THE first finalist will be eliminated in Sunderland AFC's One of the Lads competition today.
Manager Peter Reid has chosen seven contestants from more than 10,000 entrants and now members of the public will choose the winner in a Big Brother-style competition.
Voting is through Sunderland AFC's official website - safc.com - and one contestant will be evicted each day.
The competition will be down to two people by Saturday, and they will go on to the pitch at half-time of Sunderland Premiership game against Blackburn Rovers at the Stadium of Light.
The winner, who will be named on Monday, will be given an insight into the life of a Premiership footballer for a season, including opportunities to travel on the team coach, attend a training session and even have his own column in The Sun newspaper.
The finalists are: Peter Whitfield, a sheep- shearing lecturer, from Durham City; Sunderland fanatics Colin Lynch and Alan Kennerley; Shaun Kelley, who lives in Edinburgh, but is a season ticket holder at the Stadium of Light; and Paul Harrap and Ian Younger, the only two finalists who are not Sunderland supporters.
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