Portal:English football/Selected article/1

Sunderland Association Football Club is a professional football club, based at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, Wearside, in Northeast England. 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 Premiership 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, playing there for an impressive 58 seasons, but since their first relegation, they were outside the top flight than in it, appearing in only 29 out of 66 seasons. Only Arsenal, Liverpool, and Everton have lasted longer in the top tier. Nevertheless, they have played a decent amount of top flight seasons, appearing there on 87 occasions. The club won two FA Cups as well, winning the 1937 final over Preston North End 3-1, and most famously, defeated Leeds 1-0 in the 1973 final as a Second Division team.

Traditionally, Sunderland's two main rivals have been the Tyneside club Newcastle United and Teeside club Middlesbrough. Although both are generally geographically close, Newcastle are considered their main rivals.