Phil Smith: Sunderland risk setting precedent loyal fans are expendable - it shouldn't be that way
Sunderland fans have been reacting with concern to some of the issues they have faced during the season ticket renewal period
For many supporters, this last 12 months has been the best they have ever experienced following Sunderland AFC.
The club feels as if it could genuinely be on the brink of something special, with a buzz and an excitement around the city not seen since the glory days of the Peter Reid era. The foundations for a prolonged spell of success seem to be in place, and the future looks brighter than it has done at any stage for the last two decades.
That makes it all the more frustrating and self-defeating to see the widespread disappointment many of the club's season-ticket holders have been experiencing during the current renewal period. So persistent have the issues been, supporter group the Red and White Army felt compelled to issue a statement on Sunday urging the club to pause and extend the renewal window so that they can be fully addressed. At time of writing, there are no indications that Sunderland intend to do so and as a result, there will be season ticket holders going back decades essentially shut out for next season.
In the case of two supporters who spoke to The Echo, soaring costs in corporate areas have forced them to reconsider their options ahead of next season. Both have supported the club and held a season ticket for decades, sticking by the club during its long exile from the top tier. Not only have they been told that the club will not accommodate them moving back into general admission, they have also been told that they will have to join the back of a 15,000-strong waiting list. Not unreasonably, it feels as if their support has been taken for granted and discarded in better times for the club. There are also fans who have seen costs in their area of the Stadium of Light jump considerably, and have found the process of trying to move to a cheaper seat incredibly difficult. The feeling is that the club is working against them, rather than with them.
The cost of supporting Sunderland AFC has risen considerably over the last few years, but so too has the quality of the football on show. When significant price hikes were announced for the 2026/27 campaign, most supporters accepted it as the prize of success. The club had shown ambition in the team that it had built, and fans were content to dig that little bit deeper to play their own part in the journey. It's believed around 96% have renewed, reflective of the overwhelming view that the good times on offer are worth the excess. The point here is that especially with the new SCR rules coming into place this summer, there is an understanding across the fanbase that Sunderland need to drive and improve their revenues. All it requires is empathy and understanding for those loyal fans who will be impacted by the obvious challenges at a time when the cost of living continues to grow.
The length of the club's waiting list shows the demand across the city, which is immensely exciting and a reflection of so much good work that has gone on behind the scenes in recent years. Clearly, it has also strengthened the club's position when setting out its policy for the renewal phase. Sunderland should know better than anyone, though, that this is a volatile sport. Sunderland are on the up and the team is thriving, but who is to say that there won't be bumps in the road or that there won't be setbacks on what is hopefully an otherwise upward trajectory? The fans who stuck through the club through the fall to League One and the fallow years that followed have shown that they will be there behind the club when the difficult moments come and when they are needed the most. You take that for granted at your peril.
The club's rapid growth has also presented it with huge opportunities to grow revenues nationally and internationally. Undoubtedly, those opportunities are there in part because of the exciting team that has been built by the club and its ownership group and the way they have captured the imagination of so many neutrals in the wider footballing world. But they are also there because so many people have connected with the story of the club's rebirth and especially the loyalty of the fanbase who stuck with it through all those lows that were documented on Sunderland 'Til I Die and beyond. It makes no sense in the short or long-term to risk eroding the strength of the connection that has been so painstakingly built of late.
None of these issues are unique to Sunderland, and all of the club's supporters will understand that there is to a degree a price to be paid for being part of the most lucrative league in the world. It doesn't seem unreasonable, though, to ask Sunderland to put their most loyal supporters first and to do more to help navigate the challenges the financial realities of the top tier bring. Sunderland, its board and its ownership risk setting a precedent that as they move into a new, exciting era its longest-serving fans are expendable. It doesn't have to be that way, and it shouldn't be that way.