VALLEY Parade will host a friendly between Sunderland and Olympique Marseille.

The game will take place on Saturday, Aug 3 – four days after the Black Cats are in BD8 as the opposition for City’s only home friendly.

The Bantams will be in action at the same time in their final warm-up game at Altrincham.

City agreed to host Sunderland's match, which is likely to earn them a decent sum in ticket money, because the Stadium of Light pitch will not be ready.

The fixture will mark the 15-year anniversary of the passing of the father of Sunderland chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, who was the French side’s majority shareholder from 1996 to 2009.

 

 

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said: “It is unfortunate that we can’t play at the Stadium of Light due to our ongoing developments and we appreciate Bradford City’s support in hosting the game, which I’m sure will also act as the strong test for our team ahead of the new season.”

Ahead of the 3pm kick-off, both clubs will come together to celebrate the life of Robert Louis-Dreyfus, who re-established OM as a major force and guided them to a UEFA Cup final and two French cup finals.

Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman added: “Although we are without a home venue until the start of the season due to our ongoing investment at the Stadium of Light, we wanted to play as close to the North East as possible to ensure our fans can support the team in our final pre-season fixture.

"We thank Ryan Sparks and the wider team at Bradford City for hosting us and look forward to facing a high calibre of opposition in OM.”

Ticket information will be confirmed in due course.