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The Stadium Story
The Stadium of Light may have taken less 12 months to rise from the site of a former colliery,but the construction process is only the last chapter of its remarkable story. Once upon a time - as all good stories start - the idea to build a stadium fit for a club of Sunderland's stature was born from the driving ambition of a few dedicated individuals. Faced with the prospect of Roker Park eventually being reduced to a mere 14,000 all seater capacity, Bob Murray began to consider the possibility of moving from the ground which had been our home since 1898. Speaking in 1990 of the prospect of building a new 40,000 capacity stadium Bob Murray (our chairman) stated, "We would like to be one of the bigger clubs in football and that would give us a chance." That dream of a new stadium has now become a reality, Roker Park and its history represent the past, and we now approach a new century with a state of the art new home. But the story begins back at the beginning of the decade when then Vice-Chairman Graeme Wood led the investigation into around half a dozen sites before the club initally decided to pursue the site next to Nissan. This is life-long Sunderland supporter Rob Mason's diary of how we got from that point to where we are now... Bob Murray announced that the club's 30,000+ Gold Card holders would be consulted on their views through a referendum. A lot of behind the scenes work took place in the following months. The FA backed the club's proposed move. The result of the referendum showed that only 1,644 fans had returned their ballot papers to indicate a preference for staying at Roker. Nissan officially objected to the club's plans for what was billed as "The Wembley of the North." A long and protracted debate followed until the club decided to abandon their plans for the Nissan site and make Wearmouth the new option. Wearmouth Pit closed down after almost 170 years of mining. Former Environment Secretary John Gummer rejected calls for a Public Inquiry enabling the club to begin making rapid progress. Originally scheduled to seat 34,000 the decision on whether to proceed was left to the Tyne and Wear Development Corporation (TWDC). A rival plan to build a new stadium at Ryhope soon became redundant as the moment in favour of the Wearmouth site gathered pace. The Original estimate of £12m for the stadium rose to £14m because of the decision to immprove furnishings and fittings. Bob Murray agrreed to underwrite £3m of the cost. The city council agreed to allow the TWDC to handle the issue of traffic, parking and access to the new ground. The TWDC granted planning permission for the stadium on Monday 13th with Bob Murray describing it as, "A historic milestone for Sunderland Football Club" Four construction companies were reported to be in the running to build the stadium. In addition to the eventual builders Ballast Wiltshire, Taylor Woodrow plc, Birse and Tilbury Douglas were known to be keen. Bob Murray meanwhile revealed that he would like to make the capacity of the new stadium 40,040. "This is a stadium of European significance. We have taken a once in a hundred years decision and we have to think like a big city club and build a stadium that is going to be fit for the 21st century." The Football Trust made its largest contribution to a single project by contributing £3.25m to the cost of the stadium. £2.5m of this was in the form of a grant, £50,000 was in the form of an interest free loan while the remaining £250,000 came from its FA Contribution Account. Peter Lee, the Trust's chief executive proclaimed, "We commend the club's far sighted proposals and determined approach to provide the highest standards of safety for their supporters" Before the end of the month it was announced that Ballast Wiltshire had been chosen to construct the stadium. The experience company are part of the Ballast Nedam group who build Ajax's magnificent new 52,000 ground which opened last summer. The month began well with Environment Secretary John Gummer agreeing to the club's proposed 40,000 capacity. Site watchers reported the arrival of twenty diggers and bulldozers on the site as the TWDC began what it described as "routine" clearing up having acquired the site from British Coal. April also saw Bob Murray sign the agreement to build the new stadium which it was revealed would now cost £15m as a result of minor changes to the architectural structure. Aprill ended as well as it had begun with the announcement that around 400 jobs would be created in building the ground. Following the completion of reclamation work by the TWDC, Bob Murray officially accepted ownership of the new stadium site on June 26th. Another boost to begin the month came with the news that NWS Bank (a subsidary of the Bank of Scotland) had loned the club £6m, repayable over 10 years and conditional on Bob Murray maintaining at least a 30% share in the club. Len Shackleton opened the visitor centre which would become a mecca for the thousands wanting to see the stadium grow. It's long been said that Sunderland Supporters would turn up to watch the grass grow, but it has been proven that they will turn up to watch even when the grass wasn't sown! With work on our new home progressing, the club submitted a planning application to the City Council to re-develop Roker Park for residential housing. The sight of steelwork starting to rise from the ground really began to make people believe that the dream of a new stadium was becoming a reality. The first sponsorship deal for naming rights was announced with Metro FM first off the mark to claim the title rights for the South Stand which will be known as the Metro FM Stand. The roof started to become visable to stadium watchers. Wimpy Homes signed a contract for the purchase of Roker Park. Wimpy plan to build 130 houses on the site of our former home. The internal fitting out of the new ground gathered pace. Roker Park bowed out with Sunderland demolishing Everton 1-0 in the ground's final league game with Allan Johnston claiming Roker Park's last league goal. Ten days later John Mullin became the final scorer at the ground as Liverpool were beaten 1-0 in a repeat of the stadium's opening game back in 1898. May former stars returned for a parade of honour on an emotional night before a capacity crowd. The contents of Roker Park went under the hammer in an auction attended by over 5,000 people. Newcastle Breweries paid a six figure sum for a ten year agreement to name the East Stand, The McEwans Stand. Grahame McDonnell commented, "I am personally delighted that Newcastle Breweries have become so directly involved with the stadium. It is fitting that Britian's biggest brewer has named one of the stands at Britain's biggest new stadium." The TWDC gave permission for the Stadium to open with a capacity of 42,000. Chief Executive John Fickling remarked that, "It has been a long process but just looking at the ground makes it all worthwhile." Demolition experts moved in to begin demolishing Roker Park. Roker was famous for its roar. That isn't being demolished so let your voices be heard, and then we can lose the "Sleeping Giant" tag once and for all. |
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