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

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 98

Draws: 24

Nottingham Forest and Sunderland have faced each other a total of 98 times across all competitions, with the Black Cats leading the overall head-to-head record having posted 41 wins to the Tricky Trees' 33, while 24 draws have been played out between the two clubs.

February 1891 was the very first time hat these two teams butted heads in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, with Sunderland claiming an emphatic 4-0 win on home soil.

The Black Cats also won their first four league meetings with Forest - all in the old Division One - before the Tricky Trees celebrated their first ever victory (2-1) over the North East outfit in December 1894.

Both Forest and Sunderland had their fair share of successes during their regular encounters in Divisions One and Two over the years, and the biggest victory to date between these two teams was recorded in March 1908 when the latter thrashed the former 7-2 on their own turf in Division One.

In the Premier League era (since 1992-93), Forest and Sunderland have only ever faced each other three times in the top flight - during the 1996-97 season, the Tricky Trees suffered a 4-1 home defeat to the Black Cats before drawing 1-1 on the road.

Both teams have since locked horns eight times across the Championship and League One; while Sunderland accumulated seven points across four League One encounters (W2 D1 L1), they have also won three of their last four second-tier meetings, doing the double over Forest in the 2004-05 season before losing 1-0 at home and winning 1-0 away in the 2017-18 campaign, the latter result represents the most recent meeting between the two clubs.

Outside of league football, Forest and Sunderland have played against each other six times in the FA Cup, with the Tricky Trees coming out on top in four of those ties (D1 L1), while the Black Cats have prevailed in the only EFL Cup meeting between the two clubs, winning 1-0 in a third-round replay of the 1984 competition after drawing the initial tie 1-1 at the City Ground.

The last meeting between the two sides came in the Premier League in September 2025, with Sunderland recording a 1-0 victory at the City Ground.