Records & Hall of Fame

all-time

Every Sunderland AFC all-time record in one place — the club's leading scorers, its most-capped servants and the record holders since 1879. Bobby Gurney is the all-time top scorer with 228 goals, and Jim Montgomery leads the appearance charts with 627. All-time totals draw on full career figures (Wikipedia and club records); the age and fastest-goal records come from our match-by-match data (2010–present).

All-time leading scorers

#1Bobby GurneyForward · United Kingdom228goals
#2Charlie BuchanForward · United Kingdom222goals
#3Dave HallidayForward · United Kingdom · 22 apps165goals
#4George HolleyForward · United Kingdom159goals
#5Kevin PhillipsForward · United Kingdom · 235 apps130goals
#6Trevor FordForward · United Kingdom · 152 apps · 0.63/game96goals
#7Jimmy GemmellForward · United Kingdom · 454 apps · 0.2/game92goals
#8Patrick GallacherForward · United Kingdom · 294 apps · 0.31/game90goals
#9Marco GabbiadiniForward · United Kingdom · 185 apps · 0.47/game87goals
#10Arthur BridgettForward · United Kingdom · 294 apps · 0.29/game84goals
#11Niall QuinnForward · Ireland · 218 apps · 0.31/game67goals
#12Harry LowForward · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland · 364 apps · 0.18/game64goals
#13Len ShackletonForward · United Kingdom · 290 apps · 0.21/game62goals
#14Billy BinghamForward · United Kingdom · 294 apps · 0.2/game60goals
#15Brian CloughForward · United Kingdom · 62 apps · 0.94/game58goals
#16Benny YorstonForward · United Kingdom · 98 apps · 0.51/game50goals
#17Ross Cameron StewartForward · Scotland · 75 apps · 0.52/game39goals
#18Dennis TueartMidfielder · United Kingdom · 126 apps · 0.3/game38goals
#19Jermain DefoeForward · United Kingdom · 100 apps · 0.37/game37goals
#20Darren BentForward · United Kingdom · 63 apps · 0.57/game36goals
#21Charles Thomas WykeForward · England · 99 apps · 0.35/game35goals
#22Bill RobinsonForward · United Kingdom · 50 apps · 0.62/game31goals
#23David WatsonDefender · United Kingdom · 208 apps · 0.14/game30goals
#24Colin WestForward · United Kingdom · 156 apps · 0.19/game30goals
#25Julio ArcaMidfielder · Argentina · 270 apps · 0.1/game28goals
#26Kenwyne JonesForward · Trinidad and Tobago · 101 apps · 0.28/game28goals
#27Jack ClarkeForward · England · 109 apps · 0.24/game26goals
#28Alf CommonForward · United Kingdom · 80 apps · 0.33/game26goals
#29Gary BennettDefender · United Kingdom · 443 apps25goals
#30Lynden GoochMidfielder · United States · 247 apps · 0.1/game25goals
#31Sam RaybouldForward · United Kingdom · 56 apps · 0.43/game24goals
#32Steven FletcherForward · United Kingdom · 108 apps · 0.21/game23goals
#33Chris MaguireForward · Scotland · 105 apps · 0.22/game23goals
#34Stephen ElliottForward · Ireland · 88 apps · 0.26/game23goals
#35Adam JohnsonForward · United Kingdom · 141 apps · 0.16/game22goals
#36Luke O'NienMidfielder · England · 290 apps · 0.07/game21goals
#37Thomas HauserForward · Germany · 129 apps · 0.16/game21goals
#38Tommy HyslopForward · United Kingdom · 38 apps · 0.53/game20goals
#39Wilson IsidorForward · France · 78 apps · 0.24/game19goals
#40Grant LeadbitterMidfielder · United Kingdom · 210 apps · 0.09/game18goals
#41Aiden McGeadyForward · United Kingdom · 79 apps · 0.23/game18goals
#42Adam McLeanForward · United Kingdom · 58 apps · 0.31/game18goals
#43Josh MajaForward · United Kingdom · 52 apps · 0.35/game18goals
#44Walter WatkinsForward · United Kingdom · 32 apps · 0.56/game18goals
#45Fabio BoriniForward · Italy · 93 apps · 0.18/game17goals
#46Stéphane SessègnonForward · Benin · 87 apps · 0.2/game17goals
#47Colin GraingerForward · United Kingdom · 162 apps · 0.1/game16goals
#48Lee ClarkMidfielder · United Kingdom · 85 apps · 0.19/game16goals
#49Kieran RichardsonForward · United Kingdom · 149 apps · 0.1/game15goals
#50George HoneymanMidfielder · United Kingdom · 97 apps · 0.15/game15goals

Built from our records: curated career totals where held, otherwise per-season and match data. Pre-2010 match-event detail is sparser, so some modern players rank on match data while older greats rank on career totals.

