The run of losses started against Everton on 18 January 2003 and continued through the remaining fourteen games of the season. Unsurprisingly, the Black Cats finished at the bottom of the table and were relegated to Division One. After two seasons in the second tier, they made their way back to the Premier League for the 2005-06 season.
But they had not left their losing streak behind in the intervening years and started the new season with losses to Charlton, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Wigan to bring the run to nineteen consecutive Premier League defeats. That brought up the game against Chelsea, who started their season with four consecutive wins.
Playing at Stamford Bridge, Sunderland fought hard to end their frustration and managed to go into the break level at 0-0. But they conceded second half goals from Geremi (54') and Didier Drogba (82') to push their losing streak to twenty games.
It ended there, as Sunderland drew their next match at home to West Brom, then they won the one after that, beating Middlesbrough 2-0. But another run of bad form followed and they finished the season at the bottom of the table again and were relegated for the next season.
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