1995–96 Sunderland A.F.C. season

Sunderland
1995–96 season
Chairman	Bob Murray
Manager	Peter Reid
Stadium	Roker Park
First Division	1st
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Craig Russell (13); All: Craig Russell (14)
Highest home attendance	22,027 vs. West Bromwich Albion (27 April 1996)
Lowest home attendance	12,282 vs. Portsmouth (12 September 1995)
Average home league attendance	17,482
	← 1994–95 1996–97 →

During the 1995–96 English football season, Sunderland A.F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

After saving Sunderland from relegation the season before, Peter Reid was appointed manager on a permanent basis. His first full season as Sunderland manager, 1995–96, was successful as the club won the First Division title and gained promotion to the Premier League for the first time since the League restructuring which had taken effect in 1992–93.^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sunderland (C, P)	46	22	17	7	59	33	+26	83	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Derby County (P)	46	21	16	9	71	51	+20	79	Promotion to the Premier League
3	Crystal Palace	46	20	15	11	67	48	+19	75	Qualification for the First Division play-offs
4	Stoke City	46	20	13	13	60	49	+11	73
5	Leicester City (O, P)	46	19	14	13	66	60	+6	71

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Sunderland's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12 August 1995	Leicester City	H	1–2	18,593	Agnew
19 August 1995	Norwich City	A	0–0	16,739
26 August 1995	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–0	16,816	Melville, P Gray
30 August 1995	Port Vale	A	1–1	7,693	P Gray
2 September 1995	Ipswich Town	A	0–3	12,390
9 September 1995	Southend United	H	1–0	13,805	Russell
12 September 1995	Portsmouth	H	1–1	12,282	Melville
16 September 1995	Luton Town	A	2–0	6,955	Mullin, P Gray
23 September 1995	Millwall	A	2–1	8,691	Scott (pen), Smith
30 September 1995	Reading	H	2–2	17,503	Kelly, Melville
7 October 1995	Crystal Palace	A	1–0	13,754	Kelly
14 October 1995	Watford	H	1–1	17,790	Scott
21 October 1995	Huddersfield Town	A	1–1	16,054	P Gray
28 October 1995	Barnsley	H	2–1	17,024	Russell, Howey
5 November 1995	Charlton Athletic	A	1–1	11,626	M Gray
18 November 1995	Sheffield United	H	2–0	16,640	P Gray (2)
22 November 1995	Stoke City	A	0–1	11,754
25 November 1995	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–0	15,931	Howey
3 December 1995	Crystal Palace	H	1–0	12,777	Scott (pen)
9 December 1995	Millwall	H	6–0	18,951	Russell (4), Scott (pen), P Gray
16 December 1995	Reading	A	1–1	9,431	Smith
23 December 1995	Derby County	A	1–3	16,882	M Gray
14 January 1996	Norwich City	H	0–1	14,983
21 January 1996	Leicester City	A	0–0	16,130
24 January 1996	Grimsby Town	H	1–0	14,656	Ord
30 January 1996	Tranmere Rovers	H	0–0	17,616
3 February 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–3	26,537
10 February 1996	Port Vale	H	0–0	15,934
17 February 1996	Portsmouth	A	2–2	12,241	Howey, Agnew
20 February 1996	Ipswich Town	H	1–0	14,052	Russell
24 February 1996	Luton Town	H	1–0	16,693	James (own goal)
27 February 1996	Southend United	A	2–0	5,786	Scott (pen), Bridges
3 March 1996	Grimsby Town	A	4–0	5,318	Ball, P Gray, Bridges, Russell
9 March 1996	Derby County	H	3–0	21,644	Russell (2), Agnew
12 March 1996	Oldham Athletic	A	2–1	7,149	Ball, M Gray
17 March 1996	Birmingham City	A	2–0	23,251	Agnew, Melville
23 March 1996	Oldham Athletic	H	1–0	20,631	Scott
30 March 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	3–2	20,131	Bridges (2), Ball
2 April 1996	Watford	A	3–3	11,195	Russell, Agnew, Ball
6 April 1996	Barnsley	A	1–0	13,189	Russell
8 April 1996	Charlton Athletic	H	0–0	20,914
13 April 1996	Sheffield United	A	0–0	20,050
16 April 1996	Birmingham City	H	3–0	19,831	M Gray, Stewart, Russell
21 April 1996	Stoke City	H	0–0	21,276
27 April 1996	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–0	22,027
5 May 1996	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–2	16,193

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	6 January 1996	Manchester United	A	2–2	41,563	Russell, Agnew
R3R	16 January 1996	Manchester United	H	1–2	21,378	P Gray

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 First Leg	15 August 1995	Preston North End	A	1–1	6,323	Angell
R1 Second Leg	22 August 1995	Preston North End	H	3–2	7,407	Howey (2), Ryan Kidd (own goal)
R2 First Leg	20 September 1995	Liverpool	A	0–2	25,579
R2 Second Leg	4 October 1995	Liverpool	H	0–1	20,560

Players

First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Alec Chamberlain
—	GK	ENG	David Preece
—	GK	IRL	Shay Given (on loan from Blackburn Rovers)
—	DF	ENG	Gary Bennett
—	DF	ENG	Michael Gray
—	DF	ENG	Paul Heckingbottom
—	DF	ENG	Darren Holloway
—	DF	ENG	Lee Howey
—	DF	ENG	Richard Ord
—	DF	ENG	Martin Scott
—	DF	WAL	Gareth Hall^{[notes 1]}
—	DF	WAL	Andy Melville
—	DF	POL	Dariusz Kubicki
—	MF	ENG	Steve Agnew
—	MF	ENG	Sam Aiston
—	MF	ENG	Gordon Armstrong


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Brian Atkinson
—	MF	ENG	Kevin Ball
—	MF	ENG	Paul Bracewell
—	MF	ENG	Terry Cooke (on loan from Manchester United)
—	MF	ENG	Martin Gray
—	MF	ENG	John Mullin
—	FW	ENG	Brett Angell
—	FW	ENG	Michael Bridges
—	FW	ENG	Steve Brodie
—	FW	ENG	Craig Russell
—	FW	ENG	Martin Smith
—	FW	ENG	Paul Stewart
—	FW	NIR	Phil Gray
—	FW	IRL	Stephen Grant
—	FW	IRL	David Kelly^{[notes 2]}

References

^ Dougray, John (17 April 1996). "Promotion in Sunderland sights". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2011.

Notes

^ Hall was born in Croydon, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in March 1988.
^ Kelly was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his father and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in November 1987.