# 1961–62 Sunderland A.F.C. season

The 1961–62 season was Sunderland's 78th year in existence and 4th consecutive season in the Division Two. Also the club competed in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

## Summary

During June, Northern Irish Forward Ian Lawther was transferred out to Blackburn Rovers. Also Johnny Goodchild and Jackie Maltby left the club. In July 1961, one of Clough's transfer requests was finally accepted and he moved to Boro's local rivals Sunderland for £55,000. However, a poor start and a final day draw at Swansea saw the team finish third, a point behind Leyton Orient and nine points behind deserved champions Liverpool led by the inspirational Bill Shankly.

## 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 | Peter Wakeham |
| — | GK | ENG | Jimmy Montgomery |
| — | GK | ENG | Keith Hird |
| — | DF | ENG | Cec Irwin |
| — | DF | IRL | Charlie Hurley |
| — | DF | SCO | Jimmy McNab |
| — | DF | ENG | Len Ashurst |
| — | DF | ENG | Dickie Rooks |
| — | DF | ENG | Colin Nelson |
| — | DF | NIR | Martin Harvey |
| — | MF | ENG | Harry Hooper |
| — | MF | ENG | Stan Anderson (c) |
| — | MF | SCO | George Herd |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Joe Kiernan |
| — | MF | ENG | Jack Overfield |
| — | MF | ENG | Jimmy Davison |
| — | MF | SCO | John Dillon |
| — | MF | SCO | Danny Hegan |
| — | MF | ENG | Alan Sproates |
| — | FW | SCO | Willie McPheat |
| — | FW | ENG | Brian Clough |
| — | FW | IRL | Amby Fogarty |
| — | FW | NIR | Jimmy O'Neill |
| — | FW | SCO | Nick Sharkey |
| — | FW | ENG | Ally Murray |
| — | FW | ENG | Colin Rutherford |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Brian Clough | Middlesbrough | £55,000 |
| FW | George Herd | Clyde F.C. | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| FW | Ian Lawther | Blackburn Rovers | £18,000 |
| FW | Johnny Goodchild | Brighton & Hove Albion | |
| FW | Jackie Maltby | Darlington F.C. | |
| MF | Reg Pearce | Luton Town F.C. | |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Liverpool (C, P) | 42 | 27 | 8 | 7 | 99 | 43 | 2.302 | 62 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 2 | Leyton Orient (P) | 42 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 69 | 40 | 1.725 | 54 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 3 | Sunderland | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 85 | 50 | 1.700 | 53 | |
| 4 | Scunthorpe United | 42 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 86 | 71 | 1.211 | 49 | |
| 5 | Plymouth Argyle | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 75 | 75 | 1.000 | 46 | |

#### 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 | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A |
| Result | L | L | W | L | W | W | L | L | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | D | W | L | D | D | W | W | L | L | W | L | W | L | D | W | D | W | L | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D |
| Position | 16 | 21 | 17 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |

#### Matches

* .- Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/sunderland/tab/matches/season/1962/

### 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 | Peter Wakeham | 38 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Cec Irwin | 40 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | IRL | Charlie Hurley | 42 | 6 | 33 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Jimmy McNab | 51 | 3 | 42 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Len Ashurst | 51 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | George Herd | 39 | 13 | 32 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| | MF | ENG | Stan Anderson | 46 | 2 | 38 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Harry Hooper | 41 | 11 | 33 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| | FW | SCO | Willie McPheat | 37 | 9 | 29 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Brian Clough | 43 | 34 | 34 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| | FW | ENG | Jack Overfield | 48 | 4 | 40 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Jimmy Montgomery | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | IRL | Amby Fogarty | 27 | 9 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Dickie Rooks | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Colin Nelson | 11 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Jimmy Davison | 11 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | NIR | Jimmy O'Neill | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | NIR | Martin Harvey | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | John Dillon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Nick Sharkey | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Danny Hegan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Alan Sproates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Ally Murray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Colin Rutherford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Keith Hird |
| | MF | ENG | Joe Kiernan |
* Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/sunderland/tab/players/season/1962/