Black Cats fans can make SoL return – to watch Ipswich on a telly!

Sunderland fans will be able to watch next week’s clash with Ipswich Town at the Stadium of Light – but not from the stands.

Current government guidance means that supporters are still prohibited from attending elite sporting fixtures, which includes Sunderland’s games.

But fans will be able to watch the clash with the Tractor Boys on Tuesday, November 3 at the Stadium of Light – albeit from Quinn’s Sports Bar.

The club have announced plans to stream home and away games within the popular stadium-based bar, with fans able to gain admission, an arrival drink and a onecourse meal for a price of £20.

Yet they will have to watch the game on a screen from the bar, all while the action takes place only steps away.

A number of other clubs have offered similar arrangements and, in some cases, have had to shut curtains and blinds in hospitality lounges to ensure the pitch is not visible, given the current guidance.

Clubs remain keen for fans to return, with Sunderland CEO Jim Rodwell last week slamming the government stance on supporters attending games.

“It's soul destroying for those people who worked so hard to put us in the position to potentially bring fans back,” he told the #SAFCUnfiltered podcast.

"We, as a football club, are convinced that we can safely have fans in the stadium.

“We had pilot events that went incredibly well, we were ready and able before the rug was pulled from underneath us.

"I think the hardest thing to accept about that was the lack of rationale.

“You see things that are going on, full theatres, and we're just getting told for no real, apparent reason that we can't have fans. That's soul destroying.

“[Culture secretary] Oliver Dowden was asked a direct question in front of a parliamentary committee about why we can have people in theatres and not a stadium – there was no answer.

“What really disappoints me is that the answers now seem to be quite flippant. Football doesn't seem to be important. The government says it is, but they don't demonstrate it.

“Sooner or later, football clubs will go bust.”

You can book your ticket to watch the game at the Stadium of Light at safc.com.