Coleman binned as Cats sold
ELLIS SHORT sold Sunderland and wrote off £140million in debts – as boss Chris Coleman was sacked.
In a dramatic day at the Stadium of Light, a consortium led by Eastleigh FC owner Stewart Donald took charge.
Coleman was sacked at noon, half an hour before Short announced he had struck a deal to sell up. The former Wales boss wanted to stay and rebuild “with a plan”, but admitted last week new owners could get rid of him.
US tycoon Short, who spent £200m trying to revive Sunderland only to take them to League One, wrote off a personal debt of £70m and wiped out another to a bank for a similar sum, to hand over the club “debt free”. Donald will now appoint Sunderland’s 12th manager in 10 years. Former boss Mick Mccarthy and Jaap Stam are among the favourites and former Oxford coach Michael Appleton also has links to Donald.
Short said in a statement: “I have paid off all debts owed by the club to leave it financially strong and debt-free for the first time since years before I owned it.
“It is no secret that I have been trying to sell Sunderland, but I have waited until the right group came along that have the experience, finances and plan to take this great club back to where it deserves to be.
“My chairmanship has not gone the way I would have wished – the many high points of a decade in the Premier League have been overshadowed by the low points of the last two terrible seasons.
“I was therefore determined to ensure that I leave Sunderland in the best possible hands and the best possible state to turn the corner. To achieve this, higher offers from lessqualified buyers were rejected.”