# 1962–63 Sunderland A.F.C. season

The 1962–63 season was Sunderland's 79th year in existence and 8th consecutive season in the Division Two. Also the club competed in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

## Summary

During June, Northern Irish Forward Johnny Crossan was transferred in from Standard Liege. Also, Scottish left winger George Mulhall arrived from Aberdeen F.C.. Center Forward Brian Clough started the season in good form with 24 goals in 24 matches. However, on 26 December 1962 against Bury, in the 27th minute, Brian Clough was injured in a collision with the Bury goalkeeper Chris Harker. Torn ligaments kept him out for the rest of the season and ultimately ended his brilliant playing career. In a season heavily impacted by the "big freeze" of 1963, on the final day, Sunderland needed only a single point to secure promotion to First Division, but Tommy Harmer's goal left the door open for Chelsea, still 2 points behind but with a game in hand and a better goal average. They took their chance emphatically, beating Portsmouth 7–0 at home the following Tuesday.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Jimmy Montgomery |
| — | GK | ENG | Keith Hird |
| — | DF | ENG | Colin Nelson |
| — | DF | SCO | Jimmy McNab |
| — | DF | IRL | Charlie Hurley |
| — | DF | ENG | Len Ashurst |
| — | DF | ENG | Cec Irwin |
| — | DF | NIR | Martin Harvey |
| — | DF | ENG | Dickie Rooks |
| — | DF | SCO | Joe Kiernan |
| — | DF | ENG | Jimmy Nelson |
| — | MF | ENG | George Herd |
| — | MF | ENG | Tommy Mitchinson |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Stan Anderson (c) |
| — | MF | ENG | Jimmy Davison |
| — | MF | SCO | George Mulhall |
| — | MF | ENG | Harry Hooper |
| — | MF | NIR | Norman Clarke |
| — | MF | ENG | Jack Overfield |
| — | FW | IRL | Amby Fogarty |
| — | FW | NIR | Johnny Crossan |
| — | FW | ENG | Brian Clough |
| — | FW | SCO | Nick Sharkey |
| — | FW | SCO | Andy Kerr |
| — | FW | SCO | Willie McPheat |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from |
| MF | George Mulhall | Aberdeen F.C. |
| FW | Johnny Crossan | Standard Liege |
| FW | Andy Kerr | Kilmarnock F.C. |
| MF | Norman Clarke | Ballymena United |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To |
| GK | Peter Wakeham | Charlton Athletic |
| MF | John Dillon | Brighton and Hove Albion |
| MF | Danny Hegan | Ipswich Town |
| MF | Alan Sproates | Swindon Town |
| FW | Jimmy O'Neill | Walsall F.C. |
| FW | Ally Murray | |
| FW | Colin Rutherford | |

## Results
### Division One
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Stoke City (C, P) | 42 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 73 | 50 | 1.460 | 53 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 2 | Chelsea (P) | 42 | 24 | 4 | 14 | 81 | 42 | 1.929 | 52 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 3 | Sunderland | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 84 | 55 | 1.527 | 52 | |
| 4 | Middlesbrough | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 86 | 85 | 1.012 | 49 | |
| 5 | Leeds United | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 79 | 53 | 1.491 | 48 | |

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | W | W | L | D | W | W | L | L | W | W | D | W | D | W | L | W | D | W | L | W | W | D | W | L | L | D | D | W | W | W | D | D | D | W | L | L | D | D | W | W | W | L |
| Position | 6 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |

#### Matches

* .- Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/sunderland/tab/matches/season/1963/

### FA Cup
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Football League Division Two | Football League Division Two | FA Cup | FA Cup | Football League Cup | Football League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Jimmy Montgomery | 53 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Colin Nelson | 36 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Jimmy McNab | 48 | 3 | 39 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| | DF | IRL | Charlie Hurley | 48 | 5 | 38 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Len Ashurst | 51 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | George Herd | 47 | 5 | 40 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| | MF | ENG | Stan Anderson | 42 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Jimmy Davison | 41 | 10 | 33 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| | FW | IRL | Amby Fogarty | 29 | 8 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| | FW | NIR | Johnny Crossan | 32 | 15 | 24 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | George Mulhall | 45 | 11 | 35 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| | GK | ENG | Keith Hird | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Brian Clough | 28 | 28 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| | DF | ENG | Cec Irwin | 19 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Nick Sharkey | 17 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| | DF | NIR | Martin Harvey | 14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Andy Kerr | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Harry Hooper | 7 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Dickie Rooks | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | FW | NIR | Norman Clarke | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Willie McPheat | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Tommy Mitchinson | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Joe Kiernan | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| | FW | ENG | Jack Overfield | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Jimmy Nelson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/sunderland/tab/players/season/1963/