EFL goals galore acca: Sunderland vs Norwich, Charlton vs Bolton and more
Goals are the focus of this weekend’s Planet Sport EFL acca because, let’s face it, who wants to sit there cheering for under 2.5 goals?
You may know them from the docuseries on Netflix: "Sunderland 'Til I Die", but the Black Cats' history is more illustrious than even those who have watched attentively may realise.
Campbell was Scottish and was one of many Scottish players in the team. Sunderland's recruitment practices left the football fraternity in Scotland outraged, so Samuel Tyzack, a wealthy miner who funded the team alongside shipbuilder Robert Turnbull, reportedly pretended to be a priest while scouting for players.
However, Sunderland's fortunes took a turn for the worse after the second World War. In the 1950s, they found themselves involved in a financial scandal. In 1957, they were found guilty of making payments to players which exceeded the maximum wage and were fined a total of £5,000, which at the time was a significant sum of money.
After being pipped to promotion by Chelsea in 1962/63, Sunderland were finally promoted back to the top flight in 1964. At the end of the decade, however, they were relegated once again.
In 1973, Sunderland stunned Don Revie's famous Leeds United side by beating them 1-0 in the FA Cup final. At the time, the Mackems were in the Second Division, but they won against their illustrious opponents largely thanks to the goalkeeping heroics of Jimmy Montgomery.
Sunderland were relegated after staying up in the top flight for one year, but in 1992, they once again made the FA Cup final as a second tier side. On this occasion, they were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool.
The Irish Drumaville Consortium, led by former player Niall Quinn, took over in 2006 and appointed Roy Keane as manager. Keane led Sunderland back to the Premier League, but left after an inconsistent start to the 2008/09 season.
Darren Bent, Jordan Henderson and Asamoah Gyan were the star names of the first few years of the Ellis Short era, but it gradually went pear-shaped.
The inevitable eventually happened as Sunderland were relegated under David Moyes in 2016/17. They subsequently dropped straight down to League One in a disastrous season. In April 2018, the club was sold to a group led by Stewart Donald.
With the new regime struggling to win the Sunderland fans over and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, an ambitious 23-year-old whose family were previous owners of French giants Marseilles, bought the club in February 2021.
One thing that has remained consistent at Sunderland is the habit of sacking managers, with Jack Ross, Phil Parkinson, and Lee Johnson all hired and fired whilst the club have been in League One.
At the start of the new 2022/23 Championship season, Neil was named as the new manager of Stoke City and the vacant hotseat at Sunderland was filled by former Middlesbrough legend Tony Mowbray.
Jordan Henderson, who captained Liverpool to both the Premier League and Champions League titles came through the ranks at Sunderland, as did goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
For the 2021/22 season, that was greater than all of the Championship and a quarter of the clubs in the Premier League, and following promotion their season card sales soared to more than 28,000.
Sunderland's most famous rivalry is the Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle United, and have a secondary rivalry with Middlesbrough.
Goals are the focus of this weekend’s Planet Sport EFL acca because, let’s face it, who wants to sit there cheering for under 2.5 goals?
Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray opened up on a 'frustrating' day as his men fell to a 2-1 defeat at Stoke City.
Alex Neil praised his Stoke side for securing a valuable 2-1 victory over his former employers Sunderland, saying “we needed a bit of optimism”.
After enjoying a well-earned rest during the international break, Rhys Tovey, who runs his AGF football service on Tipstrr, returns with his best bets from some of Saturday’s big games.
Not many South African footballers have made it into the Premier League arena since it was launched in 1992 - here Planet Sport looks at those who have, and ranks them in order of league appearances.
Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland will look to bounce back from defeat when they meet at Hillsborough on Friday night (2000).
There’s a full fixture list across the EFL Championship, League One and League Two this weekend and Planet Sport are looking to take full advantage.