Sunderland on the verge of new owners?
A North- East business which has made its name in waste management is keen to help clear up the mess at crisis club Sunderland.
G. O’brien & Sons, who have close links with the Black Cats, are understood to be interested in playing a role in a consortium that would take control from Sunderland’s owner-chairman Ellis Short.
The American billionaire financier is willing to sell the relegation- threatened Championship club, who are more than £100million in debt.
O’brien Waste Recycling Solutions, which emerged from parent company G. O’brien & Sons, became part of rubbish collection giant Biffa last summer in a £36m deal.
And it is believed the O’brien group, which also specialises in demolition work and was founded by Gordon O’brien senior in 1973 – the year of Sunderland’s famous FA Cup final triumph over Leeds – would look at joining other investors in a Stadium of Light takeover.
Short took full control of Sunderland in May 2009 from Niall Quinn’s largely Irish Drumaville consortium, but is now ready to make a cut-price exit.
Former chairman, manager and striker, Quinn is said to be acting as an advisor to interested parties, but has insisted he won’t be returning to Wearside.
The ex-republic of Ir e l a n d international carried on as chairman under Short until October 2011 when he became the Black Cats’ director of international development, but severed his ties altogether only four months later after five- and- a- half years back at the club.
■ Sunderland manager Chris Coleman has not yet given up on avoiding relegation from the Championship, despite having to settle for a 2-2 draw at fellow strugglers Reading.
“We’ve got three games to go and that’s nine points to play for,” Coleman said. “And there’s six points in it ( from safety), so the ball is firmly in other teams’ courts.
“What we’ve got to do is what we’ve been doing for the last four or five games – and that’s just go for it.”
■ Match report, pages 10-11