1937 FA Cup final

Sunderland 3 Preston North End 1

Sunderland’s maiden appearance in the FA Cup final came in 1913 as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa, but the game was staged at Crystal Palace rather than Wembley.

As a result, the club’s first outing at the national stadium came 24 years later, in 1937, and resulted in the first of their two FA cup successes.

Having won the First Division title the previous season, Sunderland lived up to their status as one of the FA Cup favourites as they beat Millwall in the last four to make the final.

However, they were up against it in the early stages at Wembley, with Preston dominating the opening stages and claiming a deserved lead as Frank O’Donnell drilled a low shot past Sunderland goalkeeper Johnny Mapson.

Only two sides had ever come from behind to win a Wembley final, but Sunderland’s recovery began at the start of the second half. With their wing-halves Charlie Thomson and Sandy McNab pushing forward, the Wearsiders levelled through Bobby Gurney.

Raich Carter was Sunderland’s talismanic skipper, and the England inside-right turned the game in his side’s direction when he fired home with 20 minutes left.

Sunderland made their win safe in the closing stages, with Eddie Burbanks claiming a third goal from an acute angle.

All 11 members of Sunderland’s victorious side have now died, with the final survivor, Mapson, passing on at the age of 82 in 1999.

Sunderland: Mapson, Gorman, Hall, Thomson, Johnston, McNab, Duns, Carter, Gurney, Gallacher, Burbanks.

1973 FA Cup final

Sunderland 1 Leeds United 0

Thirty-six years after their first FA Cup final appearance, Sunderland returned to Wembley to participate in a game that is still remembered as one of the most remarkable in the competition’s history.

Bob Stokoe’s Second Division side were regarded as complete no-hopers as they took on the all-conquering Leeds United, but roared on by a travelling army from Wearside, the outsiders ripped up the script.

Sunderland’s players were inspired from the outset, hassling and harrying their illustrious opponents to successfully knock them from their stride.

Their commitment was rewarded shortly after the half-hour mark, when they scored what would prove the only goal of the game. Vic Halom chested down a corner from Billy Hughes, and assisted by a deflection of Dave Watson, the ball looped invitingly for Ian Porterfield to fire home from 12 yards.

The goal has gone down in Wearside folklore, but the most memorable moment of the game came midway through the second half.

Jimmy Montgomery’s remarkable double save from Trevor Cherry and Peter Lorimer is one of the great pieces of FA Cup history, and to this day, the Sunderland goalkeeper admits he does not really know how he kept the ball out.

Leeds tried to mount a late surge, but Sunderland’s defence held firm and Bobby Kerr was able to claim the famous Wembley steps to hoist the FA Cup trophy above his head.

Sunderland were the first FA Cup winners from outside the top-flight for 42 years, and 500,000 people lined the streets as the victorious squad toured from Carville to Roker Park on an open-top bus to celebrate their triumph.

Sunderland: Montgomery, Malone, Guthrie, Horswill, Watson, Pitt, Kerr, Hughes, Halom, Porterfield, Tueart.

1985 Milk Cup final

Norwich City 1 Sunderland 0

Sunderland’s maiden appearance in the League Cup final was the culmination of a run that saw them claim notable victories over Tottenham and Chelsea, and pitted them against fellow First Division strugglers Norwich City.

Sunderland boss Len Ashurst sprung a surprise with his line-up for the final, selecting Ian Wallace ahead of Colin West even though the latter had scored repeatedly in the earlier rounds of the competition.

The Wearsiders began brightly, with David Hodgson going close from 30 yards within the opening minute, and were unfortunate when Clive Walker was felled by Dennis van Wijk as he broke clear in the Norwich half shortly before half-time.

Had the incident occurred today, van Wijk would almost certainly have been sent off, but the Norwich full-back remained on the field and the Canaries gained control of the game in the second half.

They scored the only goal of the game in the 47th minute, with Sunderland centre-half David Corner erring badly as he tried to usher the ball out for a goal-kick.

John Deehan robbed him of possession, and Asa Hartford found the net via a hefty deflection off an unfortunate Gordon Chisholm.

Sunderland were handed a golden chance to equalise when van Wijk handled Barry Venison’s cross, but Walker’s penalty struck the outside of the post.

Norwich held on to win, but both sides went on to suffer a disappointing end to the season that saw them both drop out of the top-flight.

Sunderland: Turner, Venison, Pickering, Bennett, Chisholm, Corner (Gayle), Daniel, Wallace, Hodgson, Berry, Walker.

1990 Second Division Play-off final

Swindon Town 1 Sunderland 0

In many ways, Sunderland’s Wembley appearance against Swindon Town in 1990’s play-off final is the club’s forgotten outing at the national stadium.

Denis Smith’s side booked their place in the final by beating bitter rivals Newcastle United in a two-legged semi-final, having finished level on points with Swindon during the conventional season.

A largely unremarkable final was settled by the early goal of the game in the first half, with Alan McLoughlin’s shot finding the net via a huge deflection off Gary Bennett.

Sunderland tried to fashion an equaliser in the second half, but despite the presence of Eric Gates and Marco Gabbiadini in attack, were unable to seriously threaten Swindon goalkeeper Fraser Digby.

