How to Use SAFC Stats
SAFC Stats is an independent archive of Sunderland AFC history — every season, match, player, manager and ground we can document, plus tools to explore it, games to play and a community of supporters. Here's what's here and how to use it. Use the menus at the top of any page to reach these sections, or the search box to jump straight to a player, match or season. You can browse everything without an account; signing in unlocks your journey, votes and the community.
Getting around
Search & Ask
The search box at the top of every page finds players, matches, seasons, opponents, stadiums and managers — start typing a name and pick a result. It also answers questions: type something like “top scorer in 1998-99” or “who played with Kevin Phillips and Julio Arca” and it works out the answer from the data. You can also visit the Ask page directly.
The top menus
Features are grouped into menus across the top of every page, plus your account and notifications when signed in. Everything below lives under one of these.
Surprise me
Not sure where to start? The random page sends you to a random match, player or season to explore.
Matches
Seasons & Results
Browse every season in the club's history. Open a season to see its results grouped by competition with opponent crests, the final table position, and tools to log the games you attended.
A match page
Each match shows the score and both line-ups drawn on a formation pitch — players in their real positions with shirt numbers and faces, tap any player for their profile. Where we don't hold formation data the XI is listed in order instead, clearly labelled. Below that: goalscorers, the manager, competition, venue and referee (all clickable), a Shots breakdown (on-target, in/outside the box, xG where held), the league table as it stood, your position before and after, fan reactions and memories.
Matchday & the next game
The next fixture, recent results and what's coming up. Pick the side you'd put out for the next match, and follow the link to a full opposition preview.
Opposition previews
Every upcoming opponent gets a preview page: recent form for both sides, league positions, the full head-to-head record and past meetings. Reach it from the “Full match preview” link on Matchday.
Head-to-Head
Pick any opponent to see Sunderland's full record against them — played, won, drawn, lost, goals and every meeting, with the margin of victory charted over time.
Most Loved Matches
Matches ranked by how fans reacted to them — most loved, most thrilling and most heartbreaking. React to any match with a heart, flame or tear and it feeds these rankings.
Match Collections
Curated sets of games: biggest wins, comebacks, derbies and goal-fests.
This Day in History
Which matches were played on today's date down the years — or pick any date to see what happened.
Upset Index
Matches ranked by how unlikely the result was, using historical betting odds where we have them.
Players & managers
All Players
The full directory of Sunderland players we hold, searchable and filterable by position. Click a name for their profile.
A player profile
Career appearances and goals, season-by-season records including real minutes played where held, the matches they played and scored in (with opponent crests), and a Connected Information panel showing their top teammates, managers, most-faced opponents, most-played grounds and key matches — every one clickable. You can download a player's record as a CSV (free account required).
Current Squad
The present-day first-team squad.
Compare Players
Put two players side by side. The page can be shared with both pre-loaded.
Records & Hall of Fame
All-time leaders for goals, appearances and more, with the year ranges each record covers. Downloadable as CSV.
Division Top Scorers
The leading scorers across Sunderland's division each season, with Sunderland's players highlighted — see how the club's forwards ranked among every scorer in the league.
Transfers
Players coming in and going out, by window.
Managers
Every Sunderland manager with their record and analytics in one place — win rate, points per game, best results, players managed, formations used and their full managerial career at other clubs.
Referees
Every referee who has officiated a Sunderland match on record, and the club's win-draw-loss record under each. Referee names on match pages link through.
Club & analytics
Analytics
The analytics hub, including a Build-Your-Own tool: choose a dimension (season, opponent, ground, competition…), a measure (wins, points per game, goals, average attendance…) and filters, then see it as a chart or table. Every measure shows how complete the underlying data is.
Explore Connections
Ask questions of the data: find every player who played with a chosen player, under a chosen manager, between two years, or against a particular opponent. Combine any of these. Coverage is richest from 2010 onwards.
Discoveries
Facts and records surfaced automatically from 145 years of data — win rates, unbeaten runs, prolific partnerships, debut goals and more. A fresh one features on the homepage each day.
Articles
Long-form features, history and analysis. There's an RSS feed at /feed.xml if you like to subscribe.
Club History
The narrative story of the club through the decades.
Chairmen & Owners
The people who have owned and chaired the club through the years.
Sunderland DNA
The identity of the club expressed through its data.
Club Strength & Division History
The club's Elo strength through the decades and its rise and fall through the divisions, in one place with tabs for each view.
Kit Archive
Shirts down the years.
Fan Legends Table
The players fans rate most highly.
Grounds
Explore the Stadiums
Every ground Sunderland have played at, explorable by date.
Our Grounds (history)
The home grounds the club has used since 1879 — Blue House Field through to the Stadium of Light — shown on an interactive map tracing each move.
Away Days
A map of opponents' grounds with your record there, the distance from the Stadium of Light, and a Stadium Passport to tick off the grounds you've visited.
Play & take part
The Play hub
The home for all the games: the daily challenge, the quiz, and the tactics board, in one place.
Mystery Mackem
A daily guess-the-player game. You get eight guesses; each one tells you how close you are on debut era, position, appearances, goals and nationality with colour clues. Solve it and share your result as an emoji grid. A new player every day.
Sunderland IQ
A quiz to test your knowledge, with streaks for playing daily.
Greatest XI
Build your all-time Sunderland eleven.
Pick This Week's Team
Choose the side you'd put out, drawn on a proper formation pitch. Switch formation, tap a slot to pick a player, toggle faces on or off, and share your XI with a link that loads your exact team.
Tactics Board
A free-form board: drag players anywhere, give each a role, set separate with-ball and without-ball shapes, draw runs, then save and share.
Community Tactics
The boards other fans have built and shared — browse the most viewed and the newest, and open any one to see the shape.
Fan Leaderboard
A ranking of the most active supporters. Earn points by visiting grounds, marking matches you attended, writing memories, tagging your first and favourite games, rating players and predicting scores. The page explains exactly how points are awarded.
Your account & the community
Signing in
Create an account with email or a social login. Signing in lets you log your journey, vote, react, post comments, follow other fans, send messages and download data.
Your profile & themes
On the My Account page you can write a short bio, set your profile public or private, choose a site theme (SAFC classic, iOS, Dark, Roker or Mackem), and share your Sunderland Journey as a branded card.
Logging your journey
Mark matches you attended, tag your first and favourite games, tick off grounds in the Stadium Passport, and write memories. These feed your profile, the leaderboard and your personal stats — including how your attendances rank against other fans.
Reactions
React to matches, memories, comments and tactics with a heart, flame or tear. Match reactions feed the Most Loved Matches rankings.
Predictions & votes
Predict scores for upcoming fixtures and vote on the fans' XI from Matchday. Predictions are graded when the result comes in and build a streak.
Other fans' profiles
Click a supporter's name anywhere (for example on a comment) to view their public profile — their bio, their Sunderland journey, and their followers.
Following
On another supporter's profile, tap Follow to keep up with them. They'll be notified, and you'll see who you follow and who follows you.
Messages
Send another supporter a direct message from their profile or the Messages page.
Notifications
When signed in, the bell at the top of the page shows new messages, new followers and site updates.
Comments
Most pages let you leave comments. Be respectful — comments are moderated.
A note on accuracy
SAFC Stats is built from public records and is being completed over time. Match detail like line-ups, formations, goalscorers and shots is richest from 2010 onwards; older eras may show results without full detail. Where a figure depends on data we don't yet hold, the site says so rather than guessing — you'll see “—” or a note instead of an estimate. If you spot something wrong, please get in touch.
This is an independent supporters' project and is not affiliated with Sunderland AFC.