Stadium

History of the stadium

The Stadium of Light has been the home stadium of Sunderland AFC since 1997. The ground replaced the Black Cats’ historic base, Roker Park, after 99 years at the site two miles away.

Club chiefs decided that Sunderland needed a move away from Roker Park after outgrowing the venue. They spent an initial £15m to construct the Stadium of Light on the former site of the Monkwearmouth Colliery. They also spent a further £7m for the North Stand extension.

Altogether, the Stadium of Light is one of England’s biggest football grounds with a capacity of just under 49,000. It has also hosted international football matches including a Euro 2004 qualifier between England and Turkey. Music acts like Take That have also performed there.

Sunderland opened the Stadium of Light with a showpiece friendly against Ajax in July 1997. It marked the end of a project that only broke ground in May 1996, while work on the North Stand extension finished in 2000. Yet international football had already arrived in 1999.

England played the first full international match at the Stadium of Light against Belgium in a friendly. It was a landmark occasion at a landmark part of Sunderland’s history as a club. The Black Cats have had seven permanent grounds to date but only two long-term homes.

The Stadium of Light nods to Sunderland’s mining history

After 99 years at Roker Park, Sunderland have tried to recapture some of their old stadium’s traditions at the Stadium of Light. It is located on the banks of the River Wear and also takes inspiration from the city’s industrial heritage in coal mining, glass-making and shipbuilding.

The Monkwearmouth Colliery had sat on the site of what is now the Stadium of Light since 1835. It also operated for more than 150 years before shutting shop in 1993 and its towers collapsed one year later. Sir Bob Murray announced Sunderland would move there in 1995.

Sunderland explored several sites before settling on the Monkwearmouth Colliery. But the club never forgot what Roker Park had offered over the previous century and included small nods to the ground, like the Archibald Leitch latticework in the car parks at the West Stand.

Club chiefs further referenced the mining industry with the ground’s name, the Stadium of Light. It denotes the miners’ lamps, of which Sunderland have kept one on the Davy Lamp roundabout. But the site also acts as a cathedral of football in a city famously without one.

How to get to the Stadium of Light

Fans can get to the Stadium of Light by a variety of means given the location of Sunderland’s ground. It is easily accessible by private vehicle or public transport with connections via the A1 motorway or Sunderland train station. There are also several public car parks in the area.

Sunderland train station is located in the city centre, around 15 minutes’ walk away from the Stadium of Light. A Metro service also serves the ground with connections to Newcastle via the Stadium of Light station and towards South Hylton boarding from the St Peter’s stop.

A park-and-ride service also runs from Wessington Way on the A1231 and is signposted via the A19. The service uses the permanent stops at the Sunderland Enterprise Park and runs every five minutes before a game. It begins 90 minutes prior to the kick-off time.

Stadium tour information

Sunderland AFC run tours of the Stadium of Light, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the Black Cats’ home. Fans can attend tours of their ground on select days throughout the year. Tours run for over an hour and include access to the dressing rooms, tunnel and press area.

Address

Sunderland AFC: Stadium Of Light, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR5 1SU, England