Sunderland Fixtures 2013/14: Fulham First Up

After the initial visit of The Cottagers, the red and white army will embark on their longest away trip In England of the season straight away, as a trip to Southampton awaits them in the second week of the season.

Meanwhile, Sunderland will end the season at home to Swansea City, with a repeat of last season's boring 0-0 draw hopefully not on the agenda. The final away tie of the season is an ominous trip to Manchester United.

Of course, despite no one caring about their north-east rivals for fear of being labelled obsessed, the derby with Newcastle United is the first fixture many look for on days like this.

Just like last year, the home leg will take place in October, with October 26th the provisional date. The return leg at St James Park is pencilled in for February 1st - the last time the fixture was played in February a certain Joe Kinnear was in charge of the black and whites.

Other significant dates see Sunderland travel to Everton on Boxing Day to ruin everyone's Christmas, while the new year will be ushered in with the home visit of Aston Villa on the January 1st 2014.

A fairly terrifying run of home games awaits the club from September through to December 7th - Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are all lined up in consecutive games at the Stadium of Light.

Of course, the flip-side of that is a more agreeable end to the season. In March, Sunderland will face West Brom, Crystal Palace and West Ham at home. April, too, will end with a winnable home game against newly-promoted Cardiff City.

Perhaps the most crucial part of the season will come between mid-December and mid-February.

Find the full list of fixtures below:

17/08/2013 Fulham (h)

24/08/2013 Southampton (a)

31/08/2013 Crystal Palace (a)

14/09/2013 Arsenal (h)

21/09/2013 West Bromwich Albion (a)

28/09/2013 Liverpool (h)

05/10/2013 Manchester United (h)

19/10/2013 Swansea City (a)

26/10/2013 Newcastle United (h)

02/11/2013 Hull City (a)

09/11/2013 Manchester City (h)

23/11/2013 Stoke City (a)

30/11/2013 Aston Villa (a)

03/12/2013 Chelsea (h)

07/12/2013 Tottenham Hotspur (h)

14/12/2013 West Ham United (a)

21/12/2013 Norwich City (h)

26/12/2013 Everton (a)

28/12/2013 Cardiff City (a)

01/01/2014 Aston Villa (h)

11/01/2014 Fulham (a)

18/01/2014 Southampton (h)

28/01/2014 Stoke City (h)

01/02/2014 Newcastle United (a)

08/02/2014 Hull City (h)

12/02/2014 Manchester City (a)

22/02/2014 Arsenal (a)

01/03/2014 West Bromwich Albion (h)

08/03/2014 Liverpool (a)

15/03/2014 Crystal Palace (h)

22/03/2014 Norwich City (a)

29/03/2014 West Ham United (h)

05/04/2014 Tottenham Hotspur (a)

12/04/2014 Everton (h)

19/04/2014 Chelsea (a)

26/04/2014 Cardiff City (h)

03/05/2014 Manchester United (a)

11/05/2014 Swansea City (h)