'My mam cried, broken-hearted' – Elderly Sunderland fans hit out at ticket treatment and communication issues
New cases highlight concerns over ticketing policy, with elderly fans among those affected across multiple areas of the stadium.
Concerns over Sunderland’s ticketing policy have deepened further after new accounts emerged highlighting the treatment of elderly supporters, with multiple fans contacting The Echo to outline a range of issues.
The latest testimonies follow ongoing complaints raised by supporters across the past two seasons, while fan group Red and White Army (RAWA) recently criticised the club for a lack of engagement and failure to act on a request to pause the renewal deadline amid widespread issues.
One of the most striking cases involves 89-year-old Pat Watt and her daughter Alison Berry, 67, who say they were left without their long-held seats despite setting up payment in advance. Mrs Watt, a season ticket holder since 1998, explained: “I set up a direct debit on the 4th of April last year for our normal seats, and then we found out that they'd sold them!”
“How did they know that my direct debit hadn't come out? Because they don't come out till May, and this was April. We set up the direct debit on the 4th of April, and on the 14th of April, they'd resold my seats, saying my direct debit had failed. We want to know how the direct debit failed.”
Mrs Berry explained that no notification was received at the time, with the issue only discovered by chance. “We got no notification apart from an email confirming we'd booked the direct debit payments. We checked with the bank then, and they said nobody had set up a direct debit. It was only by chance that we found out we didn't have seats.”
The situation left the pair scrambling for alternatives, with seats eventually found but described as unsuitable given Mrs Watt’s mobility issues following a fall which left her with four bone breaks and a titanium rod from her knee to her hip, alongside two separate knee replacements.
Mrs Berry added: “They did find the two seats together, which were totally unsuitable. They were in the weather right at the front, in the middle of a row. My mam had to get up and down - she's 89 years old and has massive mobility issues. Then they moved her to a seat seven rows from me in the dry, which is not ideal. I'm her carer.”
Mrs Berry also questioned why their original seats appeared to remain unused throughout this season. “The ironic thing is, our original seats that they resold have never been sat in. We want to know how they could have been resold 10 days later. We have had to pay a £20 fee when moving seats, and my seat is now about £200 per year more expensive, and we’re still having problems.”
She added that repeated attempts to resolve the situation proved difficult. Mrs Berry added: “The communication from the club has been bad. We've been to the ticket office, I don't know how many times. I've sent emails and got no reply. I’ve eventually gone through AskSAFC and had some replies, but they’ve stopped coming. There's nobody you can talk to in the ticket office. It's just the girls behind the barrier. You can't get past that stage.
“This is a last resort because I don’t want to talk negatively. I love the club. My Mam has been a supporter for 77 years, and my Dad’s ashes are in the ground. My Mam's got a Sunderland tattoo. My Mam cried, broken-hearted, because she thought she wasn't going to get a seat to watch the team. How can they do this to somebody? We've been there through the thick and the thin, all the divisions, up and down. Even after her fall two years ago, I was pushing her in a wheelchair so she could get to see the game.”
Another case involving Sunderland fan Karen Jacques highlights similar concerns regarding elderly supporters. “My Mam, Sylvia Pickard, is 90 in June this year and has supported Sunderland home and away since the age of 15,” Mrs Jacques said. “She also worked at Roker Park and has been to every single Wembley final (after 1937). She moved into the Black Cats Bar five years ago because we thought it would be more comfortable as she got older.”
However, following the transition to 76 Yards and rising prices, the family say they have been unable to move back to general admission. Admission to the bar soared from £790 to around £2,300 for the current season and is set to rise again. “My mother and sister (Jackie Atkinson, 64) decided to give it a try for one season, thinking they would have the option to move, as in previous years, if they didn’t like it or thought it wasn’t worth the money.
“Obviously, they now don’t think it’s worth the extra cost and have tried to move - unsuccessfully. My sister emailed David Bruce twice and eventually got a response from an administrator saying there was nothing they could do other than give up the corporate ticket and join the waiting list.”
Mrs Jacques, 62, also highlighted the lack of flexibility regarding Sunderland’s over-85s policy. “My Mam discovered that over-85s who have held a season ticket for more than three years can receive a free season ticket. She asked if any reduction could be made to the corporate price and was told no, as they are two different departments. So my Mam is paying £2,000-plus for a ticket when she could have had one for free.
“Obviously, there are available seats in the ground, otherwise there wouldn’t be a waiting list, so surely before any tickets are sold to new applicants, all existing season ticket holders - whether corporate or general admission - should have the option to move seats first.”
The family now feel they have little choice but to remain, adding that they have been backed into a corner. “As a family, we feel she is being held to ransom because she won’t give up her corporate season ticket in case she ends up without one at all. She has only ever missed one game - when she had a stroke - and it was a Newcastle game. She was distraught.”
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The latest accounts add to a growing body of evidence suggesting a range of issues within Sunderland’s ticketing process, particularly for long-standing supporters and those with specific needs. The Echo has since received further testimony from a wide cross-section of Sunderland supporters, not limited to elderly fans but spanning multiple age groups and backgrounds. Accounts shared in recent days point towards a range of issues, including problems with direct debit failures, seat allocation errors and ongoing difficulties when attempting to select or move seats during the renewal process.
Concerns have also been raised about the consistency and clarity of communication, with supporters describing similar experiences across different areas of the stadium and ticketing structure - from the Jimmy Montgomery Suite to corporate boxes, 76 Yards and general admission.
New cases continue to emerge on a daily basis, suggesting the impact of the current policy is being felt broadly, affecting fans from all walks of life as the club navigates life back in the Premier League. The Echo has approached Sunderland AFC for comment on the issues raised.
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