Sunderland Association Football Club is a professional association football team based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in North-East England. They play in the Premier League and are one of the most successful clubs in English football, having won six First Division titles and two FA Cups. They moved to the Stadium of Light in 1997 after 99 years at Roker Park. The Sunderland fans were recently voted the loudest in the Premier League following a survey which was carried out at every ground in the league.

Before the Second World War, Sunderland were league champions six times - in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and most recently in 1936, when they became the last team wearing striped shirts to win the league. They were elected into the football league in 1890, becoming the first team to join after the league's birth in 1888. Sunderland stayed in the top flight until 1958, a record which only Arsenal have bettered since, in 1992. The club won their first FA Cup in 1937 with a 3-1 victory over Preston North End.

Sunderland's major triumph post World War II was the club's second FA Cup victory in 1973, when the club secured a 1-0 victory over Leeds United thanks to an Ian Porterfield goal and a terrific double save from Jimmy Montgomery (who has the record number of appearances for Sunderland).