Sunderland have been one of the Premier League’s biggest strugglers for the whole of the season and the Black Cats fans here in the Transfer Tavern think David Moyes has a real job on his hands to save them.

And you can’t see an easy way out for them either. Despite their comfortable 4-0 win over Crystal Palace a couple of weeks ago, Sunderland very much remain in trouble and need to pick up some big results over the next couple of weeks to confirm their safety.

But with the Premier League as tough as ever, wins aren’t going to present themselves to David Moyes and his players and they need to put in some sterling performances to make sure they pull away as soon as possible.

However, with plenty of Sunderland fans here in the Tavern feeling a little glum, we thought we’d distract them from the matter by going into the vault and seeing what interesting facts we could dig up.

So with that in mind, here’s two things you probably never knew about Sunderland…

Sunderland haven’t always been called Sunderland

Well, strictly speaking the Wearsiders haven’t always been simply known as ‘Sunderland.’

Back when they formed in 1879, the Black Cats were formed as Sunderland and District Teachers’ Association Football Club but just a year later, changed to Sunderland AFC.

Some of the punters here in the pub think the old name sounds a bit rubbish, so thank goodness it changed pretty soon after!

They took a while to settle down

Sunderland haven’t always played at the Stadium of Light. In fact, they’ve only played there for twenty years and their original home was called Blue House Field.

It sounds like pretty hectic stuff because they’ve moved around a fair bit since! They moved to Grove’s Field next followed by Horatio Street, Abbs Field and Newcastle Road, before spending 99 years at Roker Park.

We reckon the Black Cats might be at the Stadium of Light for good, though.

Learned something new? Let us know below!