Go – but excited for his bright future with Cats

“The coaches at both academy and first-team level were great with me, as were all of my team-mates.

“It’s a great club and I’ll definitely get to as many games as I can in the future and keep in touch as I loved every minute of it.

“You always knew there was a pathway to the first-team too because the first-team coaching staff would regularly watch us train, which always gave us that added boost.

“I feel like I’ve improved so much as a player as a result of my time at South Shields, particularly with my knowledge of the game, and I can’t thank everyone at the club enough for making my time there so valuable and enjoyable.”

South Shields academy manager Wess Brown admitted that there was a degree of sadness that Gardiner has left the club – but tipped the youngster for a bright future at Sunderland.

“We were only a short part of Harry’s football journey but what a pleasure it was to be the final stepping stone on his journey to a professional club.

“We are very happy to see Harry reach another level, but on the other hand sad to lose such a great player and person.

“The first time I watched Harry I knew he would be perfect for our scholarship programme.

“He is a quiet lad on and off the pitch but his intelligence shouts louder than any player I’ve seen for a long time.

“Harry has a bright future and has excelled in our environment, and I hope he does the same at Sunderland AFC.

“We wish him all the luck in the world on his new venture.”