Sunderland’s astounding start to the season has put them on course for a historic campaign in the Premier League that even Peter Reid would be proud of.
Nobody gave the Black Cats a chance coming into this season. Even supercomputers predicted Sunderland would finish rock bottom and go straight back to the Championship.
However, with five wins from the opening nine games, Sunderland are soaring in fourth place right now and have been one of the most impressive and exciting teams to watch this term.
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There is still a long way to go, of course, but many now believe Sunderland will not only stay up, but achieve a decent placing in the final Premier League table.
Sunderland Head Coach Regis Le Bris is present during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Aston Villa at the Stadium Of Light.
Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Sunderland can achieve best-ever finish in Premier League
In fact, Sunderland have started the season so strongly that this current side under Regis Le Bris could end up surpassing the incredible achievement of Peter Reid’s famous team of the late 1990s.
It’s a short sample size, but Sunderland have won an average of 1.88 points per game (PPG) at the moment. If we extrapolate that over a 38-game season, the Black Cats could end up with 71 points (or 71.77 points, to be more precise).
Not only would that make Sunderland the most successful newly-promoted team of all time, far exceeding Ipswich Town’s 66-point haul of 2000/01, it would also give the current Black Cats side a great chance of landing the club’s best-ever Premier League finish.
Team Year Points Final position
Ipswich Town 2000/01 66 5th
Leeds United 2020/21 59 9th
Sunderland 1999/00 58 7th
Wolves 2018/19 57 7th
Reading 2006/07 55 8th
The Sunderland team of 1999/00 came up from the old Division One and racked up 58 points to secure a seventh place finish in the top flight.
Interestingly, 71 points would have been enough to finish third last season (alongside Man City) and would have bagged fourth place in 2023/24.
So, if Sunderland can keep up their momentum and their PPG rate, we could see the Mackems in the Champions League next year.
Kevin Phillips of Sunderland
18 Dec 1999: Kevin Phillips of Sunderland celebrates a goal during the FA Carling Premier League match against Southampton played at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, England. Sunderland won the game 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Shaun Botterill /Allsport
Remembering Sunderland’s iconic 1999/00 team
That brilliant Sunderland team of 1999/00 picked up right where it left off in the second tier the year before. The Black Cats had broken the record for the highest points tally at the time, with 105 points in the title-winning season.
Upon entering the Premier League, Sunderland were driven on by the unbelievable goalscoring record of Kevin Phillips. The former England international bagged 30 goals in the Premier League and won the European Golden Shoe. His strike partner, Sunderland legend Niall Quinn, also chipped in with 14 goals and seven assists.
Peter Reid’s team picked up great wins away at fierce rivals Newcastle United, at home to Tottenham Hotspur, and hammered Chelsea 4-1 at the Stadium of Light.
This season, Sunderland have shown they can match the big teams in this league. If they can keep this up, Le Bris’ Black Cats may well write their name in the history books alongside Phillips, Quinn, and Reid.