Season card holders to be refunded in August as Sunderland give important update on process

The Black Cats have today outlined the process for refunding supporters who had tickets for games postponed as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

Sunderland missed three home games as a result of the decision to curtail the League One season.

Supporters have been told that they can receive a refund via their online ticketing account, but that the process will take place in three stages.

The first stage will be for thsoe with individual home match tickets, followed by fans with individual away match tickets.

Season card holders will be refunded during the period between 17-28th August.

The season card process has proved controversial, with the club initially telling fans that they would receive a streaming pass if games were played behind closed doors.

Fans were told this would also apply to anyone who opted to renew for next season.

The club eventually u-turned on both of those measures, offering full refunds for any games played without fans alongside an apology from CEO Jim Rodwell.

But with direct debit payments for the 2020/21 campaign set to be first taken in July, supporters face paying for games played next season before they are refunded for those that they have missed this time around.

EFL clubs are due to meet this week to discuss a potential restart date for next season, with some hoping that a small number of fans could be allowed into grounds by mid-September.

The season card update from Sunderland AFC, in full….

Sunderland AFC would like to thank supporters for their continued patience and advise them of the following details relating to the 2019-20 refund process.

As previously announced, all season card holders are entitled to a pro-rata refund for the club’s cancelled home fixtures against Shrewsbury Town, Accrington Stanley and Peterborough United.

And supporters that purchased single match tickets for the club’s remaining games – home and away – are entitled to a full refund.

The refund process will take place via the following phases:

PHASE ONE: Home match tickets – 6 July ‘til 17 July

PHASE TWO: Away match tickets – 27 July ‘til 7 August

PHASE THREE: Season cards – 17 August ‘til 28 August

If a supporter is eligible for a refund, a credit balance will be applied to the ‘Account Cashback’ section within their online ticketing account in line with the dates above.

This process applies to all ticket purchases, including those made in person, by cash payment and via Direct Debit.

After logging in, supporters must enter the bank details they wish to use for the refund transaction before the expiry of each phase, after which point all cashback refunds will be processed.

Meanwhile, our commercial team are currently in the process of contacting our commercial clients in order to talk through the options available to them.

The Stadium of Light Box Office remains closed to the public and further information regarding its re-opening will be announced in due course.

We would like to once again thank supporters for their continued patience and understanding throughout what remains an incredibly challenging time for us all.