City's boot goes in at Sunderland

SHARES in Sunderland crashed after the Premiership side warned of mounting losses caused by spending millions to stay in football's top flight. The stock market, which has already dumped shares in most football clubs, wiped 37p off Sunderland, as they hit a record low of 155p.

At this level, the club, which has one of the finest stadiums in the league, is worth a paltry £13m. At its peak it was valued at £60m. Analysts believe Sunderland, in line with several other clubs, will consider taking itself private.

Sunderland warned that losses for the year just ended will be about £3m, worse than expected, after it was forced to write-down the value of players because of the slump in the transfer market. Prospects for this year are not much brighter. Sunderland spent £16m on new players on big salaries, which will leave a large dent in profits. Unless the club does exceptionally well on the field, it will end up making hefty losses.

Top of the table Tottenham Hotspur, 29%-owned by the entertainment group Enic, made a £1.6m profit last year, compared with a loss of £2.5m the year before. The shares were unchanged at 27p.