Ahead of Tuesday's Leasing.com Trophy tie against Grimsby Town, safc.com have delved into the archives and looked at some players who have played for both sides.
The Mariners travel to the Stadium of Light for the first time since 1998.
Danny Collins
Danny Collins signed for Sunderland in 2004 from Chester City and played 14 times during that promotion winning campaign.
He scored his first goal for the Lads on the final day of the 2005-06 season against Aston Villa as the team were relegated to the Championship.
The hiring of Roy Keane in August 2006 was just the tonic for Collins as he featured regularly throughout the Championship winning season.
Keane continued to trust Collins throughout the 2007-08 Premier League season, and he added to his goal tally at Fulham in a 3-1 away win.
The following season saw Sunderland struggle and change managers with Keane being replaced by Ricky Sbragia, but Collins still impressed despite the teams struggles and won the Player of the Year award.
He left the club in 2009 to join Stoke City and followed that with spells at Ipswich, West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Rotherham before joining Grimsby in 2016.
After three seasons at the Mariners, Collins decided to hang up his boots having played 571 games and scoring 22 goals.
Michael Reddy
Peter Reid brought Michael Reddy to Sunderland in 1999 and touted him as one of the best young players he had ever seen.
He made his debut later that year against Wimbledon in the League Cup, coming on in the 71st minute to replace John Oster.
That weekend, Reid gave Reddy a chance in the Premier League as he brought him on with 10 minutes to go in a 2-1 home win against Aston Villa.
Reddy scored his first goal for Sunderland just a few weeks later as he finished off a Kevin Phillips penalty miss and equalised against Middlesbrough.
That was to be as good as it ever got for him though as he suffered a series of injuries and was eventually released in 2004 having played just 14 games.
He joined Russell Slade’s Grimsby in the summer of 2004 and helped the club stabilise itself in the fourth tier.
After three seasons at the club where he scored 26 goals, he retired from the game because of the recurring injuries he suffered earlier in his career.
Tony Ford
Tony Ford played just under 500 games for Grimsby over two spells and is one of just three players to have featured in over 1000 football league games.
Of those 1000, nine came at Sunderland where he enjoyed a loan spell in 1986 from Grimsby.
He made his debut for the Mariners in 1975 aged just 16 and went on to play in the fourth, third and second division before moving to Sunderland.
His debut for the Lads was a memorable one as he came on for Paul Lemon in the 62nd minute against Bradford before netting the equaliser just 10 minutes later to gain Sunderland a point.
Ford moved to Stoke in the summer of 1986 and played for West Brom, Grimsby again, Bradford, Scunthorpe, Mansfield and Rochdale before hanging his boots up in 2001 at the age of 41.
Ethan Robson
Current Sunderland player and academy product Ethan Robson joined Grimsby Town on loan in August of this year in search of regular game time and to develop his game to the next level.
He made his debut for Sunderland back in 2017 at Goodison Park and provided a string of impressive performances that season as he slowly established himself as a first-team squad member.
A loan spell at Dundee last season was a great experience for Robson as he played 13 games, scoring two, for the relegation bound team.
He netted his first and only goal for Sunderland against Carlisle last season in the Checkatrade Trophy, thumping in a 20-yard effort into the bottom right corner.
Since joining Grimsby, he has scored three league goals, including a brace against Exeter in a 3-1 win.
John Oster
John Oster started his career at Grimsby, making his debut as a teenager in 1996.
He played just 26 games for the Mariners when Everton paid £1.5 million for him in 1997, making him their record sale.
While at Everton, Oster featured regularly but failed to put his stamp on the team and scored just one league goal against Barnsley.
Oster moved to Sunderland in 1999 for a fee of just over £1 million and featured on a semi-regular basis, making 88 appearances in his five seasons.
He left the club in 2005 to join Burnley before moving to Reading in the summer of 2005. He later featured for Crystal Palace, Doncaster Rovers, Barnet and Gateshead before hanging his boots up in 2015.
