Want to play footy with Bennett and Bally?

Sunderland fans are being given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play alongside Sunderland legends Gary Bennett and Kevin Ball in the forthcoming Football Aid charity match, which will be staged at the Stadium of Light on 24th May 2004.

Fans can bid in an on-line auction for a much sought-after place in the
game, which aims to raise funds for youngsters with diabetes and
Sunderland Football Clubs own charity - the SAFC Foundation, which uses
the motivational power of football to increase the educational
attainment of young people throughout the North of England.

Successful bidders will enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour of the Stadium of
Light before making their way to the first team dressing rooms, where a
personalised football strip will await them. Team Captains Gary and
Kevin will be on hand to give some invaluable coaching to their teams
before leading them out onto the pitch to the tune of Prokofiev,
Sunderland AFC's famous run-out music. Friends and families of the
lucky players can cheer on their loved ones from the stands.

Commenting on his participation in the event, Kevin Ball said:
"This is a fantastic opportunity for any Sunderland fan who's always
dreamt of playing at the Stadium of Light. I took part in last years
event and it was great fun, not only is it a really enjoyable day but it
also raises money for two very worthwhile causes."

To bid for your place on the team, log onto the Football Aid web site. This site can also be reached via Sunderland's official website. Bidding ends 18th March 2004

Piper back in action

Matt Piper will make his long-awaited return to competitive action tonight when he appears for SAFC reserves in their match against Wolves' reserves at the Archibalds Stadium.

Matty made only two league appearances for Sunderland this season - the home defeat to Millwall and the 2-0 away win at Preston, both in August. And since then he's had to have two operations in attempts to finally fix a troublesome knee problem.

Piper himself says he only expects to play for half of the match but is looking forward to it: "I'm really excited to be playing tonight. I've been out for over six months so I'll need to take it easy, but we'll see how it goes."

Sunderland AFC reserves:
Ingham, Scott, Dodds, Leadbitter, Clark, Collins, Piper, Black, Wanless, Kingberry, Toft, Bell, Alnwick, Huntley, Flynn, Taylor.

All remaining reserves' fixtures likely to change

Sunderland AFC is advising supporters that ALL remaining reserve team
fixtures for this season will be subject to change.

The date of some matches will be changed to accommodate Sunderland's congested first team fixture period and others are to be changed at the request of the opposition clubs.

There are five games remaining this season for the Black Cats reserves,
Liverpool, both home and away, Everton away, Aston Villa at home and
Newcastle United away.

The Club will advise supporters of the new dates for all of these fixtures as soon as possible and would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by these necessary changes.

Please note: this evenings fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers at
Durham City FC, 7:00pm kick off, will go ahead as scheduled.