Brighton vs. Sunderland: Head-to-head record and past meetings

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 35

Brighton & Hove Albion wins: 14

Draws: 7

Brighton and Sunderland have faced each other a total of 35 times across all competitions, and both teams have celebrated 14 victories, while seven draws have also been played out between the two clubs.

Each of their first 14 encounters took place in the old Division Two over a 20-year period from 1958 to 1978. Brighton secured a 2-0 home victory in the very first meeting between the two clubs, four months before Sunderland won the reverse fixture by a 4-1 scoreline.

The biggest winning margin in this fixture belongs to the Black Cats, who secured a 4-0 victory at Roker Park in January 1973 – a result which marked the first home win for manager Bob Stokoe, who steered the club to FA Cup glory later that season.

Eleven of Brighton’s 14 wins over Sunderland have been celebrated on home soil. Five of those were recorded during a dominant period for the Seagulls when they came out on top seven times in nine league games between Divisions One and Two (1977-1982).

Both teams briefly dropped down into Division Three and won their home fixtures against one another, before Sunderland won four of the next six matches against Brighton in Division Two (D1 L1), including a thrilling 4-2 home triumph in October 1991.

Brighton and Sunderland butted heads in the Championship in the 2004-05 season; the Black Cats claimed a 2-0 win at the Stadium of Light thanks to goals from Julio Arca and Liam Lawrence, but the Seagulls got their revenge four months later as strikes from Richard Carpenter and Mark McCammon sealed a 2-1 win at Withdean Stadium.

The most recent meeting between these two teams took place in August 2011 when Brighton edged past Sunderland into the EFL Cup third round with a 1-0 extra-time victory, courtesy of a header from Craig Mackail-Smith.