Sunderland fans feel 'stranded' in Benidorm after pre-season fixtures and transport news

SAFC announced on March 1 that the team would travel to Alicante on Monday, July 15, to spend seven days in Costa Blanca, with the news reiterated in May.

The club then announced fixtures on June 15, with Sunderland to meet Spanish side CD Eldense on Sunday, July 21. Nottingham Forest were later confirmed as the July 19 opposition.

The club then added both fixtures will kick off at 7pm local time at the Pinatar Arena in San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia.

Fans say many had booked to stay in Benidorm in Alicante after SAFC made the initial announcement.

But this leaves them around 90 minutes from the venue.

Alicante and Murcia are separate provinces of Spain, so some fans felt aggrieved.

SAFC it was ‘exploring the possibility of coordinating coach travel for supporters to and from each fixture’.

However, the club announced on July 9 that this would not be going ahead.

A statement read: "Due to limited demand and following extensive dialogue with local authorities, the club is unfortunately unable to provide transport to and from the Pinatar Arena."

This left some fans feeling disgruntled, including Simon Wade, an estate agent and Sunderland fan who has lived in the Alicante area for five years.

He set about arranging travel for 64 fans on the Friday and 56 on the Sunday, and says he "could have got more".

Mr Wade got in touch with the Echo to voice his disappointment with the club.

"I'd seen online that people were looking for transport from Benidorm down to San Pedro, about an-hour-and-a-half away, principally because we were led to believe that the games would be in the Benidorm area,” he said.

"I've got a friend, Daren Scott, who runs an airport transfer business, Clyde Grove Golf Transfers. He's got a couple of 16-seater minibuses and I told him there might be some business for him.

"It turns out that loads of people have hired minibuses and coaches as well because they'd been left in the same predicament - getting from Benidorm to San Pedro. There's no public transport. San Pedro is in the middle of nowhere basically.

"I've still got people getting in touch who will be stuck in Benidorm. We're trying to beg or borrow licensed, insured minibuses and drivers just to get fans to San Pedro.

"It's nice that the club has arranged pre-season friendlies in such a beautiful part of the world, but there's no denying that the fans' transport issue has been handled very poorly.

"On top of the stranded fans that Darren and I are helping out, there are hundreds of others. Nonetheless, it should be a great day out and fans get to see a bit more of Spain than they'd expected."

SAFC has been approached for comment but is yet to respond.

The matches can be watched on the club's digital platforms.