Stadium of Light
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| Location | Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England |
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| Owner | Sunderland A.F.C. |
| Capacity | 48,707 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1997 |
| Construction cost | £27 million (Plus £7 million in extensions) |
| Tenants | |
| Sunderland A.F.C. | |
The Stadium of Light is a football stadium, in Sunderland, North East England which opened in 1997, the 49,000-seater stadium is the home of Sunderland A.F.C. It is the fourth biggest club football stadium in England. It has hosted two full England international games and currently hosts the graduation ceremonies of the University of Sunderland. In 2007, it was voted "Best Away Ground" in the Football League [1]. It is a UEFA Four Star listed football stadium.
Plans and construction
Following the release of the Taylor Report in 1989, Sunderland were obliged to make plans to turn their Roker Park home into an all-seater stadium. Roker Park was a ground that mainly consisted of standing terraces, and if converted into all-seater it would have held far fewer spectators than before. Enclosed by residential streets on all sides, expansion was practically impossible. So, in the early 1990s, Sunderland began investigating the possibility of relocation.
The front-runner that emerged was a proposed stadium located on an area of land adjacent to the Nissan car plant. The 48,000 all-seater ground was labelled "the Wembley of the North". The plans did not come to fruition, as in 1992, Nissan launched an official objection, ultimately forcing Sunderland to abandon the idea.
In 1995 Sunderland put forward a plan to build a Stadium on the former site of the Monkwearmouth Colliery which had closed on November 24 1993. The area, on the north bank of the River Wear in the Sheepfolds district of Sunderland, was only a few hundred yards from Roker Park, and in the heart of the city. On November 13 1995, then Sunderland Chairman Bob Murray finally announced that the Tyne and Wear Development Corporation (TWDC) had approved plans for Sunderland to build a 34,000-seater stadium on the site.
Ballast Wiltshier PLC (which had built the Amsterdam Arena) was contracted to build the stadium at an initial cost of £15 million. In June 1996, as the planned capacity rose to 40,000, construction work began. The capacity was revised again in early 1997, and the stadium was completed on time, with a capacity of 42,000. Due to the simple bowl design, and ample surrounding space, the stadium could be extended in stages to hold a maximum 72,000.
During construction, the stadium had not adopted an official name, and so became known to fans simply as the Wearmouth or Monkwearmouth Stadium. The name was eventually revealed, to mixed reactions, by Deputy Chairman John Fickling upon completion of the stadium. The name was chosen following a competition. Although it was partly inspired by the common, if inaccurate, translation of Benfica's Estádio da Luz ground in Lisbon ('Luz', meaning 'light' in English, being the name of the area of Lisbon in which it stands, hence the translation 'Stadium of Light' in English usage, although the official name of the ground in Lisbon is actually the less original 'Stadium of SL Benfica'), the name is a reference to a miner's lamp, recognising the fact that the stadium is built on top a coal mine, and that many thousands of Sunderland fans, past and present, have worked in the region's mines. To emphasise the fact, a giant Davy lamp (first introduced in this area) is located in front of the box office, adjacent to the stadium. A sign at one of the Stadium gates by the West Stand reads "INTO THE LIGHT"; the other reads "FOR US ALL". The same words were found on a famous sign at the exit to the main elevator of the Monkwearmouth Colliery.
Powerful xenon "Stardrift" spotlights were mounted on the roof of the corners, casting beams of light into the sky on appropriate occasions.
Transportation has always been a major issue with the stadium, due to the inner-city location, and lack of large-scale parking facilities. The St Peter's and Stadium of Light Metro stations were built to serve the stadium, when the Metro was extended into Sunderland in 2002. A park and ride system is available on match days to allow spectators to park away from the Stadium, and a number of new bridge proposals have been put forward to link the stadium to the south bank of the river, though to date none has been approved.
Since completion
The Stadium of Light was officially opened by HRH Prince Andrew on 10 November 1997 and saw its first action in an exhibition game on July 30 1997 against Dutch League team Ajax. This 'opening party' also saw the veteran rock group Status Quo playing in the stadium, arriving via helicopter. The game finished 0-0. The first league game at the stadium was a 3-1 victory against Manchester City, with Niall Quinn being the first to score a goal at the new ground.
In the first season, Sunderland's attendances regularly reached the mid to high 30,000 mark, and on occasion, they topped 40,000. As Sunderland were playing in the First Division at the time, this was a remarkable statistic, and directly linked to the design of the stadium, which welcomed children and families in a safe atmosphere.
