Nathan Blake leaves SAFC 30/7/04

Today, Mick confirmed that Nathan Blake has left Sunderland after inviting him to train with Sunderland for a week. He was on course for playing in Sunderland's friendly against Doncaster Rovers on Sunday.

Scunthorpe 1-1 Sunderland 29/7/04

Sunderland's second domestic friendly ended all square. Scunthorpe took the lead in the 47th minute through a Dean Whitehead own goal. Sunderland eventually got the equaliser in the 86th minute with Carl Robinson headering home a corner taken by Sean Thornton. The match was on in which Sunderland never really got a hold on as they took part in this scrappy affair.

Sunderland: Poom (Myhre 46); Williams, Lynch, Caldwell, McCartney; Leadbitter (Robinson 52), Thornton Whitehead, Ryan (Oster 52); Stewart (Brown 46), Elliott. Subs: Arca, Breen, Taggert, Whitley.

Scunthorpe: Musselwhite, Stanton, Crosby, Williams, Butler, Taylor, Baraclough, Kell, Beagrie, Hayes, Torpey. Subs: Evans, Sparrow, Graves, Jackson, Byrne, Barwick, Parton.

Breen Takes Charge 29/7/04

Central defender Gary Breen has been named the new captain of Sunderland AFC by Mick McCarthy.

Strikers invited 29/7/04

Mick McCarthy has invited strikers Nathan Blake (Wolves) and Mark Burchill (Pompey) to train with Sunderland. Mick has been chasing a new striker and has now become closer to getting one.

Playing for Places 27/7/04

Mick McCarthy has admitted that there are still a number of places up for grabs as the pre-season is gradually progressing towards the end. More of the squad will be given the chance to impress as Sunderland take on Scunthorpe in their next friendly, and against Doncaster in their final friendly before the Coca-Cola Championship gets underway.

Barnsley 1-2 Sunderland 26/7/04

Sunderland secured a victory in their first domestic friendly with a 2 -1 win at Oakwell. Marcus Stewart opened the scoring in the first half, with John Oster scoring after the break to make it 2-0. However Barnsley got a goal back 30 seconds after Sunderland went 2 up to make the friendly more interesting. Several of Sunderland's players such as Brown impressed in the performance.

Sunderland: Alnwick (Ingham 46), Wright, Breen, Clark, McCartney, Oster, Whitley, Robinson, Arca, Stewart, Brown. Subs: Caldwell, Williams, Thornton, Leadbitter, Teggart, Ryan, Whitehead.

Barnsley: Colgan, Hassell, T. Williams, Reid, Carbon, Vaughan, Burns, Conlon, McPhail, Boulding, Shuker. Subs: Scarsella, Nardiello, Austin, Tonge, Kay, R. Williams, Wroe, Baker, Heslop, Onibuje.

Injuries hit Sunderland 25/7/04

Sunderland have been hit with injuries..again. This time it is two of our new signings. Firstly, Mark Lynch is doubtful to appear in Sunderland's first domestic friendly against Barnsley. Secondly, Liam Lawrence has damaged his ankle ligaments in America, and is likely to miss the start of the season.

Site Unattended 16/7/04

From Saturday(17th) - Sunday (25th), the site will be unattended. Sorry for any inconvenience, due to the fact that there will be no news updates within next week. The Message Board will be available to use, so keep posting!

Lynch Confident 16/7/04

Mark Lynch has let on that his 11 years at Old Trafford, will help him become a success on Wearside. Mark Lynch, who arrived at Sunderland yesterday, left Manchester united with a year still left on his contract and has now signed a 3 year deal at the Stadium of Light.

Opening Pre-Season game abandoned 15/7/04

Carolina All-Stars were leading Sunderland by 2-1 until in the 57th minute, the match was abandoned due to a thunderstorm. Dean Whitehead scored Sunderland's goal to equalise and make the score 1-1. Gary Breen skippered the side, with all the new signings before the tour, appearing in the line-up.

Sunderland Sign Mark Lynch 15/7/04

Sunderland announced their sixth summer signing after Mick signed Manchester United defender Mark Lynch, on a 3 year deal. He is delighted to sign for Sunderland as he quit Old Trafford in search of first team football. The 22 year old has appeared in the Champions League, and has played for St Johnstone on a loan deal.The Manchester-born right-back joins Stephen Elliott, Dean Whitehead, Liam Lawrence, Steven Caldwell and Carl Robinson on the list of new players at the Stadium of Light.

The Squad that are in the USA 13/7/04

The full squad includes: Mart Poom, Ben Alnwick, Stephen Wright, Darren Williams, Steve Caldwell, Gary Breen, Ben Clark, George McCartney, Liam Lawrence, Dean Whitehead, Carl Robinson, Sean Thornton, Jeff Whitley, Julio Arca, Grant Leadbitter, Richie Ryan, Kevin Kyle, Marcus Stewart, Stephen Eliott, Chris Brown and Neil Teggart.

Sunderland prepare for their first friendly against Carolina All-Stars on Wednesday. The kick-off time in America will be 7.30pm. However, America are 5 hours behind the UK :(

Sunderland Go Stateside  12/7/04

Today, is the first full day that Sunderland are in America. SAFC will be on tour in America for 12 days. They will spend 3 or 4 days in each of Raleigh, Charleston and Wilmington. After the tour, Sunderland will proceed to play 3 more friendlies in England.

First Round Carling Cup Tie 8/7/04

Sunderland will play at home to Chester in the first round of the Carling Cup. The first round ties will be played the week commencing, Monday 23rd August.

Sunderland show interest in Connolly 7/7/04

Rumours are spreading about the fact that Mick McCarthy may make a move in an attempt to sign West Ham striker, David Connolly. The rumoured price is around 500k. Sunderland were also interested in David Connolly before last season, before he made the move to West Ham.This is an attempt from McCarthy to strengthen the strike force after he pulled out of the bid for Eliseu.

Stock Exchange Announcement 7/7/04

Sunderland have announced that they have pulled out of the London Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit the official Sunderland AFC website.

Sunderland Seeded in Carling Cup 7/7/04

Sunderland have been put in Northern seeds for the Carling Cup draw which takes place tomorrow. This gaurantees Sunderland a tie with a football league 1 or 2 side.

Todays Round-up  6/7/04

Today, Sunderland returned to training to begin their pre-season and the total 306 day season. Sunderland have also announced that they have pulled out of their attempt to sign Eliseu, the young Portugese target. However, through unconfirmed reports, Sunderland have increased their interest in signing Scottish international, Kenny Miller due to Miller handing a transfer request at Wolves. Sunderland are also still interested in signing Swindon's Sam Parkin.

General Speculation at Sunderland 5/7/04

The latest gossip around the Stadium of Light at the moment, include that Sunderland are still interested in Eliseu and Edson Silva. There have also been rumours that Sunderland are interested in getting Micheal Chopra on a loan deal. Sam Parkin from Swindon is still a target for Mick McCarthy, even though there has been a hands-off warning given to Mick not so long ago.

Byfield Contract Negotiations Collapse 1/7/04

Today, Sunderland announced that they have pulled out of offering Byfield a new contract. Byfield was on a temporary deal last season after Sunderland did an exchange of Proctor for Bydield with Rotherham.

To see the news from June, please visit the news archive.