As Sunderland scored three second half goals that broke Preston hearts and sparked a Wearside party. Raich Carter fulfilled his destiny and cemented himself into Mackem folklore as the lads conquered Wembley in front of 93,495 spectators on 1 May 1937.
The 2026/2027 season marks ninety years since we won our first FA Cup and today, I’ll be taking a deep dive into the run that brought the cup to Wearside for the first time.
The winning run started on 16 January 1937 in a 2-3 away win over Second Division
Southampton at The Dell, with goals from Cecil Hornby, Patsy Gallacher and the legendary Bobby Gurney.
In the fourth round, the Lads were drawn away to Third Division side Luton Town two weeks later, a tie that had to be replayed after ending in a 2-2 draw but with Sunderland advancing to the next round with a 3-1 victory over the Hatters at Roker Park on 3 February 1937, thanks to goals from Len Duns, Jimmy Connor and local lad Carter.
The Wearsiders were then drawn at home to Second Division Welsh outfit Swansea Town — yet to be renamed Swansea City — on 20 February 1937 in the last sixteen of the competition, dispatching the Swans with a comprehensive 3-0 victory.
The Lads’ quarter-final against fellow First Division side Wolverhampton Wanderers had to be played three times, as there were no penalty shootouts and no use of extra time ninety years ago.
If a match ended in a draw, it went to a replay. Sunderland drew 1-1 at Molineux on 6 March 1937 before another 2-2 draw at Roker Park on 10 March — and the second and final replay had to be played at a neutral venue, as was the practice in that era.
The match was held at the historic Hillsborough, home of Sheffield Wednesday, where the Lads ran out convincing 4-0 winners to book their place in the semi-finals.
In the last four, Sunderland were drawn against Third Division South side Millwall, who were enjoying a remarkable cup run of their own. The match was played at Leeds Road, then the home of Huddersfield Town, and resulted in a 2-1 red and white victory as Sunderland reached their first FA Cup final since the heartbreak of 1913, when they narrowly missed out on completing a League and Cup double.
Twenty four years on, therefore, Sunderland, the reigning champions and six-time winners of the First Division, would face founding Football League members and two-time First Division champions Preston North End in the final at Wembley.
Preston’s Frank O’Donnell struck just before half time to put North End 1-0 ahead, but Carter and the Lads weren’t about to return to the North East without a fight or without the cup.
Gurney levelled the tie with a thunderous header in the 52nd minute, scoring Sunderland’s first ever goal at Wembley. Carter then put the Lads ahead, making it 2-1 in the 73rd minute before Eddie Burbanks sealed the victory with Sunderland’s third goal twenty minutes from time, as the Black Cats were crowned FA Cup winners for the very first time.
With that, we were no longer just six-time champions of England; we could also call ourselves FA Cup winners.
At the time, the FA Cup carried far more gravitas than it does today, having predated the Football League by around eleven years.
It was seen as the cup, not just a cup, and while it remains one of the most prestigious honours in English football in the twenty first century, in 1937 it was widely regarded as the greatest prize of them all. The Lads would go on to lift the cup again in 1973 — another hallowed day in our storied and treasured history.
This article isn’t just a piece showcasing our cup run from ninety years ago.
It’s about remembering the lads that lined up on 1 May 1937, fighting tooth and nail in the capital to bring the FA Cup home to Wearside. Their achievement remains one of the greatest days in Sunderland AFC’s proud history, and it deserves to be remembered almost a century on.
On the day, we lined up like this under manager Johnny Cochrane:
Goalkeeper: Johnny Mapson
Right back: Jimmy Gorman
Left back: Alex Hall
Right half: Charlie Thompson
Centre half: Bert Johnston
Left half: Alex ‘Sandy’ McNab
Outside right: Len Duns
Outside left: Eddie Burbanks
Inside left: Patrick ‘Patsy’ Gallacher
Centre forward: Bobby Gurney
Inside right: Raich Carter (Captain)
