Sunderland - Home, Falmer Years:
25/26 - Prem season15 . . 17/18-24/25 - no Prem meetings . 11/12-16/17 - no C'ship meetings . '11 EFL Cup.

Albion FY Amex record v Black Cats from 11/12 . . P1 W = 0 D = 1 L = 0 . W = 0%
Albion Prem previous encounters home & away: P1 W0 D1 L0 . W = 0% - see Clubs in Archive.

S'land manager: Regis le Bris (2024) . experience: Prem rookie with talent for coaching youngters.
ground: Stadium of Light 49k . nickname: Black Cats . shirt: red & white stripes.

Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 13 17 14 16 17 20 P, 24 C, 5 7 4 5 L1, 6 16 4 C 11 @ 13/3/26.
recent rel - '17 P, '18 C . p-os - '23 C, '19 '21 L1 . promo - '25 C, '22 L1.

Albion V Black Cats (H) from 17/18: - < - 0-0 . . P1 W = 0 D = 1 L = 0 . F0 A0 . W = 0%
scorers: tba

Season15, 9th Premier League (H) Sat 20/12/25 - 0-0
This was our ninth home game, coming on the weekend just prior to Xmas '25. We had not played here against Sunderland before in either the Prem or C'ship. In fact it was during opening weeks of the brand-spanking new Amex in August 2011 that we initially hosted them for an EFL Cup tie - see season1 report directly below. Since then fortunes had gone in opposite directions for both clubs. The reverse Prem fixture was in Mar '26 - see (A) scroll below. Black Cats finally returned to the Prem following their win in the '25 C'ship playoff final. Their start in the Prem Q1; w5 d4 l2 w = 50%. Now they had w7 d5 l4 w = 43.7%. Pre-season pundits considered opinion was S'land would finish 20th next May. They added 13 players for 152+m, plus an on loan to their squad in the summer window. Simon Adingra had joined them from BHA in July. Albion wanted to mark this inaugral Prem contest with a win Our opponents current away form; w2 d2 l4 w = 25%. At present BHA were 10th and S'land 8th. Now we had 23pt and they had 26pt. Our forecast was S'land would end with 61pts at current rate of progress - see yearly stats in scroll below. If so their boss Regis le Bris would have created memorable folklore on Teeside. Topical talking points: 1 - are Brighton a pukka top ten side? 2 - are Sunderland a club going to Europe?
*** report: one funny thing about Xmas period fixtures is that any sentimental attachment to merry festive anticipation & joy will be overcome by plain cold facts - win, lose or draw. Brighton fans already knew our ongoing record of zero wins under Hurzeler last term & now so far for this busy month of December required positive correction. Therefore to witness a goalless draw at the old community stadium today didn't exactly boost the mood for indulging in a pre-Xmas footy party at this juncture. Visitors gave a good account of themselves from early in the first half; set up to keep a clean sheet then attack with purpose when they had the ball. Meanwhile revamped hosts starting eleven appeared like a team of strangers actually getting used to one another - see teamsheet below. Indeed we were lucky to still be stalemated and not behind by the intermission. After halftime Hurzeler began to insert subs at further intervals and slowly began to regain some control in the game. Chances came & went and came again & went and came again... Three sides of a frustrated Amex began to stir into vocal support. More opportunities to score and break deadlock arrived as the clock ticked towards Xmas day. On the final whistle it was travelling support who were happier for taking a valuable point back to Teeside. Locals just wanted to get to a different place where food, drink & exciting entertainment was offered individually or collectively. We know each year nil-nil results happen at random. Just a yuletide pity it happened again here this weekend.
stats: ht 0-0, goals 0, poss 56%-44% on target 4-6, off target 12-8, corners 3-4, fouls 11-15, yellows 2-2, subs 5-3, shape 4231-4231
weather: dry . MoM: ?
team: 1 Verbruggen 27 Wieffer 42 Coppola 21 Boscagli 24 Kadioglu 26 Ayari 13 Hinshelwood 11 Minteh 8 Gruda 29 de Cuyper 10 Rutter (C)
subs:46 - 34 Veltman (27), 64 - 22 Mitoma (29), 71 - 19 Kostoulas (11), 20 Milner (13), 87 - 14 Watson (8)
bench: 23 Steele 49 Knight 54 Simmonds 58 Oriola
squad: 17 Baleba (Afcon) 37 McGill (gk) . injured: 9 Tzimas 18 Welbeck . rehab: 4 Webster 7 March . ban: 5 Dunk 25 Gomez . ill: 6 van Hecke
Prem P17 . W4 D4 L1 . F16 A11 . W2 D2 L4 . F9 A12 . Pt24 Po9 = 1.41pt/gm . W = 35.2% L = 29.4%

Black Cats:
Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
total: 30 . 10 10 09 .
3 qtr: 29 . 10 10 09 . 30 34 -04 . 40 11 = 1.37 . 34.4 31.0 Q3
hway: 19 . 07 08 04 . 20 18 02 . 29 07 = 1.52 . 36.8 21.0 Q2
start: 10 . 05 03 02 . 12 08 04 . 18 04 = 1.80 . 50.0 20.0 Q1 - R le Bris
at start: w = 25.1% . odds - top half 18/1 . stay up 9-4 . rel 4-11 . sack RLB 7/1 . aim: to survive for next term.
Nov: 4th, 1pt behind 2nd at end of start Q1. Out of EFL Cup.
Jan: 7th, 1pt behind 6th at halfway Q2.
Mar: 11th, 3pt behind 8th at 3/4 Q3.
run-in forecast: 52pt . actual = ?pt . Po was 11 . actual Po = x
May: xth, xpt behind xth at finish Q4.
EFL Cup: Huddersfield 5pen6 1-1 (H) R2
FA Cup: Port Vale (A) R5, Oxford 0-1 (A) R4, Everton 0pen3 1-1 (A) R3

Season7 (1st) (H) onwards - not Premier League.

