The inevitable cost of Sunderland’s EPL ambition was exposed by the announcement of a £25.5m loss for the year to July 31^st 2010.

And defeats to late goals in their last two fixtures have seen the Black Cats drop to seventh in the EPL.

Meanwhile, chairman Niall Quinn has lambasted fans who choose to watch Sunderland’s Saturday afternoon games in pubs rather than at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland’s losses equated with £26.2m worth of transfer spending in the period.

 

And the figure would have been higher but for American owner Ellis Short converting £19m of his loans into equity.

However, the figure does not include the £18m+ the Wearsiders will receive from striker Darren Bent’s move to Aston Villa last month.

They lost to late goals at Stoke and at home to Tottenham. And manager Steve Bruce bemoaned his side’s defending of set-pieces in each game, saying: “If you can’t defend a set-piece, you’ll come unstuck.”

Chairman Quinn stoked controversy when he said he “despised” fans “who spend far more than the price of a ticket watching their team in the pub.”

A European court ruling suggested fans could watch overseas coverage of EPL games. And Quinn added:

“I would never criticise anybody who can’t afford to come to the game but…people are going down to the pub and spending equivalent amounts of money.”

Sunderland’s attendances have dropped by 6,000 despite recent rise up the EPL table.

Sunderland visit struggling Everton in the EPL this coming Saturday at 3pm.