A 29,000 capacity Stadium of Light? It was almost the case, but for our neighbours' mistakes. And Peter Reid.
Throughout his tenure as Sunderland chairman, Bob Murray always seemed to be driven – almost in equal measure – by a desire for Sunderland to do well, combined with a deep-rooted dislike of ‘them up the road’.
To be fair, that’s not too different from many Sunderland supporters, particularly those raised in halfy-half places like Consett, as Murray was.
The first few years of Murray’s chairmanship were stifled by the ongoing dispute with Barry Batey, but as the early 90s progressed, a new stadium was high on the to-do list. While many wanted to keep Sunderland at Roker Park, it was deemed an undesirable path to explore. While the ground was hemmed in by housing on three sides, the car park at the front of the Main Stand did offer scope to build something bigger – however it would have come at a significant cost, and Murray’s mind was firmly set elsewhere.
The Wembley of the North didn’t progress, but a new development at Monkwearmouth did – and it’s often forgotten that the original plans for the new ground were significantly different to what we know and love today.
On this day 30 years ago, Murray announced the original 29,000 capacity footprint for the new stadium (with provision for it to be extended to 34,000) was to be extended to an initial 40,000-plus.
And he suggested that the decision to extend the ambition of the stadium was down to both Newcastle and Middlesbrough ‘getting it wrong’.
To the south, Middlesbrough – with a capacity of under 30,000 – were having to turn people away from their new Cellnet Stadium, while to the north, Newcastle’s redevelopment had left them with a capacity of just 36,000. And the fabled waiting list of 12,000, of course.
We have learned from Middlesbrough and Newcastle since we first submitted our plans for our new Wearmouth Stadium. Middlesbrough can only extend by a couple of thousand and Newcastle have obviously got their sums wrong.
Bob Murray
Newcastle have built a stadium for today, not for tomorrow. And there will be no bonds or debentures here. We want as many ordinary football fans to get into our ground as is possible.
With the extended capacity, the cost of the new stadium had risen from £12m to £14m, and the revised plans were 15 metres higher and wider than the originals, with the pitch dropped into the ground to create much of the space the additional capacity demanded. The new ground was set to be the fifth-largest in the country – only Manchester United, Leeds, Liverpool, and Everton had capacities over 40,000 at this point. Murray said the desire to capitalise on a huge population, and ensure as many supporters as possible could get access to the club, were also key motivators.
Wearside has the largest concentration of population between Leeds and Edinburgh, and we have been encouraged to increase our capacity if we want to compete.
I would not wish to see any loyal Sunderland supporters become a casualty of success, either in terms of access to the club or affordability.
We do not want to see Wearsiders locked out of the new stadium. We must learn from the experiences of other clubs and not copy their mistakes.
In good local journalism fashion, The Journal gave Newcastle a right of reply – and while former Roker season ticket holder Sir John Hall wasn’t available for comment, a chap by the name of Mike Elrick ‘hit back!’.
Mr Murray is entitled to his opinion, but we aren’t going to get involved in a slanging match.
The fact is we could probably fill a 50,000 capacity stadium with planning permission, or if it was possible in engineering terms.
Sunderland’s on-field performances under new manager Peter Reid were surely giving Murray confidence in the new stadium project, and the input on the buzz around the place created by Reid cannot be underestimated here.
It would have been interesting to see whether the desire, or funding, for the ‘new’ new stadium would have been as great if we’d been mid-table at this point in the season, regardless of what was happening up or down the road.
As it was, we were top of the league after beating Millwall 6-0 at home, and were heading to Reading in buoyant mood as we eventually made our way to the title.
Given that, on this day in 1995, club officials were preparing the planning application for the extended capacity, and four construction companies had just been asked to tender on the construction of the new ground, it’s incredible to think that, just over 18 months later, Status Quo were flying into town to get the new place rocking…
Category: General Sports
