Over the last 111 years, Sunderland have played Plymouth 33 times and have picked up 19 wins, 5 draws, and 9 defeats. These are some of the most noteworthy games…
SUNDERLAND 4-0 PLYMOUTH - DIVISION 2 - 1960
Argyle were currently under a managerial duo at the time, Neil Dougall and George Taylor. Meanwhile, Sunderland were under Alan Brown. The Lads started aggressively and Ian Lawther made it 1-0 in under five minutes. After that, Alan O’Neill stole the show and bagged his first right before half time. O’Neill scored again in the 51st minute, and the Black Cats were in the ascendancy. There wasn’t much of a response from Plymouth and O’Neill completed his hat trick in the 82nd minute. It was a very convincing win for Sunderland.
PLYMOUTH 3-0 SUNDERLAND - DIVISION 2 - 1990
On the 3rd of March, Denis Smith’s Lads travelled to Home park to take on Dave Kemp’s Pilgrims. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a stellar performance from Sunderland. Tommy Tynan made it 1-0 in the 35th minute, and that was soon followed by a Sean McCarthy goal right before half time. It was a very poor first half performance from the Lads. The second half wasn’t much better, and Tynan bagged his second in the 74h minute. The game ended 3-0 and it was a very big win for Plymouth.
SUNDERLAND 5-1 PLYMOUTH - CHAMPIONSHIP - 2005
The Lads absolutely obliterated Plymouth in this game. Mick McCarthy’s side were hosting Bobby Williamson’s Argyle at home. Things started quite slowly and all was square at the half hour mark, but Dean Whitehead broke the deadlock one minute later. Arca bagged the second, then Marcus Stewart converted a penalty to make it 3-0. A great end to the first half for the Lads. Steve Caldwell ended all hope of a Plymouth comeback in the 75th minute, but Scott Taylor gave the travelling fans something to celebrate in the 88th minute. Sean Thornton scored the fourth right at the end of the game, so Sunderland won 5-1.
SUNDERLAND 2-1 PLYMOUTH - LEAGUE ONE - 2021
This was a crucial win in Sunderland’s push for promotion, if we lost this game we would have finished seventh. We started quickly and Dan Neil converted what was a very well practised set piece routine. Nathan Broadhead then bagged the second in the 13th minute, and we were flying. But, Plymouth did gradually make their way back into the game. Dan Scarr scored a header in the second half, but that wasn’t enough to get anything against Lee Johnson’s side.
PLYMOUTH 0-0 SUNDERLAND - LEAGUE ONE - 2022
Certainly not a memorable one, but this is the most recent time the two teams came head-to-head. Alex Neil was able to extend Sunderland’s unbeaten run to 10 games by earning a hard-fought point at Home Park. Steven Schumacher’s side had an amazing home record. Looking back, this was a huge sign of things to come for Plymouth. This game saw an intense midfield battle between Jay Matete and Panutche Camara. There were a lot of crunching tackles and intense moments. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game sparked Argyle’s interest in Matete! The game ended 0-0, but it was a crucial point for us.
