The Black Cats
The name was made official by a fan vote in 2000, but the cat has older roots. Photos from the early 1900s show a black cat looked after at Roker Park, a fan carried one in his pocket to the 1937 FA Cup final that Sunderland won, and a Black Cat Battery on the River Wear in the Napoleonic Wars may have played a part.
The club began in 1879 as Sunderland and District Teachers AFC, set up by schoolmaster James Allan.