For most supporters of Sunderland AFC, the history of their club would probably be best represented by the names of the mid 1930s team, particularly Gurney and Carter, undoubted Wearside football legends. The name of Charlie Buchan also looms large even today in the tale of a football club whose history can be cut like a knife. Although Charlie Buchan might still be a revered figure on Wearside, his team mates aren't and yet the 1912/13 season, which is the subject of this book, produced arguably the fi nest Sunderland team ever to grace the famous red and white striped shirts. It came the closest the club has ever come to winning the double, almost became the first English football club to achieve it in the 20th century, yet the names of Albert Milton, Frank Cuggy, Jackie Mordue and the rest of Sunderland's league champions and FA Cup finalists that season have long since been cast into the annals of the club's history. Even the football club's near talismanic and perhaps finest ever captain Charlie Thomson is seemingly forgotten. The was team guided by Bob Kyle, Sunderland AFC's longest serving manager, he too also forgotten. This book looks at the matches and the characters that shaped an immensely successful 1912/13 season. Although they were crowned league champions, perhaps an enduring highlight, although it ultimately ended in defeat, was the now legendary FA Cup final which took place at The Crystal Palace in April 1913, before a world record crowd. For the first time in the 20th Century England's top two football teams contested for the most coveted domestic knockout cup competition in world football and what a tale it tells; an iconic match. Finally, to give the book a social context and a flavour of the times, we have captured the main news stories of the 1912/13 period which includes some momentous incidents such as the sinking of the Titanic; another iconic event.

On the 7th December 1935, Sunderland went top of the First Division and so at the start of a two year period that would bring them unprecedented success. The highs and lows of the league campaign are recalled in detail. Included in the book are the tragic death of goalkeeper Jimmy Thorpe after a match at Chelsea. Thorpe's grief-stricken teammates went on to play their hearts out, eventually hammering Birmingham City 7-2 at St Andrews to capture the league title. In 1936-7, Sunderland went on to lift the FA Cup at Wembley for the first time in the club's history by beating Preston North End. The Wearsiders also claimed the Charity Shield, bringing more silverware to Roker Park Bill Shankley, who played for Preston in that final remarked: "In many ways the Sunderland team of 1937 played the same brand of Total Football as the great Holland team of the 1970's.