Sunderland journalist Philip Buckingham has been discussing Black Cats owner Stewart Donald and his current stance at the club with a potential takeover on the horizon.
This comes after Buckingham recently made an appearance on The Totally Football League Show where he spoke about the biggest talking points surrounding the League One side at this moment in time.
On the topic of Donald and his current situation at the club, Buckingham had this to say on the matter.
He said: “Stewart Donald has been the owner since 2018, and for the vast majority of that time, he’s been looking for either investment or a change in ownership.
“[For] the last 12 months, he’s been very clear on that. I think he’s listened to supporters who want him out and he’s ready to leave when his asking price is met.”
As Buckingham mentioned in the podcast, Donald took over at Sunderland back in May 2018 from previous owner Ellis Short who “ended a nine-year spell as owner by writing off the club’s debt” and “received £40m in return for the League One club.”
Back in July this year, Donald resigned as the club’s chairman and said that his “intention remains to sell SAFC to a suitable new owner.”
Earlier this month, it was reported that Donald had agreed a “deal to sell the club to a consortium led by minority shareholder Juan Sartori” and 22-year-old Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, but would retain 15% of his shares.
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TIF Thoughts on Philip Buckingham’s comments on Donald…
Taking into account that Buckingham claimed that Donald has been looking for a change in ownership at Sunderland for the “vast majority” of his tenure at the club, this gives us the impression that his time as owner hasn’t exactly been successful.
Also, given how Sunderland have failed to get promoted out of League One since Donald took over at the club, which he accepted as being his fault when he resigned as chairman, this also proves that the club have not gone in the direction they would have wanted it to under Donald’s ownership.
In our view, if the proposed takeover at Sunderland can be finalised and hopefully get the club back into the Championship at some point, this will be a big step forward for them.