12. [154] The 200506 season was poor for Sunderland, as they failed to win a home game before Christmas and were eventually relegated with a new record lowest points tally of 15, breaking their own previous record of 19. [146][147][148], A song Sunderland fans sing every game and has been described as the anthem of the club is a rendition of "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley, with "Sunderland" being sung repeatedly after "but I can't help falling in love with you. [4] It was renamed as Sunderland A.F.C. [39] On 19 April 1913 Sunderland narrowly missed out on becoming one of the few clubs to win the League and cup double, when they were beaten 10 by Aston Villa in the FA Cup Final at Crystal Palace. [64][bettersourceneeded] Sunderland took part in the two-legged War Cup final in the 194142 season, against Wolverhampton Wanderers. After a gap of nearly 25 years, Sunderland won the league again in 1935- 1936, and followed that up with the first of their two FA Cup successes in 1937. [203], The first sponsor to appear on Sunderland kits was Cowie's, the business group of then chairman Tom Cowie, between 1983 and 1985. [200] Their heaviest defeats in the league were 80 against Sheffield Wednesday in 1911, West Ham United in 1968, Watford in 1982 and Southampton in 2014[200] Sunderland joined the top division in England, The Football League, in the 189091 season and were not relegated until 195758 (a span of 67 years, although 'only' 56 seasons, given that there was no league football between 1915 and 1919 due to World War I, nor between 1939 and 1946 due to World War II). He was subsequently replaced by Chris Coleman. Manager Sam Allardyce was sacked during the season and replaced by David Moyes, but that did not change the club's fortunes. [153] One of the oldest Sunderland chants is "Ha'way the lads" which was sung at Sunderland games as far back as the 1960s. 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. The celebrations, which are likely to be seen in the third series when it airs, will be a far cry from what the Sunderland 'Til I Die programme had covered at the Stadium of Light to date. [33][34] McCombie later signed for Newcastle United, and helped towards their spell of League success.
