ELLIS SHORT’S ten-year reign as Sunderland owner has been a complete disaster. The Irish-American businessman took over a club that was well established in the Premier League, and leaves one that will spend next season in the third tier of English football for only the second time in its history.

In his decade in charge at the Stadium of Light, he watched the club’s debts soar to more than £100m and presided over a series of disastrous episodes that dragged Sunderland’s good name through the gutter. Having announced his departure yesterday, he will not be missed.

Thankfully, though, his final act was a positive one. In paying up the club’s debts in full, he has ensured he is not handing a poisoned chalice to his successors. If nothing else, at least he has attempted to repair some of the damage he helped inflict.

Now, attention turns to the future. Sunderland have been taken over by an international consortium of investors led by Stewart Donald, who will relinquish his position as chairman of non-league side Eastleigh.

We wish Mr Donald all the best, and passionately hope he can restore Sunderland to its former position as one of the leading clubs in the land.

Some important questions still need to be answered, not least relating to the identity of the other members of the consortium. Who are they, and what are their plans for sorting out Sunderland’s finances?

Life in League One will not be easy, but this is an opportunity for a new start.