# 2015–16 Sunderland A.F.C. season

The 2015–16 season is Sunderland's 137th season in existence, and their ninth consecutive season in the Premier League. Along with competing in the Premier League, the club also participated in the FA Cup and League Cup. The season covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. On May 11 2016, Sunderland confirmed a tenth consecutive Premier League season with a 3–0 victory over Everton at the Stadium of Light. Simultaneously, the result confirmed the relegation of arch-rivals Newcastle.

## Squad
### First Team Squad

| Squad No. | Name | Position (s) | Date of Birth (Age) | Signed from |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 13 | Jordan Pickford | GK | (1994-03-07) 7 March 1994 (age 30) | Academy |
| 25 | Vito Mannone | GK | (1988-03-02) 2 March 1988 (age 36) | Arsenal |
| 33 | Steve Harper | GK | (1975-03-14) 14 March 1975 (age 49) | Free Agent |
| Defenders ||||||
| 2 | Billy Jones | RB | (1987-03-24) 24 March 1987 (age 37) | West Bromwich Albion |
| 3 | Patrick van Aanholt | LB | (1990-08-29) 29 August 1990 (age 34) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Wes Brown | CB | (1979-10-13) 13 October 1979 (age 44) | Manchester United |
| 15 | Younès Kaboul | CB | (1986-01-04) 4 January 1986 (age 38) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 16 | John O'Shea (captain) | CB | (1981-04-30) 30 April 1981 (age 43) | Manchester United |
| 23 | Lamine Koné | CB | (1988-02-01) 1 February 1988 (age 36) | Lorient |
| 24 | DeAndre Yedlin | RB | (1993-07-09) 9 July 1993 (age 31) | Tottenham Hotspur (on loan) |
| 34 | Thomas Robson U21 | LB | (1995-09-11) 11 September 1995 (age 29) | Darlington |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 6 | Lee Cattermole (vice-captain) | DM | (1988-03-21) 21 March 1988 (age 36) | Wigan Athletic |
| 7 | Sebastian Larsson | CM | (1985-06-06) 6 June 1985 (age 39) | Birmingham City |
| 8 | Jack Rodwell | CM | (1991-03-11) 11 March 1991 (age 33) | Manchester City |
| 17 | Jeremain Lens | LW | (1987-11-24) 24 November 1987 (age 36) | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 20 | Ola Toivonen | AM | (1986-07-03) 3 July 1986 (age 38) | Rennes (on loan) |
| 21 | Yann M'Vila | DM | (1990-06-29) 29 June 1990 (age 34) | Rubin Kazan (on loan) |
| 22 | Wahbi Khazri | AM | (1991-02-08) 8 February 1991 (age 33) | Bordeaux |
| 27 | Jan Kirchhoff | DM | (1990-10-01) 1 October 1990 (age 34) | Bayern Munich |
| 37 | Rees Greenwood U21 | LW | (1996-01-20) 20 January 1996 (age 28) | Academy |
| 39 | George Honeyman U21 | AM | (1994-09-08) 8 September 1994 (age 30) | Academy |
| 41 | Duncan Watmore | RW | (1994-03-08) 8 March 1994 (age 30) | Altrincham |
| 46 | Lynden Gooch U21 | AM | (1995-12-24) 24 December 1995 (age 28) | Academy |
| Forwards ||||||
| 9 | Fabio Borini | ST | (1991-03-29) 29 March 1991 (age 33) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Dame N'Doye | ST | 21 February 1985 (age 30) | Trabzonspor (on loan) |
| 18 | Jermain Defoe | ST | (1982-10-07) 7 October 1982 (age 42) | Toronto |
* U21 = Under-21 player

### New contracts

| No. | Pos | Player | Until |
| 5 | Defender | Wes Brown | June 2016 |
| 6 | Midfielder | Lee Cattermole | June 2021 |
| 41 | Midfielder | Duncan Watmore | June 2020 |
| 13 | Goalkeeper | Jordan Pickford | June 2020 |
| 39 | Midfielder | George Honeyman | June 2017 |
| 46 | Midfielder | Lynden Gooch | June 2019 |

## Transfers and loans
### Transfers in

Total Spending: £39,750,000

### Transfers out

Total Received: £15,500,000

### Loans out
## Pre-season friendlies

On 26 May 2015, Sunderland announced two pre-season friendly against Darlington 1883 and Doncaster Rovers. On 5 June 2015, a tour of the United States and Canada was announced. On 23 June 2015, an exhibition match against Hannover 96 was announced to be played in Germany.

