreen	One (3)	46	24	12	10	79	53	84	5th	R1	QF	EFL Trophy League One Play-offs	R2 W	Ross Stewart	26
2022–23	Chmp (2)	46	18	15	13	68	55	69	6th	R4	R1	Championship Play-offs	SF	Amad	13
2023–24	Chmp (2)	46	16	8	22	52	54	56	16th	R3	R1

Overall

• Seasons spent at Level 1 of the football league system: 87
• Seasons spent at Level 2 of the football league system: 32
• Seasons spent at Level 3 of the football league system: 5
• Seasons spent at Level 4 of the football league system: 0

(Including 2023-24 season)

References

General

• Book: Days, Paul. Sunderland AFC: The Official History 1879–2000 . Business Education Publishers Ltd. August 1999. 1–336. 0-9536984-1-6.
• All statistics for seasons are retrieved from individual seasons pages, and top scorers, from appearances section on their individual season page. Web site: Sunderland AFC — Statistics, History and Records. The Stat Cat. 10 August 2008.

Specific

Notes and References

1. Web site: Happy Birthday Sunderland AFC – 136 Years Old! – Ryehill Football.
2. Web site: Sunderland History. Sunderland A.F.C.. 10 August 2008.
3. Days, p15
4. Web site: Sunderland A.F.C.. Barclays Premier League. 2 September 2008. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080509075844/http://www.premierleague.com/page/sunderland. 9 May 2008.
5. Web site: English League Leading Goalscorers 1889–2007 . . 5 September 2008.