FANS at the Stadium of Light like nothing better than to bellow their support for their beloved Black Cats.

But now Sunderland AFC is providing the inspiration for a rather different class of singing.

For Opera for Sunderland is being commissioned by Music in the Minster - a registered charity that brings experts from the world of opera to share their skills with the communities of Wearside.

However every good opera needs a story people can identify with, so Sunderland AFC has been chosen to be at the heart of the operatic story.

It will be written by award-winning North-East author David Almond while the music will be composed by Marcos Fernandez.

“Football is imbued with operatic language and emotion: saviours and messiahs, destiny and miracles, glory and disappointment, joy and despair," said Mr Almond.

“I aim to write a story that embodies the passion of football, that focuses on Sunderland AFC and its great supporters, that draws on the club's great history, and that is filled with the poetic accent, rhythms

and dialect of north eastern speech. “

Mr Fernandez, added: "It is a community I feel is similar to my own in the city of Barcelona, where football also plays a big role in society.”

An Opera for Sunderland will premiere at Sunderland Minster in November 2015. Details, including how to take part, will be available later this autumn. For the latest updates by email, sign up to Music in the Minster’s

mailing list at www.musicintheminster.org.uk