For our pre-season http://www.safc.com/news/club-news/2015/june/tour-announcement Sunderland AFC are set to travel to the USA and Canada as part of their pre-season preparations ahead of the 2015-16 Barclays Premier League campaign. Dick Advocaat’s side will be based near San Francisco for a week-long training camp, which will include two games in Northern California. The first takes place on Tuesday July 14, against Sacramento Republic FC at Bonney Field stadium, kicking off at 8pm local time. Three days later, Sunderland will face Mexican Primera side Club de Fútbol Pachuca on Friday 17 July, again at Bonney Field, Sacramento, at 7.30pm. The Black Cats will round off their trip with a visit to Toronto to take on Canadian MLS side Toronto FC, at 7pm local time. Speaking about the tour, Sunderland AFC’s sporting director Lee Congerton said: “The trip will afford us the opportunity to face quality opposition as we prepare for the season ahead. The facilities for training are great and the games step up over the tour in terms of intensity and this will help us build our fitness and sharpness levels, which is the main aim of pre-season.” Sunderland AFC’s commercial director, Gary Hutchinson added: “There is a growing interest in football throughout North America. The Barclays Premier League in particular is increasing significantly in popularity, with every game shown live on TV throughout the season. This tour will afford us a fantastic opportunity to introduce Sunderland to an important overseas audience and connect with our existing supporter groups in the territory, which is a key growth area for our club.” Fans wishing to attend the games will be able to purchase tickets online from the three clubs, further details of which will be confirmed shortly. SAFC will not sell any tickets for the fixtures. Just cant get rid of Jozy...
Gutted to be honest, was hoping we'd do somewhere like Portugal again so I could get myself there for a European trip...
That last game is a potential banana skin, if ever I saw one. Altidore in his proper position is a far cry from the way we remember him in Poyet's restrictive system. Please, please not a hat-trick, Jozy. Sod's Law, isn't it?
Since the WC football is still high on peoples watching schedules and playing in US with a Yank owner is raising our profile. ES is making a good move as the US will be a good source for players in years to come thanks to Klinsmann.
I think this is a decent commercial move. California I believe is the richest of U.S. states, and the most populated (about one-eighth of the entire U.S population). To play two of our three games in the state capital - Sacramento - is a good PR/marketing move. The Toronto game was probably arranged at the time of the Altidore-Defoe swap, but it isn't a bad move in itself - Canada is hardly poverty stricken either. I'm a bit puzzled as to why we haven't rounded the tour off with a game against DC United, but it may be that they'll be knee-deep in a title race by then (I'm not sure when their season ends). I think it's pretty well thought out.