Sunderland - Previous Prem
Prem points: - < - ?
previous coach: tba.

Seasn . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
25/26 -
17/18-24/25 - not Premier League
* * * * *.

Season1 23/8/11 (H) League Cup round2 - 1-0 aet ~ Mackail-Smith.
Brighton had drawn a Premiership side at the Amex a couple of weeks after hosting Gillingham in LCr1 there for the very first evening match. Seventeen thousand attended on an average August night weatherwise following a day of rain. This was our fourth home game in a month since start of the season and Albion were also unbeaten H&A in kicking off a Championship campaign. It was two competitive matches a week and our feet hadn't touched bottom yet, in a whirlwind opening to life at higher level in a super stadium of near sell outs. Gus Poyet gave Ryan Harley a debut but only tinkered with midfield by selecting Navarro.
*** match report: Albion started smartly, although the Prem outfit were content to hold off early doors. They soon bossed most of the first half, with BHA defending and relying on breaks up-field from Noone. Vincelot replaced Greer at beginning of the second period but he was later injured and Taricco came on - Calderon going to c-d (76min). Harley got cramp and LuaLua took to the field with Albion now going for broke (88m). Visitors had become less of a threat, while Seagulls were flying with Noone, Barnes and CM-S getting chances to scare Black Cats rigid. CM-S hit a post and the ball went right across the goalmouth and out of play. In extra time, CM-S notched the winner from a cross by Navarro. Sunderland finished with four strikers looking to equalise but they had come a very long way to get nowt. Brighton fans were in seventh heaven, having witnessed a thoroughly deserved victory from a pulsating cup tie.
Ankergren, Calderon, Greer (Vincelot, Taricco), Dunk, Painter, Noone, Bridcutt, Navarro, Harley (LuaLua), Barnes, Mackail-Smith.

Season1 (H) - not C'ship.
* * * * *

Withdean era: Season6 04/5 - C'ship.

Withdean era: Albion V Black Cats 2-1 . . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 0
memorable match: Season6 (H) - at the time of the Alive & Kicking fund, when the big north-east outfit came to town.

see: Season6 for club & stadium info. Also Mark McGhee & Dick Knight.

Sunderland - away, Falmer Years:
25/26 - Prem season15 . . no league meetings in seasons between 2011 to 2017.
Stadium of Light . 49k . no visits from 2011-2025.

Albion FY record @ Black Cats from 11/12 . . P0 W = 0 D = 0 L = 0 . W = 0%

Black Cats V Albion (A) from 17/18: - < - ?-? . . P0 W = 0 D = 0 L = 0 . F0 A0 . W = 0%
scorers: tba

Season15, 9th Premier League (A) Sat 14/3/26- tba
This was our 15th away game, coming in mid Mar '26 to begin the run-in. We had not played here against Sunderland in the Prem or C'ship during the Falmer Years. Our pevious single visit was way back in '04 - see via Withdean Era tab. Albion wanted to get a first win at the Teeside outfit. Their current home form; w7 d5 l2 w = 50.0%. The reverse fixture was during Dec '25 - see home scroll above. At present BHA had 37pt and S'land 40pt. At halfway we were 14th and they were 7th. At the three-quarters stage we were 13th and they were 11th. Black Cats start Q1 w5 d3 l2 w = 50%. Halfway w7 d8 l4 w = 36.8%. Their record to date w10 d10 l9 w = 34.4%. Our forecast was S'land would end with 52pts at current rate of progress - see yearly stats in scroll above. Their boss Regis le Bris was now tasked with a top ten finish. In the FA Cup Cats got Port Vale (A) R5. Topical talking points: 1 - could Albion bounce back to top ten during the run-in? 2 - how deep did Tony Bloom & Co need to reach into pockets for next transfer window?
*** report: tba
stats: ht, goals, poss %-% on target, off target, corners, fouls, yellows, subs, shape
weather: . MoM:
team: 1 Verbruggen 27 Wieffer 6 van Hecke 5 Dunk 29 de Cuyper 17 Baleba 26 Ayari 11 Minteh 10 Rutter 22 Mitoma 18 Welbeck
subs:
bench: 23 Steele 3 Julio 13 Hinshelwood 19 Kostoulas 20 Milner 21 Boscagli 24 Kadioglu 25 Gomez 30 Gross 33 O'Riley 34 Veltman
squad: 7 March 38 McGill (gk) . injured: . rehab: 4 Webster 9 Tzimas . ool: 8 Gruda 14 Watson 42 Coppola
Prem P30 . W6 D6 L3 . F22 A16 . W3 D4 L7 . F16 A20 . Pt Po = 1.xxpt/gm . W = % L = %

Season7 (A) onwards - not Premier League.
Season1 (A) onwards - not C'ship.
* * * * *

See Withdean Era (1999 - 2011) and Clubs scroll in Archive:
Season6 04/5 - Championship.

Withdean era: Black Cats V Albion 2-0 . . . W = 0 D = 0 L = 1

Noughties last there -
memorable match: Season6 (A) 30/10/04 C'ship.
Our only visit to the Stadium of Light during that extra long decade, with an extra long return mileage to boot.

see: Season6 for club & stadium info. Also Mark McGhee.