SUNDERLAND cashed in on the City's craze for football when it floated its shares on the stock market in December 1996.

Shares went on sale at 585p, valuing the club at £62m. The float raised £10.7m, allowing the club to build the Stadium of Light.

The fall in TV revenues dented enthusiasm for football club shares. This, coupled with the club's relegation from the Premiership in 2003, caused Sunderland's share price to tumble.

Yesterday morning shares were trading at 60p.

There is no longer any value in Sunderland remaining as a listed business as in the current climate there is no hope of the club raising additional funds from the City.

De-listing means there will be no extra costs in legal and administrative fees associated with stock market companies.

It also means there will be no need to have both a PLC board and a football club board.

In future, there will only be a football club board, chaired by Bob Murray. The new board will consist of Murray, who holds 37 per cent of shares, vice-chairman John Fickling, with 10 per cent, chief executive Peter Walker, communications director Lesley Callaghan, sales and marketing director Jim Slater, PLC chairman Bryan Sanderson and PLC non-executive director David Chance.

The club insists the streamlining will allow directors to concentrate on promotion and improving the club's financial position.

When de-listing takes place on August 5, the status of individual shareholders will not change.

They will still own a stake in the club, receive reports and be able to attend annual meetings.

However, individuals will find it more difficult to buy and sell shares. They will have to be sold on a 'match' basis, where a broker finds someone prepared to buy the shares put up for sale.

The future price of shares will be depressed. After the de-listing announcement share prices fell from 60p to 40p, valuing the club at just £3.44m.