Sunderland AFC relaunch successful Gift of Football scheme - and this is how you can get involved

It comes after dozens of fans and businesses have already contacted the Stadium of Light Box Office in a bid to relaunch the initiative ahead of the Black Cats’ Boxing Day fixture against Bolton Wanderers.

Last year 1,650 tickets were donated in 2018, as supporters, staff, players and partners ensured nobody missed out, and a record-breaking crowd of 46,039 watched the Bradford City victory.

Officials at Sunderland hope the scheme will be just as successful this season.

It was originally dreamt up by season-card holder Simon Baty, he said: “The origins are not as exciting as you may think – I was just sitting at home one night and because of work, my eldest son realised that he would only be able to attend one of our festive fixtures.

“For various reasons, we opted for Blackpool, so we knew that we had a spare ticket for Boxing Day that we didn’t want to go to waste, and it just took off from there.

“My father passed away a few years ago, and the last game we went to together was on Boxing Day.

“It was freezing and we lost miserably – but sometimes those are the memories you cherish the most, because going to games with family, especially at this time of year, is about far more than what happens on the pitch.”

Working alongside the Foundation of Light, as well a multitude of other local charities, the club will be distributing tickets throughout the local community in the build-up to Christmas.

This is how Sunderland fans can get involved this year:

Gift of Football tickets are priced at £15 and can be donated by clicking here.

Supporters are advised to select ‘digital’ from the delivery options when checking out to ensure they are not charged a postage fee.

Regular tickets for Sunderland’s Boxing Day fixture against Bolton will be on sale from Monday.