Sunderland to host pre-season friendly at Stadium of Light - on same weekend as International Air Show

The Black Cats have confirmed that the Dutch side will make the journey to Wearside on Saturday, July 27 in a 7pm kick-off.

And the club hope the game will provide the ‘perfect accompaniment’ to what is set to be a busy weekend in the city, with the International Air Show once again set to take flight.

Jack Ross’ side now have four pre-season fixtures confirmed – with games against South Shields, Benfica B and Belenenses already pencilled in.

But it is the friendly with the Eredivise side – whose former players include Georgios Samaras and Afonso Alves – that is sure to be the one that attracts the most interest from loyal supporters – as Sunderland take in their first home friendly since 2017.

After confirming the friendly, Sunderland AFC Managing Director Tony Davison said: “Having a home friendly the week before the season starts is always the preference from a footballing perspective, but this has been a challenge in recent years with the dates coinciding with Sunderland International Airshow weekend.

“Through our partnership with the city council we have worked to find a solution and have agreed on the optimum time to stage a game, which allows supporters and visitors to the city to enjoy all that the airshow has to offer, and then come along to the game.

“With hundreds of thousands of visitors coming to the city it’s a great weekend for Sunderland and the football club is proud to be part of that.”