Stadium Of Light - a photo on Flickriver

Stadium Of Light

            ...which, according to the popular match-day chant, is the home of "Sunderland F.C., by far the greatest team the world has ever seen!"

Just a touch of artistic license applied there! :-)

Following the release of the Taylor Report in January 1990, Sunderland Association Football Club was obliged to make plans to turn Roker Park, which had been the club's home since 1898, into an all-seater stadium. Roker Park was a ground mainly consisting of standing terraces, and if converted into an 'all-seater', it would have held far fewer spectators than before. It was also enclosed on all sides by residential streets, making expansion almost impossible, and so club chairman Bob Murray began investigating the possibility of relocation. In 1995, following Nissan's objection to a previous proposal for a new stadium adjacent to their car plant, Sunderland put forward a plan to build a stadium on the former site of Wearmouth Colliery, which had closed in December 1993. Located on the north bank of the Wear in the Sheepfolds district, the site was only a few hundred yards from Roker Park, and close to the city centre.

The Stadium Of Light was opened on 30 July 1997 – on time and within budget. Its name was chosen as an everlasting tribute to the region's mine-workers and proud industrial heritage, and in the expectation that the stadium would be a guiding light in the future. The name is very much a symbolic link to the thousands of miners, many of them supporters of the football club, who emerged from the darkness and into the light every day when they returned to the surface after working in the mine, and a Davy lamp monument stands at the entrance to commemorate the coal mining industry that, together with ship-building, once brought prosperity to the area.

The simple design of the stadium allows for relatively straightforward expansion of its capacity. Originally capable of accommodating 42,000 spectators, this was increased to 49,000 in 2002, which is the sixth-largest capacity of any English football stadium. An absolute maximum capacity of 84,000 is known to be achievable, but this is unlikely ever to be realised as it would be far in excess of demand.

Besides hosting football matches, the stadium has also staged close-season rock and pop concerts.

I originally uploaded this shot at around the time it was taken, but later removed it from my photostream as I wasn't entirely happy with it. However, since creating an album dedicated to my home town, I decided that no such album would be complete without a shot of the SOL, hence its resurrection (after a little more tinkering in post)!

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Sunderland / Southwick (show map)

Taken on: March 2, 2016

Tags:

Nikon

D7100

17-50mm

Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM

Sunderland

Stadium Of Light

County Durham

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Camera: Nikon D7100, f/5.6, 1/320 sec, 32mm (=48mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D7100
Lens:	17.0-50.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/320)
Focal Length:	32mm (35mm equivalent: 48mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.14 (Windows)
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