Sunderland is one of the oldest English clubs that was formed in 1879. Sunderland’s nickname is the Black Cats and its main long-standing rival is Newcastle United. The club achieved the biggest ever league victory against Newcastle United by 9–1 on 5 December 1908.
Before World War Two Sunderland was one of the most powerful and successful teams in England winning 6 league championships in 15 years. But in the late 1950s the team faced a sharp downturn as the club was implicated in a financial scandal in 1957, the following year the team was classed down to the second division.
Sunderland claimed their last major trophy in 1973 beating Leeds 1–0 in the FA Cup final. That victory gave the club the chance to participate in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, the only appearance of the club in European competition to date. In 1992 the team played in the FA Cup Final again but was defeated by Liverpool 2-0.
Throughout the 1990s Sunderland’s performance was not successful. The club struggled to secure their place in the Premier League floating between first two major English leagues. Irish-American industrial magnate Ellis Short bought the club at the beginning of the 21st century and channeled huge sums of money to sign new players and improve club’s results. The investments helped the club to finish 10th — their highest finish in the League for 10 years.
The home ground of Sunderland is the Stadium of Light that has a capacity of over 49.000 seats. The site was built in 1997 and replaced Rocker Park which had been their home ground for 99 years.
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