Sunderland AFC

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English professional football club, founded on 17 October 1879 in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in north-east England. It currently plays in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, and since its foundation it has been regarded, in terms of honours and history, as the best team in north-east England.

Sunderland won 6 English league championships (1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913 and 1936), and finished as runners-up on five occasions, a record surpassed by only five other clubs. The club has won 2 FA Cups (1937 and 1973), and has been runner-up on two other occasions (1913 and 1992). It won one Charity Shield, known as the Community Shield, in 1936, and were runners-up in it the following year. Sunderland were League Cup finalists in 1985 and 2014, losing to Norwich City and Manchester City respectively.

After a period of success in the late 19th century, with several league titles, it won its first FA Cup in 1937 with a 3-1 victory over Preston North End, and remained in the top flight for 68 consecutive seasons. After the Second World War, the most important title won was the FA Cup in 1973, when the club beat Leeds United 1-0. During this period the club won five second-tier titles and one third-tier title.

Sunderland play their home matches at the Stadium of Light, which has had a capacity of 49,000 spectators since 1997, having left the old Roker Park. The stadium's original capacity was 42,000 spectators, but it was increased to the current capacity in 2000. The club has a fierce rivalry with Newcastle United, against whom it has contested the Tyne & Wear Derby since 1898. After being promoted to the top flight in 2007, it became one of the richest football clubs in the world, being valued at US$93 million in 2014, making it the 31st most valuable in the world overall and the 10th in England.