League scoring charts (2010–present)

2024–25

#5W. Isidor · Championship13 goals

2023–24

#10J. Clarke · Championship15 goals

2022–23

#10A. Diallo · Championship14 goals

2021–22

#2R. Stewart · League One26 goals

2020–21

#2C. Wyke · League One26 goals

2019–20

#20L. Gooch · League One10 goals

2018–19

#15J. Maja · League One15 goals

2017–18

#16L. Grabban · Championship12 goals

2016–17

#12J. Defoe · Premier League15 goals

2015–16

#8J. Defoe · Premier League15 goals

2010–11

#16A. Gyan · Premier League10 goals

Most Appearances

#1Jim Montgomery627 apps#2Charlie Hurley402 apps#3Ned Doig457 apps#4Stan Anderson447 apps#5Gary Bennett443 apps#6Bobby Kerr433 apps#7Len Ashurst458 apps

Most Internationally Capped

#1Charlie Hurley · (Republic of Ireland)38 caps#2Martin Harvey · (Northern Ireland)32 caps#3Stéphane Sessègnon · (Benin)30 caps#4Niall Quinn · (Republic of Ireland)30 caps#5Jordan Pickford · (England)29 caps#6Lee Cattermole · (England U21)16 caps#7Jim McNab · (Scotland)4 caps#8Stelios Giannakopoulos · (Greece)

Club Records

Youngest first-team playerDerek Forster — 15 years 185 days (v Leicester City, 22 Aug 1964)
Oldest first-team playerJermain Defoe — 39 years 163 days (v Lincoln City, 19 Mar 2022)
Most hat-tricksDave Halliday — 12 (11 league, 1 cup)
Most league goals in a season109 — 1935-36 (First Division, 42 games)
Most points in a season (3pts/win)105 — 1998-99 (First Division, 46 games)
Record league win9-1 v Newcastle United, 5 Dec 1908
Record FA Cup win11-1 v Fairfield, 2 Feb 1895
Record League Cup win7-0 v Cambridge United, 1 Oct 2002
Record league defeat0-8 (v Sheffield Wednesday 1911, West Ham 1968, Watford 1982, Southampton 2014)
Highest attendance75,118 v Derby County, FA Cup, 8 Mar 1933 (Roker Park)
Highest league attendance68,004 v Newcastle United, 4 Mar 1950 (Roker Park)
First league matchSunderland 2-3 Burnley, 13 Sep 1890
Longest-serving managerBob Kyle — 817 matches (1905-1928)

Drawn from our match-by-match data (2010–present).

Youngest Debutants

#1Chris Rigg · 202315y 197d#2Mason Cotcher · 202316y 125d#3Joseph Ryder · 202116y 134d#4Bali Mumba · 201816y 208d#5Ben Middlemas · 202116y 304d#6Matthew Young · 202316y 345d#7Dan Neil · 201917y 39d#8Adam Richardson · 202017y 64d#9Zak Johnson · 202117y 74d#10Joel Asoro · 201617y 108d

Oldest Scorers

#1John O'Shea · 201836y 334d#2Aiden McGeady · 202135y 230d#3Aiden McGeady · 202135y 205d#4Aiden McGeady · 202135y 167d#5Aiden McGeady · 202135y 125d#6Grant Leadbitter · 202135y 103d#7Grant Leadbitter · 202135y 44d#8Grant Leadbitter · 202135y 41d#9Danny Graham · 202035y 27d#10Grant Leadbitter · 202135y 23d

Fastest Goals

#1C. Wickham · vs Stoke City, 2014-151'#2Marc Graeme McNulty · vs Rotherham United, 2019-201'#3A. Johnson · vs Hull City, 2014-151'#4Jack Clarke · vs Southampton, 2023-241'#5George Honeyman · vs Port Vale, 2018-191'#6Dan Neil · vs Lincoln City, 2021-222'#7Jordan Willis · vs Oxford United, 2019-202'#8Luke O'Nien · vs Charlton Athletic, 2018-192'#9B. Wright · vs Wigan Athletic, 2021-222'#10Eliezer Mayenda · vs Cardiff City, 2024-252'

Most Injured

#1Jonny Evans · 914 days out42 spells#2Lamine Koné · 302 days out18 spells#3Wahbi Khazri · 313 days out16 spells#4Giovani Lo Celso · 393 days out13 spells#5Javier Manquillo · 408 days out12 spells#6Victor Anichebe · 386 days out11 spells#7Isco · 289 days out11 spells#8Adnan Januzaj · 258 days out11 spells#9Brian Brobbey · 109 days out10 spells#10Lee Cattermole · 740 days out9 spells#11Darron Gibson · 486 days out9 spells#12Jack Rodwell · 224 days out9 spells#13Nordi Mukiele · 116 days out9 spells#14Luis Ezequiel Ávila · 479 days out8 spells#15Jack Colback · 300 days out8 spells

Most Suspended

#1P. Djilobodji11 suspensions#2Jack Colback10 suspensions#3Lee Cattermole10 suspensions#4Glenn Loovens8 suspensions#5Laurens De Bock8 suspensions#6Sebastian Larsson6 suspensions#7Corry Evans6 suspensions#8Jonny Evans5 suspensions#9Marcos Angeleri5 suspensions#10Max Mcauley Power5 suspensions#11Stéphane Sessègnon4 suspensions#12Lamine Koné4 suspensions#13Steven Pienaar4 suspensions#14Tommy Smith3 suspensions#15Ola Toivonen3 suspensions

Career totals sourced from Wikipedia and club records. Match-by-match data (2010–present) also appears on individual player profiles.