#DonaldOut: Sunderland fans launch explosive campaign urging Stewart Donald to sell the club

A joint statement from Roker Report, A Love Supreme, Wise Men Say and the Red and White Army was released on Friday evening – shortly after a co-ordinated message on social media.

The tweet, accompanied by the hashtag #DonaldOut, was shared by hundreds of Sunderland supporters along with a message that read: “You said you’d sell Sunderland AFC when you’d outstayed your welcome. That time is now. #DonaldOut.”

And that social media campaign was followed by a more detailed statement, outlining why the fanzines and supporters collectives feel that Donald should move aside.

The statement read: “For those at the Bolton match, you’ve earned some stripes. You were there when the club reached the lowest point in its entire history and it felt like it.

“A few fine saves from McLaughlin stopped us from losing at home to the bottom club in League One. As the chants for Super Kev reverberated around the stadium it became clear that the fans do not agree with the chosen appointment of Phil Parkinson.

“When he took a defender off for another defender the venom was too much for many to conceal. We were playing out for a clean sheet against a team that were nearly out of business less than 6 months ago.

“SAFC is a club with a proud history that deserves so much better than what we are currently being offered. As it stands we don’t know who is running the organisation within the club.

“We don’t expect to be playing in the Champions League, but we don’t expect to be set up defensively to the bottom club in League One at home on what is traditionally the biggest game of the season in terms of attendance. Nobody knows what the long term plan is and any trust that fans had in the boardroom has eroded.

“These are the fans who set attendance records for the division. The fans who have endured years of ineffective leadership within the club. Yet here we are. The ones hurting the most as a result of our current situation.

“Stewart Donald must act now. “Things can only get better” has been a defiant chant in recent times but the sentiment is a flawed one. Things can get worse…and it continues to get worse.

“If there is a realistic offer on the table he must admit that the enormity of the task at hand and cut his losses. For our club to move forward now change needs to happen on the pitch, in the dugout and in the boardroom.”

Donald has previously been in takeover talks with real estate mogul Mark Campbell, while similar discussions with American trio Glenn Fuhrman, Robert Platek and John Phelan culminated in a £10million loan to Donald's holding company - Madrox Partners.