FA Cup 3rd round - ticket news/replay date

The Black Cats take on Premiership side Crystal Palace at the Stadium of Light in the 3rd round of the FA Cup on Saturday 8th January 2005, kick-off 3.00pm. Tickets are available in all parts of the Stadium for this fixture and are priced as follows:

* Adults £15
* Juniors (Under 16) £5
* Senior citizens £5
* Black Cats Bar £25

NB. Black Cats Bar season ticket holders can purchase their seat for £15

Tickets can be purchased by calling 0191-551-5151 or 08705-862-015 (24 hours) or in person from the Stadium of Light Ticket Office.

Cash turnstiles will be in operation for this game, however concession tickets can only be purchased from the ticket office.

In the event of a draw, supporters are advised that a replay will take place at Selhurst Park on Tuesday 18th January 2005. Tickets for this game will be priced at £15 for adults and £5 for juniors and senior citizens.

Murray prepared to buy SAFC outright

SAFC Chairman Bob Murray has indicated that he wants to buy the club outright, save for a very small minority of shares.

Murray has agreed to buy BSkyB's 4.76% holding in the club today (407,500 shares), which will take his personal stake in the club to 42.3% (3,627,000 shares).

Under stock market rules, Mr Murray is now required to make an offer for the remaining shares that he does not already own at the same price paid for the BSkyB holding of 31p a share.

Should the offer be fully accepted, Mr Murray said he expected to pay a maximum of £1.53m for the remaining shares.

The statement from the Chairman encourages existing shareholders - of whom many will be SAFC supporters - to keep hold of "one or more shares" so that they can continue to attend AGMs and receive company reports.

The offer to shareholders remains open until 3pm on 25th January.

SAFC entered into its media partnership with BSkyB in December 1999, shortly after returning to the Premiership; but the agreement expired last month and both SAFC and BSkyB agreed that Murray's purchase of the BSkyB holding in the club would bring a clean end to the partnership.

Murray says in his statement that he believes his acquisition of the majority of SAFC shares will remove the potential for the type of uncertainty that has been created by Malcolm Glazer's steady acquisition of Manchester Utd shares, which created unrest amongst supporters and shareholders alike.

The Chairman, 58, says he has been a Sunderland supporter since the age of 9 when his father, a Sunderland miner, took him to see his first game at Roker Park - Sunderland v Wolves.

The statement says that the Chairman is "very committed to the Company and to the Club", and that he has no plans to change his current position within the Company and its subsidiaries.

He continued, "I am personally very ambitious to see Sunderland AFC compete consistently at the highest level for the Club's deserving supporters and for the benefits this brings to the entire region. It is my ambition to continue to strengthen the Club and to try to return it to the Premier League at the earliest opportunity."