Credit: Imago

Josh Edwards

Thu 13 March 2025 15:21, UK Updated Thu 13 March 2025 17:13, UK

Sunderland launched their season ticket renewal campaign on Wednesday, and the small print completely disregards their loyal fanbase.

Regis Le Bris’ side remain on course to achieve promotion through one means or another, though performances have often been hit or miss.

A lack of consistency has seen the Black Cats fall away from the automatic promotion conversation, with the latest 1-1 draw at home to Preston a showcase of some of their struggles this season.

However, one thing that has remained consistent is the level of unwavering support the Wearsiders have received both home and away.

Not just this season, but throughout the last few, even dating back to the League One campaigns under the likes of Lee Johnson and Alex Neil.

Unfortunately, it seems as though the club is almost penalising that support and loyalty after one detail was highlighted by supporters on social media in regard to the season ticket renewals.

Sunderland have made a huge error with season ticket decision

As it stands, Sunderland are unaware as to which division they will be playing their football in, though fans are being encouraged to sign up for the new campaign.

While the prices seem fair, the small print certainly doesn’t. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, and Sunderland need to do something about it.

Junior season ticket holders who fail to attend at least 70 per cent of next season’s home games will become ineligible for future loyalty discounts, while a failure to attend even less than that could actually see those supporters have their ticket revoked.

Now, the news seems to suggest that it only applies to junior tickets, but that doesn’t change an awful lot when it comes to how it has been approached, and it will still affect plenty of others.

While it hasn’t been confirmed, it would appear as though the reasoning behind it is to improve the matchday atmosphere and ensure that the stadium is as full as it can be for each and every fixture, but the way they have gone about it is horribly wrong.

Sunderland supporters are already penalised elsewhere

With the growing revenue to come from broadcast rights, a 3 pm kickoff is almost unheard of nowadays, and that alone already has a massive effect on supporters who have other things to attend to.

Whether that be work, children or personal reasons, fans are already having to miss out on watching their team due to the constant changing of fixtures to dates and times that are simply not suitable for some.

Several games have already taken place midweek, which would mean supporters would often get home no earlier than 11 pm in some cases, which for families with children in school, would be a huge issue.

Now, Sunderland essentially want to penalise those fans even further by making them ineligible for future discounts and almost threatening to cancel their tickets. It’s simply not right.

Each and every fan in that stadium is a paying customer, and what they do with their season ticket should be entirely their own doing.

RAWA have been made aware of the concerns and have confirmed that they will be taking them to the club for comment.