Decision is a sign of sorry times

SUNDERLAND’S decision to close the Premier Concourse may be a sign of the decline on Wearside - but the logic cannot be faulted.

Since relegation from the Premier League, the Black Cats’ attendances have dropped dramatically.

According to the official figures, the average attendance has dropped by almost a third from 41,287 last season to a current level of 27,692.

In reality, though, the decline has been far greater.

While this season’s attendances have been calculated in the same way as in previous years – season tickets plus walk-up sales plus the away contingent – they do not bear any resemblance to the actual number of bums on seats.

A number of season ticket holders have voted with their feet and have stayed away – and who can blame them, given the club’s ongoing failings which have seen them win only two of their last 29 league games on home soil.

The true figure is much closer to 20,000 than 30,000 – you can see the evidence with your own eyes.

If, as seems increasingly likely, Sunderland find themselves playing League One football next season, that figure will drop still further – by how much it is impossible to gauge as results and the ownership of the club will be all-important.

What cannot be ignored is the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light has suffered badly this season from the fact the 48,000-capacity ground is less than half full.

Moving the 1,500 Premier Concourse season ticket holders down to the lower tier will fill empty seats and bring the fans closer to the action.

It will also save the cashstrapped club money in terms of staffing, the Premier Concourse left to house only the directors’ box, the media and some fans in the club’s corporate areas which directly access the top tier.

Sunderland’s attendances no longer justify the extra capacity.

Rather than have fans spread out across a larger area, it makes sense to bring them together. Desperate times call for desperate measures.