Although Sunderland left it very late to secure their Premier League status, Sam Allardyce reached the objective he was set when taking over from Dutchman Dick Advocaat as manager of the Black Cats.

Italian coach Francesco Gui-dolin replaced Garry Monk and the Swans moved up to 12th place, well clear of the relegation zone.

Alan Curtis had a short spell in charge of Swansea on a caretaker basis.

Sunderland managed to extend their Premier League stay to nine years in a row while Swansea have gone on a sequence of five years in the top echelon.

The Black Cats’ success in sidestepping the drop was even more special last season after starting the campaign worse than Aston Villa who finished bottom and were relegated to the Championship.

The real improvement came when Allardyce had his chance to reshuffle the squad.

Out went those who had failed to pull their weight and in came three players who transformed Sunderland’s season.

The stars, defender Lamine Kone, midfielder Jan Kirchhoff and winger Wahbi Khazri, changed the dynamics while defender Younes Kaboul was poor in autumn and exceptional in spring.

Goalkeeper Vito Mannone did his part and Jermain Defoe’s goals and positivity kept them up.

Sunderland’s first win of the season was a memorable one as they beat arch-rivals Newcastle 3-0.

The Black Cats only lost five in 20 league games since January and survival was assured with back-to-back victories over Chelsea and Everton at the Stadium of Light.

Monk loses job

As Swansea came off the back of the club’s best ever Premier League finish in 2014/15, there were few signs of the problems to come for Garry Monk, particularly when the Welsh side began the campaign by picking up eight points in four games in August.

A come-from-behind win over Manchester United was the highlight, their third in a row against the Red Devils.

But what followed was a miserable run of form that cost Monk his job.

A season featuring three different managers tells its own story.

The experienced Guidolin played a big part in directing the team away from the bottom three, and in the end, it turned out to be a decent finish.

Iceland’s Gylfi Sigurdsson was their best player with a crucial run of nine goals in 14 games.

In the League Cup, the Black Cats fell to Manchester City 1-4 in front of their own fans in the third round. In the FA Cup, Sunderland bowed to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium 1-3, also in round three.

Swansea suffered a shock third-round defeat to Oxford 2-3 in the FA Cup. In the League Cup, their stay lasted until round three where they went down to Hull 1-0.

English Premier League results – 2015/16

Sunderland

August
Away vs Leicester 2-4 (Defoe, Fletcher).
Home vs Norwich 1-3 (Watmore).
Home vs Swansea 1-1 (Defoe).
Away vs Aston Villa 2-2 (M’Vila, Lens).

September
Home vs Tottenham 0-1.
Away vs Bournemouth 0-2
Away vs Manchester United 0-3.

October
Home vs West Ham 2-2 (Fletcher, Lens).
Away vs West Brom 0-1.
Home vs Newcastle 3-0 (Johnson pen, Jones, Fletcher).

November
Away vs Everton 2-6 (Defoe, Fletcher).
Home vs Southampton 0-1.
Away vs Crystal Palace 1-0 (Defoe).
Home vs Stoke 2-0 (Van Aanholt, Watmore).

December
Away vs Arsenal 1-3 (Giroud og).
Home vs Watford 0-1.
Away v Chelsea 1-3 (Borini).
Away v Manchester City 1-4 (Borini).
Home v Liverpool 0-1.

January
Home vs Aston Villa 3-1 (Van Aanholt, Defoe 2).
Away vs Swansea 4-2 (Defoe 3, Van Aanholt)
Away vs Tottenham 1-4 (Van Aanholt).
Home vs Bournemouth 1-1 (Van Aanholt).

February
Home vs Manchester City 0-1.
Away vs Liverpool 2-2 (Johnson, Defoe).
Home vs Manchester United 2-1 (Khazri, De Gea og).
Away vs West Ham 0-1.

March
Home vs Crystal Palace 2-2 (N’Doye, Borini).
Away vs Southampton 1-1 (Defoe).
Away vs Newcastle 1-1 (Defoe).
Home vs West Brom 0-0.
Home vs Leicester 0-2.

April
Away vs Norwich 3-0 (Borini, Defoe, Watmore).
Home vs Arsenal 0-0.
Away vs Stoke 1-1 (Defoe pen).

May
Home vs Chelsea 3-2 (Khazri, Borini, Defoe).
Home vs Everton 3-0 (Van Aanholt, Kone 2).
Away vs Watford 2-2 (Rodwell, Lens).

Swansea

August
Away vs Chelsea 2-2 (Ayew, Gomis pen).
Home vs Newcastle 2-0 (Gomis pen, Ayew).
Away vs Sunderland 1-1 (Gomis).
Home vs Manchester United 2-1 (Ayew, Gomis).

September
Away vs Watford 0-1.
Home vs Everton 0-0.
Away vs Southampton 1-3 (Sigurdsson pen).

October
Home vs Tottenham 2-2 (Ayew, Kane og).
Home vs Stoke 0-1.
Away vs Aston Villa 2-1 (Sigurdsson, Ayew).
Home vs Arsenal 0-3.

November
Away vs Norwich 0-1.
Home vs Bournemouth 2-2 (Ayew, Shelvey pen).
Away vs Liverpool 0-1.

December
Home vs Leicester 0-3.
Away vs Manchester City 1-2 (Gomis).
Home vs West Ham 0-0.
Home vs West Brom 1-0 (Ki).
Away vs Crystal Palace 0-0.

January
Away vs Manchester United 1-2 (Sigurdsson).
Home vs Sunderland 2-4 (Sigurdsson pen, Ayew).
Home vs Watford 1-0 (Williams).
Away vs Everton 2-1 (Sigurdsson pen, Ayew).

February
Away vs West Brom 1-1 (Sigurdsson).
Home vs Crystal Palace 1-1 (Sigurdsson).
Home vs Southampton 0-1.
Away vs Tottenham 1-2 (Paloschi).

March
Away vs Arsenal 2-1 (Routledge, Williams).
Home vs Norwich1-0 (Sigurdsson).
Away vs Bournemouth 2-3 (Barrow, Sigurdsson).
Home vs Aston Villa 1-0 (Fernandez).

April
Away vs Stoke 2-2 (Sigurdsson, Paloschi).
Home vs Chelsea 1-0 (Sigurdsson).
Away vs Newcastle 0-3.
Away vs Leicester 0-4.
Home vs Liverpool 3-1 (Ayew 2, Cork).

May
Away vs West Ham 4-1 (Routledge, Ayew, Ki, Gomis).
Home vs Manchester City 1-1 (Ayew).