Bournemouth vs Sunderland: The Head-to-Head Record of Two Clubs on Different Paths

Bournemouth and Sunderland is not one of English football’s ancient rivalries. The two clubs spent most of their histories in different divisions and different regions of the country, the Cherries anchored on the south coast of Dorset and the Black Cats rooted in the industrial north east. When they have met, the games have tended to arrive in clusters, separated by long silences, and each cluster has caught the two clubs at a very different point in their journeys. That is what makes the fixture an interesting one to trace: it reads almost like a series of snapshots of two teams rising and falling past one another.
Across all competitions the clubs have faced each other 13 times. Sunderland lead the all-time series with six wins to Bournemouth’s three, and the remaining four meetings have been drawn. The raw tally flatters the historical gap between them, though, because almost all of Sunderland’s advantage was built in a short window at the end of the 1980s, before Bournemouth had ever reached the top flight. Weigh only the Premier League meetings and the picture is strikingly even.

Roker Park origins and a Second Division gap
The sides first met in August 1988 in the old Second Division, a 1-1 draw at Roker Park. At that point the two clubs were genuine divisional rivals, but only briefly. Over the following seasons Sunderland, managed by Denis Smith, got the better of Harry Redknapp’s Bournemouth repeatedly. Sunderland took the honours in their subsequent Second Division encounters, including a home-and-away league double during the 1989-90 campaign, when they beat Bournemouth 3-2 on Wearside and won the reverse fixture on the south coast. The clubs also crossed paths in the League Cup during this period, another tie that went Sunderland’s way.
That short burst of fixtures essentially created the historical imbalance that still shows up in the all-time numbers. Once Sunderland pushed towards the top flight and Bournemouth slid down the divisions, the two did not meet in league competition again for a quarter of a century. By the time they were reunited, both the clubs and English football itself had changed almost beyond recognition.
Reunited in the Premier League
The fixture returned in the 2015-16 season, Bournemouth’s first ever campaign in the top division after Eddie Howe’s remarkable climb from the fourth tier. The reunion could hardly have gone better for the newcomers. In September 2015 Bournemouth beat Sunderland 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium, a result that stood as the club’s first ever victory over the Black Cats in any competition. The return fixture at the Stadium of Light that January finished 1-1, Bournemouth taking an early lead before Sunderland hit back before the interval.
2-0Bournemouth's first-ever win over Sunderland, Sept 2015
The following season tilted back towards Sunderland on one afternoon. In November 2016 they won 1-2 at the Vitality, Dan Gosling’s early goal cancelled out by Victor Anichebe and a Jermain Defoe penalty. It was the kind of result that briefly flattered a struggling Sunderland side, but it would prove a false dawn.
April 2017: Josh King and relegation day
The most consequential meeting between the two clubs came on 29 April 2017. Sunderland, cut adrift at the bottom of the table, needed something from the game to cling on to the faintest survival hopes. Bournemouth, comfortably clear of danger, had nothing to play for except pride and points. The match turned on a single moment: Josh King struck in the 88th minute to settle a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light.
That goal did more than decide three points. It confirmed Sunderland’s relegation from the Premier League, ending a 10-year stay in the top flight and beginning a long and painful fall that would eventually take the club down to the third tier. For Bournemouth it was almost incidental, a late winner on a day their status was already secure. For Sunderland it was the night the lights went out on an era.

A rivalry renewed
The clubs did not meet in league competition again until Sunderland worked their way back to the top division. When they were reunited, the games reflected a Bournemouth side that had matured into an established mid-table Premier League outfit and a Sunderland team rediscovering its footing at the highest level.
In November 2025 Sunderland took a 3-2 win at the Stadium of Light, recovering from a difficult position to edge a five-goal game. The return at the Vitality in February 2026 finished 1-1, honours shared once more. Then, on 18 October 2026, Bournemouth responded emphatically, winning 2-0 at home. Marcus Tavernier headed the opener inside the first ten minutes, set up by Evanilson, and the Brazilian added the second shortly after the break to put the result beyond doubt after Sunderland had been reduced to ten men.

The Premier League meetings at a glance

DateVenueResult

19 Sep 2015Vitality StadiumBournemouth 2-0 Sunderland
23 Jan 2016Stadium of LightSunderland 1-1 Bournemouth
5 Nov 2016Vitality StadiumBournemouth 1-2 Sunderland
29 Apr 2017Stadium of LightSunderland 0-1 Bournemouth
Nov 2025Stadium of LightSunderland 3-2 Bournemouth
Feb 2026Vitality StadiumBournemouth 1-1 Sunderland
18 Oct 2026Vitality StadiumBournemouth 2-0 Sunderland

What the record tells us
Reading the head-to-head purely by its all-time totals is misleading. Sunderland’s 6-3 lead is almost entirely a relic of the late 1980s, when the clubs were briefly divisional peers and the Black Cats were the stronger side. Strip that era out and the modern rivalry, played exclusively in the Premier League, is finely balanced. Across those seven top-flight meetings Bournemouth have won three, Sunderland two, with two draws, and the goals have flowed freely in the closer games.
The venues matter too. Bournemouth have been notably strong at home in the fixture, with wins in 2015 and 2026 and a draw in between, while Sunderland’s victories have tended to come when the sides have met with contrasting league objectives. The single most important result remains the 2017 relegation decider, a game that shaped Sunderland’s trajectory for years and which, for all the even scorelines around it, gives the fixture its lasting significance.
For now the record stands at 13 meetings, Sunderland six, Bournemouth three, four drawn. It is a short history by the standards of English football’s great rivalries, but a layered one: two clubs who have repeatedly passed each other on the way up and the way down, and whose occasional collisions have produced more drama than their modest number of meetings would suggest.