Sunderland may be forced into selling some of their top-earning stars such as striker Asamoah Gyan, if the club are unable to attract fans back to the Stadium of Light, chairman Niall Quinn has admitted.<\/p>\n
Quinn has admitted floating supporters have drifted away from the Black Cats recently, with attendances for recent less-attractive home matches against the likes of West Ham and Bolton in December dropping to around 35,000.<\/p>\n
On average Sunderland\u2019s 49,000-capacity stadium has been only around 80 per cent full this season-only Wigan, Blackburn and Bolton have less fans as a percentage of their capacity this year.<\/p>\n
And Quinn said the financial implications of a less-than-full ground could begin to bite soon, despite the efforts of mega-rich club owner Ellis Short.<\/p>\n
\u2018If I don\u2019t win them back, the club may have to downsize and cut its cloth differently,\u2019 the Irishman said ahead of his proposed tour around the Wearside area in a bid to entice the fans back.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019ll be difficult to follow up on the current investment and players may have to be sold.<\/p>\n
\u2018Manchester United have just announced turnover of \u00a3289m; ours is \u00a364m. We can\u2019t compete financially with that, and we\u2019re missing 10,000 fans.\u2019<\/p>\n
Gordon was signed by former manager Roy Keane on a hefty five-year contract in 2007-with his \u00a310m transfer fee, including add-ons, potentially a British record for a goalkeeper.<\/p>\n
And although Quinn admitted the club\u2019s financials are a concern, which could lead to the departure of other stars like Gyan despite the recent big-money sale of Darren Bent to Aston Villa, he said the lack of supporters inside the Stadium of Light was as much about atmosphere.<\/p>\n
\u2018Our missing 10,000 fans cost us \u00a31.8m over the season so a figure like that won\u2019t make the difference in allowing us to compete \u2013 it is those fans being inside the ground and making it a hostile place for visiting sides that makes the difference,\u2019 he continued.<\/p>\n
\u2018What I want from our fans is their atmospheric input. That\u2019s what makes the place special.<\/p>\n
\u2018If they don\u2019t come back, we may not be the club I thought we were.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\nSunderland May Sell Asamoah Gyan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sunderland may be forced into selling some of their top-earning stars such as striker Asamoah Gyan, if the club are unable to attract fans back to the Stadium of Light, chairman Niall Quinn has admitted. Quinn has admitted floating supporters have drifted away from the Black Cats recently, with attendances for recent less-attractive home matches against the likes of West Ham and Bolton in December dropping to around 35,000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
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