Sunderland AFC began life two years earlier as Sunderland and District Teachers AFC, to provide the areas teachers with a football club aimed exclusively for them. It was 1881 when the club changed its name to Sunderland AFC and allowed non-teachers to join. They played for much of this era in an all blue strip, before switching to their traditional red and white stripes in 1887. They were, at the time, one of England’s strongest teams, and were described by William McGregor, the founder of the English FA, as “the team of all talents” with “a talented man in every position”. Initially, Sunderland only played in local competitions and the FA Cup, as well as friendlies with Football League clubs. On the 29th of April 1889, the managed to beat league champions, and one of the most powerful clubs in Victorian England, Preston North End. Their popularity grew throughout the north-east, and Sunderland elected to apply for admission into the Football League, and became champions in only their second season, beating Preston to the title by 5 points. The were crowned champions again the following season, this time by 11 clear points. They came close to a third title in 1894, but came runners-up to Aston Villa. Battles between the two clubs became the subject of a painting by Thomas Hemy depicting the clubs during the 1895 season, which today is on display at the Stadium of Light. That year, they played Scotland’s Hearts of Midlothian in a match that someone had the good marketing sense to title “Championship of the World title match”. Sunderland won and were named “Champions of the World”. Sunderland also took out the league title in 1895, and again in 1902.

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Achievements: English First Division – Champions: x4

                         Football World Championship: x1

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Star player: Alf Common dob 25 May 1880 pob, Sunderland, England nickname: The First £1000 Footballer

Alf Common plied his trade with other clubs around the north-east of England before signing with Sunderland in 1900. With Common on board, the Black Cats finished the 1900/01 season as runners-up before Common was transferred to Sheffield United for £325. This may not seem like such a great deal for a player of Common’s quality, but Sunderland didn’t have much cause for regret because they still became Division 1 champions in 1901/02 without him. After scoring in the 1902 FA Cup final against Southampton, Common became a regular in the Sheffield United lineup and in 1904 he made his first of three appearances for England. Sheffield were keen to keep the player but he expressed the desire to return to Sunderland where he stated he had “business interests.” United couldn’t change his mind, and that year he returned to the Black Cats. But Common wouldn’t stay at Sunderland for long. Middlesbourough were fighting to avoid relegation and in desperation they offered a whopping £1,000 for Common’s services – then a world record transfer fee. As the first £1,000 footballer, Common made his Middlesbourough debut in 1905 at the ground of his former club Sheffield United. He scored from the penalty spot to give Middlesbourough their first away win in almost two years, and as a result, they survived the drop. Common went on to make 168 appearances and score 58 goals for the club. In 1910, he signed with Woolwich Arsenal making his debut for them against Manchester United. He had a successful first season with the Gunners, but he failed to score a single goal in the first half of the 1912/13 season so he was palmed off to Preston North End. He helped them win promotion, but they went straight back down again the following season. After retiring from football, Common ran several pubs in Darlington until 1943. He died in 1946. In 1998, Common was selected as one of the Football League's 100 Legends.