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, making it the 4th largest stadium in English football. It is widely regarded as one of the best stadiums in the UK. In the 2007/2008 season survey, the Stadium of Light was recognised as the loudest in the country. It is the third time the stadium has won this award, majorly down to the stadiums enclosed bowl design and vocal supporters. The stadium has also hosted two full England international games and since 2004 it hosts the graduation ceremonies of the University of Sunderland.
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STADIUM OF LIGHT TICKETS
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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
Wearmouth Colliery which had closed on
24 November 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 close to the centre of the city. On
13 November 1995, the 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. The north stand was extended in 2000 to bring the capacity to 49,000 which cost the club a further £7million. Once the stadium is completely developed it will hold a capacity of 64,000, but such plans depend on the clubs success.
In 2003 the club was granted permission to increase the capacity by another 7,200, but the subsequent relegation put these plans on hold. In 2007 chairman Niall Quinn stated the club had no immediate plans to increase the stadium's capacity.
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 may have been partly inspired by the common mistranslation of
Benfica's
Estádio da Luz ground in
Lisbon [1] the name is a reference to a miner's lamp, recognising the fact that the stadium is built on the site of the old
Wearmouth Colliery, 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 same words were found on a sign at the exit to the main elevator of
Wearmouth Colliery.
Powerful
xenon "Stardrift" spotlights were mounted on the roof of the corners, casting beams of light into the sky on appropriate occasions.
Transport to and from the stadium has always been a major issue due to a 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 footbridge proposals have been put forward to link the stadium to the south bank of the river, though as at June 2008 none have been approved.
Trivia
- The Stadium of Light featured in the 2000 feature film Purely Belter
which centres on two teenagers' love of Newcastle United, Sunderland's main rivals. In the film two teenagers get tickets to Sunderland A.F.C. Vs Liverpool F.C. Thinking they were tickets to a Newcastle United match.
- Sheffield F.C.'s stadium is nicknamed the Stadium of Bright, a pun on the Stadium of Light.
- Ground improvements at English football Stadia
References
- {{lang-pt|luz}} (meaning light). However Luz is the area of Lisbon in which the {{lang|pt|Estádio da Luz}} stands, so the name actually translates as the ''Luz Stadium''