Above is an account of the original research that revealed the 1880 SAFC founding fate of 25 September 1880. Please click on the images to expand and read.
On 25 September 2025 Sunderland AFC was 145 years old.
We now know of course that the football club was not formed in 1879, we have known this for a long time, and there has been no further response from Sunderland AFC regarding this fact.
We know that SAFC contend that the football club was formed/founded (?) in 1879, although no evidence has ever been produced to prove this, in the 14 years since the British Newspaper Archive came online. In fact no one has ever found any evidence for an 1879 foundation or formation, despite this fairly large passage of time.
If SAFCs stance is that James Allan and his founding friends were kicking a ball around Hendon Board School (the school that James Allan, the football clubs founder, taught at) or around the fields of Sunderland in 1879 and that this constitutes forming or founding a football club then we have 5 issues with this stance:
- To imply that kicking a ball around a school field, yard or the fields of Sunderland constitutes “founding or forming a football club” seems very tenuous;
- There is no evidence that anyone WAS kicking a ball around such as this in 1879;
- In researching for my book “Founding Fathers; The Men Who Made Sunderland AFC” (volumes 1 and 2) I was given research material by an elderly SAFC fan from Durham. That gentlemen contended that he had viewed the contents of the Hendon Board School diary, we believe it is currently held at Newcastle Central Library, and there was no mention of football in that diary for 1879,
- Who were they playing? We are aware that in 1880, following the founding of the football club at Rectory Park School on 25 September 1880, the reason that Sunderland & District Teachers Association FC changed the football clubs name to Sunderland AFC, was because they could not muster enough teachers to field a team of 11, and
- Why was there no mention of this in the Sunderland Echo? James Allan and his friends would be the first people playing the Association game in the then town, something worthy of note.
Therefore that stance does not appear to stack up.
The evidence for 25 September 1880 is clear enough and we assume that no one is quibbling with the prima facie evidence. We seem to be quibbling with semantics here ie what is the difference between “formed” and “founded”. Either way we cannot really fathom the football clubs argument, and if we are right in our assertion of their stance, the above 5 statements also appear clear and valid enough to negate that stance.
However and ultimately it is up to Sunderland AFC to decide when they were formed and what is really at stake here is credibility. If you have no proof of something then how can you make a case for your stance when there is overwhelming evidence to prove otherwise?
Remember that this is not about provoking an argument – this is about historical accuracy. For example I’m sure that every Sunderland supporter will want to celebrate our 150th anniversary in the correct year.
Historical Update – Club Strip For 1884/85
In reviewing our research for the 145th anniversary we have noted another SAFC historical first.
It was always contended that Sunderland AFC’s original strip was all blue. However in reviewing a scan of the clubs season card for the 1884/85 season we note that the colours of the club strip are actually given.
The clubs strip, it turns out – certainly for the 1884/85 season – was not all blue but a blue top and blue shorts with cardinal red socks.
Another piece of the SAFC historical jigsaw clarified and proven.