## Competitions
### Overall

| Competition | Started round | Current position / round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| Premier League | — | — | 17th | 8 August 2015 | 15 May 2016 |
| FA Cup | Third round | — | Third round | 9 January 2016 | 9 January 2016 |
| League Cup | Second round | — | Third round | 25 August 2015 | 22 September 2015 |
Updated to match played 15 May 2016 Source: Competitions

### Overview

| Competition | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Premier League | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 48 | 62 | −14 | 023.68 |
| FA Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 000.00 |
| League Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | +0 | 050.00 |
| Total | 41 | 10 | 12 | 19 | 56 | 72 | −16 | 024.39 |
Updated to match played 15 May 2016 Source: Competitions

### Premier League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 39 | 51 | −12 | 42 | |
| 16 | Bournemouth | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 45 | 67 | −22 | 42 | |
| 17 | Sunderland | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 48 | 62 | −14 | 39 | |
| 18 | Newcastle United (R) | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 44 | 65 | −21 | 37 | Relegation to EFL Championship |
| 19 | Norwich City (R) | 38 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 39 | 67 | −28 | 34 | Relegation to EFL Championship |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 15 May 2016. Source: Premier League

#### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 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 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A |
| Result | L | L | D | D | L | L | L | D | L | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | L | D | L | D | W | L | D | D | D | D | L | W | D | D | W | W | D |
| Position | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 |

#### Matches

On 17 June 2015, the fixtures for the forthcoming season were announced.

### FA Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

    As of 15 May 2016
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Billy Jones | 25 | 1 | 23+1 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | NED | Patrick van Aanholt | 36 | 4 | 33 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Wes Brown | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | ENG | Lee Cattermole | 34 | 0 | 27+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | SWE | Sebastian Larsson | 19 | 0 | 6+12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Jack Rodwell | 24 | 3 | 9+13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | FW | ITA | Fabio Borini | 27 | 5 | 22+4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | SEN | Dame N'Doye | 11 | 1 | 5+6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | WAL | Adam Matthews | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Jordan Pickford | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | FRA | Younès Kaboul | 23 | 0 | 22+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | EIR | John O'Shea | 31 | 0 | 23+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | NED | Jeremain Lens | 22 | 4 | 14+6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Jermain Defoe | 34 | 18 | 28+5 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 20 | MF | SWE | Ola Toivonen | 14 | 1 | 9+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 21 | MF | FRA | Yann M'Vila | 40 | 1 | 36+1 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | TUN | Wahbi Khazri | 14 | 2 | 13+1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | CIV | Lamine Koné | 15 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | USA | DeAndre Yedlin | 25 | 0 | 21+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | GK | ITA | Vito Mannone | 20 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | GER | Jan Kirchhoff | 15 | 0 | 14+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | FRA | Valentin Roberge | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | ENG | Thomas Robson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | ENG | Rees Greenwood | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | MF | ENG | George Honeyman | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | FW | ENG | Duncan Watmore | 25 | 4 | 7+16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 |
| 46 | FW | USA | Lynden Gooch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Players out on loan: ||||||||||||
| 4 | MF | SCO | Liam Bridcutt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Jordi Gómez | 6 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | ENG | Danny Graham | 12 | 0 | 4+6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | URU | Sebastián Coates | 19 | 0 | 14+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ITA | Emanuele Giaccherini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | SCO | Steven Fletcher | 18 | 4 | 11+5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | ARG | Santiago Vergini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | GRE | Charalampos Mavrias | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | ENG | Will Buckley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players no longer with club: ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | ROU | Costel Pantilimon | 18 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Adam Johnson | 20 | 2 | 11+8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 15 May 2016
| Rank | No. | Nat. | Name | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | 18 | | Jermain Defoe | 15 | 0 | 3 | 18 |
| 2 | 9 | | Fabio Borini | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | 3 | | Patrick van Aanholt | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | 17 | | Jeremain Lens | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | 26 | | Steven Fletcher | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | 41 | | Duncan Watmore | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | 8 | | Jack Rodwell | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | 11 | | Adam Johnson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 22 | | Wahbi Khazri | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 23 | | Lamine Koné | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 2 | | Billy Jones | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 10 | | Dame N'Doye | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 20 | | Ola Toivonen | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | 21 | | Yann M'Vila | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 44 | 1 | 7 | 52 |

