Following the success of The Absolute Record, the second volume - The Players - now includes a four page pull-out featuring Sunderland AFC’s 2023 debutants, so whether it’s Jobe Bellingham, Adil Aouchiche, record breaker extraordinaire Chris Rigg or Eliezer Mayenda, who became SAFC’s 1,150th player in the home win against Norwich just before the November 2023 international break, they are all in there.

 

A hardback 400 page A4 size official SAFC book written by club historian Rob Mason, Absolute Record · The Players provides an in depth biography of every player to play a competitive game in the history of the club.

 

Over 300 players have represented SAFC since the excellent A-Z of Sunderland footballers ‘All The Lads’ was published in 2000. Absolute Record: The Players details the entire careers of all of these players and provides much additional and corrected information in new biographies of those who played before 2000, as more information has come to light in the two plus decades since All The Lads was published.

 

Details for each player includes date of birth, birthplace, signing date, first and last game, list of clubs and international qualifications as well as a detailed account of their career. As well as the stories of the club’s greats many previously little known or completely unknown tales have been unearthed. For instance which Sunderland player worked on Hollywood movies, who designed TV sets for the Benny Hill show, which player turned out for Sunderland in 2018 and has since played for China, which player danced for the company who employed Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel and whose son was a bodyguard for Nelson Mandela?

 

The Absolute Record: The Players along with its supplement tells you everything you need to know about every Sunderland player from the club’s earliest years of existence right up to 31 October 2023. With a foreword by record appearance maker Jim Montgomery this is a book that every knowledgeable Sunderland supporter should have.