When Sunderland won promotion to the Premier League in 1999, the Stadium saw attendances regularly reach the 40,000 mark, and games were frequently sold out. Sunderland finished with the 3rd highest average attendance from 1998/99 season to 2001/02 in the league behind Manchester United and Liverpool for the first two of those seasons, and Newcastle United for the latter two, the only clubs in England at that time with a bigger stadium. This huge demand resulted in the club submitting plans to develop the £7 million North Stand Extension. The plans were agreed, and in 2000 the Stadium of Light was extended to a capacity of 48,300. The Stadium of Light caters for up to 3,000 away fans for a normal league game and anywhere up to 12,000 for cup games. In 2004, in an FA Cup 3rd Round Game, League 1 Hartlepool United sold 9,200 tickets: a record for away fans in the Stadium of Light.
The stadium hosted its first international football match in 1999 when England played Belgium in a friendly match, and more seriously in April 2003 when England played Turkey in a qualification match for Euro 2004. The latter match was marred by racist chanting from England fans [1], which brought the Football Association a fine of 150,000 Swiss francs (£90,000) from UEFA [2].
The stadium has hosted the graduation ceremonies for the University of Sunderland since 2004.
In 2002, permission was given to expand the Stadium of Light to 55,000 seats. But the following year, Sunderland were relegated and the plans were shelved. Sunderland were promoted back to the Premiership two years after this setback and added a few hundred extra seats taking the capacity to over 49,000, but were relegated after just one season, since then the club has been re-established into the premier league, but no plans of expansion has arose. However it has been suggested that if England have a successful bid to host the World Cup then the stadium capacity would be increased for the event.
In July 2006, a statue of former Sunderland manager Bob Stokoe was unveiled behind the stadium's South Stand.
On March 4 2007, The Stadium of Light was voted the "Best Away Ground" in the Football League at the Football League Awards. It defeated competition from Crewe's Gresty Road and Plymouth's Home Park. Votes were cast by listeners of BBC Radio Five Live via a poll on their website [2].
Stadium layout
The Stadium is separated into the West Stand, North Stand (formerly the Vaux Stand and the Carling Stand), East Stand (formerly the Fosters Stand), and the South Stand (also known as the Metro FM Stand). The West Stand includes the Premier Concourse which is the name of the upper tier, and a number of executive boxes. The West Stand also houses the main entrance, the changing rooms and tunnel, hospitality and banqueting suites, media facilities, and the sports bar. The North Stand includes an upper tier, and also includes the Black Cat's Bar.
The pitch is several metres below the level of the ground outside of the stadium. This means that the stadium is larger than it appears from outside. Spectators who walk through the turnstile enter into an area known as the Concourse. This area contains food kiosks, shops, televisions, bookmakers and toilet facilities. Each food kiosk is named after a famous past Sunderland player or a stand at Roker Park. A spectator can walk around the entire stadium inside the concourse, with the exception of the away-fans section which is closed-off. The drinking of alcohol is permitted only in the concourse. Smoking is currently permitted only in the concourse, but from 1 July 2007, it will not be permitted anywhere within the Ground (following the introduction of the smoking ban in England). The concourse is linked to the seating-decks of the stadium via a series of vomitories. Each vomitory enters onto a walkway in the centre of the lower-tier. This walkway circles the entire stadium, although pedestrian movements are limited within certain sections. Seats are separated into blocks, and each block can be accessed via the central walkway, and around a walkway at pitch-level. There is no direct access to the upper-tier from the lower-tier. There are special areas on the central walkway allocated for disabled spectators and their helpers.
Away fans are usually seated the west side of the South Stand, beside the vocal heart of the Stadium Of Light - the South West Corner. The North Stand (often known as 'the home end') was elected the 'new Fulwell' of the Stadium between the Sunderland fans because of its home nature, very similar to the Fulwell End of Roker Park, situated opposite the away fans and is by far the loudest vocal area of the stadium once in full voice. The North Stand has the 'slogan' "Ha'way The Lads" on the seats of the stand - this is to inspire the Sunderland players and create the 'home end' effect.
Trivia
- The Stadium of Light featured in the 2000 feature film Purely Belter, which centres on two teenagers' love of Newcastle United, Sunderland's deadliest rivals.
- Sheffield F.C.'s stadium is nicknamed the Stadium of Bright, a pun on the Stadium of Light.
References
- Gillan, T (2001) Let there be light. S.T. Publishing. ISBN 0-9535920-8-1 — catalogues the building of the stadium.
- "Wearmouth Colliery", Durham Mining Museum, 2005
- "The Stadium Story", 1997
- ^ "SOL voted best away ground". SAFC.com.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
bestwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).
External links
- bbc.co.uk Free 360 degree views of the stadium
- Pictures at Stadium of Light
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