### Clean Sheets

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted alphabetically by surname when total clean sheets are equal.
    Correct as of match played on 11 May 2016
| No. | Nat. | Player | Matches Played | Clean Sheet % | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | TOTAL |
| 25 | | Vito Mannone | 20 | 20% | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1 | | Costel Pantilimon | 18 | 17% | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 | | Jordan Pickford | 2 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 40 | 18% | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### Disciplinary record

    As of 11 May 2016
| No. | Pos. | Name | Premier League | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | GK | Costel Pantilimon | 3 | | | | | | | | | 3 | | |
| 2 | DF | Billy Jones | 8 | | | | | | | | | 8 | | |
| 3 | DF | Patrick van Aanholt | 2 | | | | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 5 | DF | Wes Brown | 1 | | | | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 6 | MF | Lee Cattermole | 8 | | | | | | | | | 8 | | |
| 7 | MF | Sebastian Larsson | 2 | | | | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 8 | MF | Jack Rodwell | 5 | | | | | | 1 | | | 6 | | |
| 9 | FW | Fabio Borini | 6 | | | | | | | | | 6 | | |
| 10 | FW | Dame N'Doye | 2 | | | | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 11 | MF | Adam Johnson | 3 | | | | | | | | | 3 | | |
| 15 | DF | Younès Kaboul | 3 | 1 | | | | | | | | 3 | 1 | |
| 16 | DF | John O'Shea | 2 | | | | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 17 | MF | Jeremain Lens | 3 | 1 | | | | | | | | 3 | 1 | |
| 18 | FW | Jermain Defoe | 2 | | | | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 20 | MF | Ola Toivonen | 1 | | | | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 20 | MF | Yann M'Vila | 1 | | | | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 22 | DF | Sebastián Coates | 4 | | | | | | 1 | | | 5 | | |
| 22 | MF | Wahbi Khazri | 3 | | | | | | | | | 3 | | |
| 24 | DF | DeAndre Yedlin | 2 | | | | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 25 | GK | Vito Mannone | 2 | | | | | | | | | 2 | | |
| Total | Total | Total | 63 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 2 | 0 |

## Overall summary
### Summary

| Games played | 40 (37 Premier League, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cup) |
| Games won | 10 (9 Premier League, 0 FA Cup, 1 League Cup) |
| Games drawn | 11 (11 Premier League, 0 FA Cup, 0 League Cup) |
| Games lost | 19 (17 Premier League, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup) |
| Goals scored | 54 (46 Premier League, 1 FA Cup, 7 League Cup) |
| Goals conceded | 70 (60 Premier League, 3 FA Cup, 7 League Cup) |
| Goal difference | -16 (-14 Premier League, -2 FA Cup, 0 League Cup) |
| Clean sheets | 7 (7 Premier League, 0 FA Cup, 0 League Cup) |
| Yellow cards | 52 (50 Premier League, 0 FA Cup, 2 League Cup) |
| Red cards | 2 (2 Premier League, 0 FA Cup, 0 League Cup) |
| Worst discipline | Billy Jones (8 , 0 ) |
| Best result | 3–0 v. Newcastle United (H), 3–0 v. Everton (H) |
| Worst result | 2–6 v. Everton (A) |
| Most appearances | Yann M'Vila (37) |
| Top scorer | Jermain Defoe (18) |

### Score overview

| Opposition | Home score | Away score |
| Arsenal | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Aston Villa | 3–1 | 2–2 |
| Bournemouth | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Chelsea | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Crystal Palace | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Everton | 3–0 | 6–2 |
| Leicester City | 0–2 | 4–2 |
| Liverpool | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Manchester City | 0–1 | 4–1 |
| Manchester United | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Newcastle United | 3–0 | 1-1 |
| Norwich City | 1–3 | 0–3 |
| Southampton | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Stoke City | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Swansea City | 1–1 | 2–4 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 0–1 | 4–1 |
| Watford | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| West Ham United | 2–2 | 0–1 |