Sunderland kicks off new home kit

The shirt for the 2016-17 season went on sale at the club's shops at the Stadium of Light, The Galleries in Washington and Debenhams in The Bridges this morning.

The new design was unveiled last week and has already proved popular with Black Cats fans, with pre-orders placed on-line and in club stores.

Toni Harrison, 28, from Seaham, was among those at the stadium first thing to get her hands on the new shirt.

Toni, who has been a season ticket holder at the Stadium of Light for seven seasons, is a regular at the club's kit launches.

"We are here every year for launch day." she said.

"You get to meet some of the fans you know from the match and you get to meet some new people."

Mum Mandy was picking up the bill for shirts for Toni, sister Emily and nephew Joshua - 43 years to the day since Sunderland's historic FA Cup win.

"It's especially nice to be getting the new shirt on the anniversary of the cup win this year," said Mandy.

Sunderland AFC’s head of retail, Stuart Middlemiss, said: “The launch of a new kit is always hotly anticipated and everyone is looking forward to tomorrow. We have already received really positive feedback about the new kit and I’m sure it will prove to be very popular.”