Sunderland confirm four pre-season opponents with three more fixtures planned ahead of 2024/25 season

Sunderland have announced they will face South Shields, Gateshead, Blackpool and Bradford City during pre-season.

The Black Cats are set to play seven friendly matches ahead of the 2024/25 campaign, including two games in Spain as part of a week-long training camp starting on Monday, July 15 - with the opponents yet to be confirmed.

Like last year, Sunderland will split their squad to face South Shields and Gateshead on the same day, with the matches set to take place on Saturday 13 July. The Black Cats will take on South Shields at the 1st Cloud Arena at 12.30pm, before the fixture with Gateshead at International Stadium at 5pm. 

Following their subsequent trip to Spain, Sunderland have arranged away games at Blackpool on Saturday 27 July (3pm kick-off) and Bradford on Tuesday 30 July (7.30pm kick-off). The side will then play a final pre-season fixture on the weekend of 3 August, with an opponent and venue yet to be confirmed. Last year, Sunderland finished their pre-season campaign with a match against La Liga club Real Mallorca at the Stadium of Light.

The EFL has confirmed Championship fixtures will be released on Wednesday, June 26 at 9am. These will include the first batch of games which have been selected for TV broadcast. The season will then start on the weekend commencing Saturday, August 10, while the opening match is often televised on the Friday night. The final day of next season is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 3.