However, while the final whistle appeared to condemn Sunderland to another season in the second tier, the drama was only just beginning.

Swindon had been charged with 36 breaches of Football League regulations, 35 of which related to the illegal payment of players, and while a Football League hearing was deferred until the after the play-off final, they were found guilty at the start of June.

As part of their punishment, the league decided they would be denied promotion, and would instead to be relegated to the Third Division.

Newcastle argued they should have been promoted as they finished third in the table, but the league awarded the promotion spot to Sunderland as a reward for their place in the play-off final.

Sunderland: Norman, Kay, Agboola, Bennett, MacPhail, Owers, Bracewell, Armstrong, Gates (Hauser), Gabbiadini, Pascoe (Atkinson).

1992 FA Cup final

Liverpool 2 Sunderland 0

Sunderland’s most recent FA Cup final appearance saw them take on Liverpool in the final despite being in the Second Division.

The game looked a mismatch on paper, with Liverpool boasting the likes of Ian Rush, Dean Saunders and Steve McManaman in their starting line-up, but Sunderland were the better side for much of the first half.

They should really have scored before the interval, but John Byrne scuffed his attempted shot when presented with a volley six yards out. It was to be the Wearsiders’ best chance of seizing control of the game.

Liverpool opened the scoring two minutes into the second half, with Michael Thomas firing home after acrobatic half-volley after McManaman crossed from the flank.

Thomas was also involved in his side’s second goal 20 minutes later, breaking into the box to help set up Rush for an angled finish.

Ray Houghton almost added a third goal as he tried to lob Tony Norman from 40 yards, and Malcolm Crosby’s Sunderland side never really looked like getting themselves back into the game.

Merely getting to the final was a considerable achievement for the Wearsiders, who finished the Second Division season in 18th position after flirting with relegation for much of the campaign.

Their Wembley line-up is notable as it was the last time a team named an FA Cup starting XI comprised solely of British players.

Sunderland: Norman, Owers, Ball, Bennett, Rogan, Rush (Hardyman), Bracewell, Davenport, Armstrong (Hawke), Byrne, Atkinson.

1998 First Division Play-Off final

Charlton Athletic 4 Sunderland 4 (Charlton won 7-6 on penalties)

To this day, Sunderland’s only appearance in a Wembley play-off final is remembered as one of the most remarkable games ever staged at the national stadium.

Charlton claimed the lead midway through the first half thanks to a great solo effort from boyhood Sunderland fan Clive Mendonca, who would go on to claim a hat-trick, but the Wearsiders levelled at the start of the second half as Niall Quinn headed home Nicky Summerbee’s corner.

Kevin Phillips prodded Peter Reid’s side into the lead after breaking clear of the Charlton defence, but Mendonca levelled for the Addicks as he swept a low finish past Lionel Perez.

The game was ebbing and flowing dramatically, and Sunderland reclaimed the lead within seconds as Quinn controlled Lee Clark’s cross on his chest before hammering home.

Daniel Dichio spurned a great chance to settle things, and his miss proved costly as Perez’s ill-advised attempt to claim a corner enabled Richard Rufus to head home.

That took the game into extra-time, and just eight additional minutes had elapsed when Summerbee received possession from Quinn and drove past Sasa Ilic.

Once again, though, Sunderland were unable to hold on, and Mendonca sent the final to penalties when he claimed his hat-trick by converting Keith Jones’ cross.

The shoot-out was every bit as dramatic as the rest of the game, with the first 13 spot-kicks all being converted. Michael Gray stepped up to try to keep Sunderland alive, but his weak effort was saved by Ilic.

Sunderland: Perez, Holloway (Makin), Craddock, Williams, Gray, Summerbee, Clark (Rae), Ball, Johnston, Quinn, Phillips (Dichio).

2014 Capital One Cup final

Manchester City 3 Sunderland 1

Sunderland’s only appearance at the new Wembley came just over five years ago, and saw them go down to Manchester City in the League Cup final.

Gus Poyet’s side booked their Wembley spot with a penalty shoot-out win over Manchester United in the last four, and while they went into the final as underdogs, they could not have wished for a better start.

Just ten minutes had elapsed when Adam Johnson’s through ball released Fabio Borini into the area, and the Italian beat Costel Pantilimon with a fierce low strike.

Borini almost scored again before the interval, only for Vincent Kompany’s last-ditch challenge to prevent him getting a shot away, but Manchester City levelled at the start of the second half.

Yaya Toure curled home from distance, and the game immediately swung decisively in City’s direction.

Less than 60 seconds later, and Manuel Pellegrini’s side were claiming the lead as Samir Nasri fired home after Aleksandar Kolorov’s cross was deflected into his path.

City made the game safe in the dying seconds, with Jesus Navas scoring to round off a flowing counter-attacking move.

At the time of the final, Sunderland were floundering in the relegation zone, but their Wembley appearance helped spark one of their remarkable ‘Great Escapes’.

Sunderland: Mannone, Bardsley, Brown, O’Shea, Alonso, Larsson (Gardner), Cattermole (Giaccherini), Ki, Johnson (Fletcher), Colback, Borini.