Stewart Donald mentioned that he wanted to sort out his situation with us and then head back to his former club Eastleigh.
OPPORTUNITY
“It was a difficult decision to leave [Eastleigh] but it was a huge opportunity. It is [Sunderland] the greatest football club that I have seen. It is a fantastic place and as soon as I seen that I went up there. You meet the people and you see the passion. It was impossible not to try and go and lay my part in that revival. That chapter is now done and I left a lot of friends behind at Eastleigh. It wasn’t a finished project at the time.”
RETURN
“If I can organise myself at Sunderland in a way that works for everybody that frees me up so I can go back to Eastleigh and I can finish what I started all those years ago, I think that would be a wonderful way for me to get my football fix."
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
“First and foremost, I need to sort the Sunderland situation out and whatever I do there is right for Sunderland. The biggest issue is that I’ve owned a football club for years and have gone to games for as long as I can remember and I’m missing it. I don’t think there’s any doubt that that’s what I want to get back to and I don’t think there’s any doubt that Eastleigh is unfinished business. So I need to do everything in the right order and if I can do that. I have enjoyed coming back for half a dozen games."
OPTIONS
“It is quite common knowledge within the game because I’ve had a couple of clubs ask what my situation is because they know the shareholding in Sunderland is probably going to go. I just have to weigh up my options but Eastleigh is miles ahead of any other club emotionally so it is watch this space really.”
