The Friendship Trophy is a football match, contested on an irregular basis by just two teams: Norwich City and Sunderland.[1] The match dates back to the camaraderie forged between fans of the two clubs at the time of the 1985 Football League Cup Final that they contested. Norwich City won the 1985 Football League Cup Final, however at the end of the First Division Season, both teams were relegated to the Second Division.[2]
| Location | Norwich and Sunderland |
|---|---|
| Teams | Norwich City Sunderland |
| First meeting | 24 March 1985 |
| Latest meeting | Norwich 1–0 Sunderland 2023–24 EFL Championship (2 March 2024) |
| Next meeting | Norwich city vs Sunderland (EFL Championship) 21/12/24' |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 30 |
| Most wins | Norwich City (15) |
| All-time series | Norwich City: 6 Drawn: 2 (Sunderland retained) Sunderland: 6 (including 2 solo cup wins) |
Mackem and Canary mingled and drank happily together. “The Sunderland supporters were magnificent and everyone seemed to mix, it was light-hearted and very nice,” judged Norwich manager Ken Brown after his team had lifted the trophy thanks to a Gordon Chisholm own goal. On the London Underground, Norwich fans sang “we won the cup”, while Sunderland’s retorted with: “we scored the goal”.[3]
Nowadays, the Friendship Trophy is awarded to the team with the winning aggregate score in competitive matches over the season between the two sides. As such, Sunderland are the current holders of the trophy, having won 4–2 over the two league games in the 2017/18 EFL Championship season.
The trophy was most recently contested in March 2024, when the teams played at Carrow Road in the EFL Championship. Norwich won 1–0 in that match,[4] though Sunderland won 3–2 on aggregate due to their 3–1 victory at the Stadium of Light in October 2023.[5]
This trophy is only infrequently contested, as it requires both Norwich City and Sunderland to be in the same division, or to be drawn together in a cup competition, which last happened in 2009, when Sunderland beat Norwich City 4–1 in the Football League Cup.[6] The most significant cup meeting after the 1985 final was the semi-final of the 1991–92 FA Cup at Hillsborough, which Sunderland won 1–0.[7][8]
In 2013, Talksport named The Friendship Trophy one of football's most pointless awards.[9]
Head to head summary
edit| Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | |||||||
| Norwich City | 28 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 31 | 27 | +4 |
| Sunderland | 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 27 | 31 | –4 |
| FA Cup | |||||||
| Norwich City | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 |
| Sunderland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| Football League Cup | |||||||
| Norwich City | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | –2 |
| Sunderland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 |
| Totals | |||||||
| Norwich City | 31 | 16 | 5 | 10 | 33 | 32 | +1 |
| Sunderland | 31 | 10 | 5 | 16 | 32 | 33 | -1 |
Head-to-head fixtures
edit| Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 March 1985 | Norwich City | 1–0 | Sunderland | Football League Cup |
| 26 October 1985 | Sunderland | 0–2 | Norwich City | Football League, Second Division |
| 9 April 1986 | Norwich City | 0–0 | Sunderland | Football League, Second Division |
| 25 August 1990 | Norwich City | 3–2 | Sunderland | Football League, First Division |
| 15 December 1990 | Sunderland | 1–2 | Norwich City | Football League, First Division |
| 5 April 1992 | Sunderland | 1–0 | Norwich City | FA Cup |
| 19 August 1995 | Norwich City | 0–0 | Sunderland | Football League First Division |
| 14 January 1996 | Sunderland | 0–1 | Norwich City | Football League First Division |
| 30 August 1997 | Sunderland | 0–1 | Norwich City | Football League First Division |
| 28 January 1998 | Norwich City | 2–1 | Sunderland | Football League First Division |
| 29 September 1998 | Norwich City | 2–2 | Sunderland | Football League First Division |
| 6 March 1999 | Sunderland | 1–0 | Norwich City | Football League First Division |
| 25 October 2003 | Norwich City | 1–0 | Sunderland | Football League First Division |
| 4 May 2004 | Sunderland | 1–0 | Norwich City | Football League First Division |
| 4 November 2006 | Norwich City | 1–0 | Sunderland | Football League Championship |
| 2 December 2006 | Sunderland | 1–0 | Norwich City | Football League Championship |
| 24 August 2009 | Norwich City | 1–4 | Sunderland | Football League Cup |
| 26 September 2011 | Norwich City | 2–1 | Sunderland | Premier League |
| 1 February 2012 | Sunderland | 3–0 | Norwich City | Premier League |
| 2 December 2012 | Norwich City | 2–1 | Sunderland | Premier League |
| 17 March 2013 | Sunderland | 1–1 | Norwich City | Premier League |
| 21 December 2013 | Sunderland | 0–0 | Norwich City | Premier League |
| 22 March 2014 | Norwich City | 2–0 | Sunderland | Premier League |
| 15 August 2015 | Sunderland | 1–3 | Norwich City | Premier League |
| 16 April 2016 | Norwich City | 0–3 | Sunderland | Premier League |
| 13 August 2017 | Norwich City | 1–3 | Sunderland | EFL Championship |
| 10 April 2018 | Sunderland | 1–1 | Norwich City | EFL Championship |
| 27 August 2022 | Sunderland | 0–1 | Norwich City | EFL Championship |
| 12 March 2023 | Norwich City | 0–1 | Sunderland | EFL Championship |
| 28 October 2023 | Sunderland | 3–1 | Norwich | EFL Championship |
| 2 March 2024 | Norwich | 1–0 | Sunderland | EFL Championship |
References
edit- ^ Scott Wilson (24 August 2009). "Sunderland enjoy Carrow Road stroll". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ "Football League Division One /1984/85 /all teams /results". Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ^ House, Future Publishing Limited Quay; Ambury, The; Engl, Bath BA1 1UA All rights reserved; number 2008885, Wales company registration (15 April 2016). "What the heck is the Friendship Trophy? Football's oddest closed cup competitions". FourFourTwo.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Norwich City 1–0 Sunderland: Josh Sargent goal keeps Canaries in play-off race". Retrieved 11 May 2024.
- ^ "Sunderland 3–1 Norwich City: David Wagner says Canaries 'mentally affected' by form". Retrieved 11 May 2024.
- ^ "Norwich City v Sunderland, 24 August 2009". Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ^ Sunderland and Norwich City is always a TV favourite, Norwich Evening News, 15 March 2013
- ^ Road To Wembley: Reliving Sunderland’s action-packed run towards the 1992 FA Cup Final, Roker Report, SB Nation, 24 May 2019
- ^ "Football's most pointless awards". TalkSport. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2015.