Both are clearly signposted. The stadium was built on the site of the old Wearmouth Colliery and a large red colliery wheel and giant miner's lamp both serve as fitting tributes to the town's rich heritage and connection to the coal mining industry. The venue stands on the banks of the River Wear, a few hundred yards from Sunderland’s former home, Roker Park, and close to the city centre. There is the likes of Nando’s, Subway and McDonalds in addition to several coffee shops and supermarkets. Following the move to the Stadium of Light, Roker Park was demolished and in its place was built a housing estate. He was signed by Martin O’Neill for £5m in January 2013, after an impressive debut Premier League campaign with Swansea where he scored 12 goals. It all began at Blue House Field before moves to The Grove, Horatio Street, Abbs Field and Newcastle Road, with the Black Cats eventually finding their spiritual home at Roker Park. These improvements included installing underground sprinklers, upgrading the floodlights to European Standard Lux Value, installing electronic crowd monitoring systems, and re-sheeting the roof. As was the proposed 49,000 capacity design, which was scaled back during construction, although this was later achieved in 2000 when the north stand was renovated.eval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'footballtripper_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_10',115,'0','0'])); Rather fittingly Ajax were invited to play the inaugural friendly match on the 30th July 1997, and ten years later to celebrate a decade at the Stadium of Light, the club held a friendly against Juventus on 6th August 2007. Roker Park was an English football stadium situated in Roker, Sunderland. Sunderland re-sign striker Danny Graham on a one-year-deal from Blackburn Rovers. His best spell on Wearside came under Dick Advocaat, where Graham finally broke his duck scoring in a 2-0 away win against Everton. Initially proposed as a venue for Euro 96, planning permission was only granted in November 1995, and thus participation in the tournament was evidently too ambitious. Before that, Sunderland played at Roker Park which could not be modernized due to its location within a housing estate. [4] Sunderland were in the other semi-final, but lost out 1-0 to Aston Villa. How many football grounds have you been to? Sunderland AFC operate three stores throughout the city in addition to their own official online store. © 2014 - 2020 Copyright Football Tripper. There is now a hotel at the stadium itself as well as a Travel Lodge and newly opened Premier Inn in the city centre (Thanks Joe Trait). He failed to score in his first seven matches before O’Neill was sacked, before also failing to find the net under Paolo Di Canio as Sunderland narrowly escaped relegation. Another option is the Park and Walk scheme that operates from two sites at the University of Sunderland City Campus on the A183, Chester Road and St. Peter’s. Address: 50 Fawcett St, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR5 1SU. from 1898 to 1997 before the club moved to the Stadium of Light (...) More. You must be logged-in to add a ground to your map. Have you been to Roker Park? Do you have a different opinion from when you visited? The work on the new Main Stand nearly bankrupted the club. Discover (and save!) Alternatively, the Park and Ride scheme runs from the Sunderland Enterprise Park on Wessington Way, which is easily accessible from the A19 and is clearly signposted ‘Park and Ride’.