SUNDERLAND have reduced the price of every season ticket for the next Premiership campaign.

And chairman Bob Murray said last night: "We are the cheapest club to watch in the Premiership - and we are proud of that."

Prices for the club's 36,000 season ticket holders will be reduced by an average of ten per cent, and there will be special season ticket deals for under-12s, under-16s and under-22s, with entry fees for the Stadium of Light starting at just £5 a game.

Announcing the new prices yesterday, Murray said the club would do its utmost to maintain its fan-base and encourage younger supporters.

This season the Stadium of Light, with an increased capacity of over 48,000, would have sold out for every game if visiting clubs had taken up their full ticket allocation. But the average home attendance is still the second-highest in the club's 121-year history.

Murray said the next extension would take the capacity to 55,555 in 2003 at a cost of £9m, following an extension to the Metro system.

Sunderland are to introduce a new £95 season ticket for under-12s, which will work out at £5 a game, while under-16s will pay £133 (£7). And in a new venture the club will offer a special £220 season ticket to supporters aged 16 to 22, saving them at least £125 on current prices.

Murray, who has recently returned from a scouting mission to Argentina with manager Peter Reid, said Sunderland now had a global reputation and would soon be among the 20 wealthiest clubs in the world.

Wherever he goes he is asked just how the club attracts such huge attendances for their home games, regardless of the opposition.

He said: "The crowd here are phenomenal when you consider the circumstances. Wherever I go I am asked just how do you get them in - it is stunning.

"Sunderland's progress over the last three years is unmatched by any other club in the world. I have never seen such an awakening.

"It is the intention of this club to always make our football affordable to supporters and available to everyone."

The next enlargement of the stadium would be completed at a relatively low cost and Murray pledged that there would be no huge price hikes for the fans because the club would not face large interest charges.

Murray said: "Possibly the best news for me is that the prices for our junior supporters next season will be less than half what they were in our final season at Roker Park - then it was £250 a season or £16 a game.

"Now they can watch a successful Premiership football team for less than half it cost then, and adults are also paying less.

"We have promised our supporters that watching Sunderland would always be affordable and accessible to all.

"We have great ambition as a club and we regard the new pricing structure as a continued strategic investment in the growth of Sunderland.

"It is a matter of getting the balance right. We certainly don't want to lose any supporters who have followed the club for decades but we also want to attract and keep new fans who have joined us."

He added: "Sunderland will be one of the 20th wealthiest clubs in the world. We have one of the highest wage bills in British football and we are proud of that because we can afford it and we are climbing the ladder quickly.

"Sunderland now has a great name in world football - no-one can ignore the attendances here or the quality of the crowd.

"We are a city which faces the sea and it is not the most affluent of places. But they certainly love their football."

l Sunderland hope to play two young Norwegian players in their Under-19 derby game against Newcastle at Whitburn on Saturday.

Stual Aarke, a striker, and midfielder John Andreas Husoy were invited to train on Wearside after being voted the top players in a recent international tournament in Norway won by their club, Molde FK, and Sunderland are hoping to receive international clearance to include them against Newcastle