Stadium of Light - Sunderland

Sunderland - Stadium of Light

Sunderland Association Football Club

Stadium of Light

Millennium Way

Sunderland

SR5 1SU

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Sunderland Twitter Page

Sunderland Official Website

HISTORY/FACTS ABOUT THE BLACK CATS:

• Sunderland were formed in 1879, they were formed as "Sunderland and District Teachers AFC by School Headmaster James Allen.
• During the late 19th Century, they were declared the "Team of  All Talents by William McGregor.
• Since the club's formation, they have won 6 top flight titles, all coming in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913 and 1936.
• Sunderland won their 1st FA Cup final in 1937 with a 3-1 win over Preston North End.
• The clubs first ever relegation happened in 1958.
• The biggest transfer fee they have ever received for a player was £24 million in 2011 which saw Darren Bent join Aston Villa.
• Sunderland previously played their games at Roker Park, from 1898 to 1997. When it got demolished, it turned into a housing estate, all roads with names such as "Midfield Drive" "Turnstile Mews" "Promotion Close" and others.
• The club moved into the Stadium of Light and currently holds 49,000.
• Sunderland's massive rivalry is Newcastle United, otherwise known as the "Tyne-Wear" Derby.
• Sunderland's famous fans are known to be, Heather Mills, David Jones (Sky Sports presenter), Peter O'Toole, Denise Robertson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bryan Ferry to name a few.

MY VISITS:

VISIT 1: Sunderland 0-2 Swansea City 13/5/17
VISIT 2: Sunderland 2-2 Gillingham 7/3/20

VISIT 1; MY FIRST EVER VISIT TO THE NORTH EAST:

Sunderland 0-2 Swansea City

Saturday 13th May 2017

Barclays Premier League

My 1st trip to Sunderland came about when I was looking at the fixtures around February time. Gillingham's season was already over in April, so with the Premier League games not finishing till late May, of course it gave me a free Saturday. I wanted to get the longer trips out of the way, so with Sunderland of course 1 of the furthest, I opted for Sunderland. Plus a great deal with Grand Central Rail tickets at £21.70 return from Kings Cross straight to Sunderland with about 3 and half hours journey wise, I couldn't turn down the chance to say no. Leading into the game, Sunderland were already relegated to The Championship with nothing to play for, whether as Swansea had everything to play for. They started the day only a point above the drop zone, with Hull just below them not playing till the next the day away at Crystal Palace. So, anyway onto my journey, it was a long old journey for me. I left home just before 6am, got onto the tube from London Bridge just before 7 and got into Kings Cross at around 7.15am. Had plenty of time to kill, so bought myself a meal deal at WHSmith's. I eventually left Kings Cross at 8.11am and arrived into Sunderland just before midday.

Keep fighting little man, around the world is supporting you, including myself. There's only one Bradley Lowery.

So, after pulling into Sunderland just before midday, I popped to Ladbrokes and had a bit of fun on the greyhounds. Only lost 50p in total, so wasn't too bad. Shortly after I grabbed some lunch at McDonald's and then made my way to the ground to take pictures. Onto the game itself, it was pretty much what I expected, although I kinda expected it to be a bore 0-0 draw, but then again I did expect Swansea to go for it as they still had plenty to play for. Sunderland didn't really play at all, thought they were absolutely dreadful. No fight at all, but kind of expected as Sunderland were already relegated and playing Championship football next season so was to be expected. Swansea took the lead after 9 minutes from a good free-kick by Gylfi Sigurdsson a player I do admire, and which saw Fernando Llorente head home. Swansea then made it 2-0 right just before half time with a cracking strike into the top corner from Kyle Naughton and that pretty much sealed it there really. Not a lot much happened. There were boo's ringing round The Stadium of Light at half time which again wasn't a surprise. I must say, in the 5th minute both sets of supporters giving a applause and also singing "There's only one Bradley Lowery" which did give me goosebumps. Sadly young Bradley who's only 5 years old has been diagnosed with Neuroblastoma which is a form of cancer, Bradley was diagnosed with it only 18 months old. Does break my heart saying that as I'm sure anyone who's reading this is as well. All I'll say as well is keep fighting little man, you've got loads of support around the world, keep fighting mate. All the best. There's only one Bradley Lowery! After the game, I left Sunderland just after half 5, and with a good journey back, I got in my front door shortly after 10pm. A great journey home. Sunderland's Stadium of Light was my 77th ground of the 92.