Monkwearmouth Park

A decade of piss poor football combined with an increased feeling of alienation as football fans in general, has slowly taken its toll on the atmosphere and match day experience as a whole. Fortunately, things seem to be taking a turn for the better at The Stadium of Light. The players, for the time being, have stopped playing shite. We have a Sunderland supporting manager with a proven track record and the ability to attract top players. Sunderland legend Niall Quinn has preached SAFC to the world, whether it be attracting fans from East Asia, or trailing round the local boozers, dragging the piss heads away from Azerbaijani Football TV and back in to the ground.  And we have a chairman and owner who not only seems to have a bit of cash, but also appears to care about the club and the opinions of the fans. If we can’t make it with our current set up, I doubt we ever will.

Ellis Short’s willingness to listen to fans has recently been demonstrated, his plans to shift the away fans up into the North Stand upper, creating a new “home” end in the South Stand, have generally been well received amongst the Wearside faithful. With the South Stand looking as if it will be at concession prices next year, this is an ideal opportunity for Sunderland fans to gather with other like-minded individuals and bring back the famous Roker Roar. This, coupled with the emergence of groups such as “Ha’way the Flags”, should hopefully improve the atmosphere, and make going to the match enjoyable once again.

But why stop at there? While the clubs around us sell their souls, renaming their grounds after wealthy Arab airlines or jumble sale sport shops, our current set up gives us the opportunity to embrace our traditions and famous past. Despite not jumping on the sponsorship bandwagon with regards to ground name, “The Stadium of Light” was probably not the name which many envisioned when it was announced back in 1997. It doesn’t have any particular relevance to the club, sounds pretentious, sounds nicked, and sounds like, er, shite. Surely something relevant to the area would be more appropriate. The current names of our stands also leave a lot to be desired. Meeting your mates in the Strongbow Upper North Stand, or Fosters Shandy East Stand, isn’t quite the same as meeting at the back of the Fulwell. We’ve inhabited our new ground now for almost 15 years, yet the names of our stands still sound like a pissed tramp’s compass. With some input from the supporters, we could have something we could relate to, such as The Southwick End instead of the North Stand, with our new home stand The Wearmouth End, or maybe even the Niall Quinn Stand, opposite. We could reclaim Archibald Leitch’s lattice work from the stadium’s car park, stick it in the West Stand, and rename it the Main Stand. Surely this iconic part of Roker Park would look better in the ground, rather than out of view, gathering dents from them shit 4x4 things that the players drive about.  We could even hoy a half decent looking clock on the East Stand and rename it The Clock Stand, while naming the corners of our ground after legends such as of Gurney, Shackleton, Carter, and Hurley, would help make the stadium feel as though it did really belong to the fans.

Whereas Mike Ashley laughs off Newcastle fans’ Neanderthal-like grumbles regarding their ground name, at Sunderland we have the opportunity to shape and influence our club. It’s up to the supporters to take advantage of the unique relationship between board and the fans.