The 2021–22 season was

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

's 143rd year in their history and fourth consecutive season in League One. Along with the league, the club competed in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

and the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

. The season covers the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. Sunderland finished fifth in the regular season, entering the EFL League One play-offs. They beat

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

over two legs in the semi-final and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

in the final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

to secure a return to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

First team squad

Pre-season friendlies

Sunderland announced they will play

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Spennymoor Town Spennymoor Town Football Club is a football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, in the North East of England. They currently compete in and currently play their home matches at The Brewery Field. The club began playing in the Northern ...

, Heart of Midlothian, York City,

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

, Tranmere Rovers and Hull City as part of the club's pre season preparations.

Competitions

League One

League table

Results summary

Results by matchday

Matches

''The Black Cats'' fixtures were released on 24 June 2021.

Play-offs

Sunderland finished 5th in the regular

2021–22 EFL League One The 2021–22 EFL League One (referred to as the Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th season of the Football League One under its current title and the 30th season under its current league division format. Team changes The f ...

season, so were drawn against 4th placed

in the Play-off Semi Final. The first leg took place at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

and the second leg took place at

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

FA Cup

Sunderland were drawn at home to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

in the first round.

EFL Cup

Sunderland were drawn away to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, Queens Park Rangers and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the first, second, third and fourth rounds and quarter final respectively.

EFL Trophy

Sunderland were drawn into Northern Group F alongside

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, Lincoln City and Manchester United U21s. Two of the three group games were confirmed on July 22.

Player statistics

Appearance summary

, - ! colspan="18" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center", Goalkeepers , - ! colspan="18" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center", Defenders , - ! colspan="18" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center", Midfielders , - ! colspan="18" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center", Forwards

First team squad

Pre-season friendlies

Competitions

League One

League table

Results summary

Results by matchday

Matches

Play-offs

FA Cup

EFL Cup

EFL Trophy

Player statistics

Appearance summary

Goals record

Penalties record

Assists record

Disciplinary record

Transfers

Transfers in

Loans in

Loans out

Transfers out

References