Roker Park
| Roker Park | |
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| Roker Park in August 1976 at the game Sunderland vs Arsenal | |
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| place |
 Sunderland , Tyne and Wear , England
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| Coordinates | 54 ° 55 '16.7 " N , 1 ° 22' 31.7" W |
| opening | September 10, 1898 |
| First game | 10 September 1898 Sunderland AFC 1-0 Liverpool FC |
| Renovations | 1966 |
| demolition | 1997 |
| surface | Natural grass |
| architect | Archibald Leitch (1929) |
| capacity | 22,500 seats |
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The Roker Park was a football stadium in the English city of Sunderland , Tyne and Wear . From 1898 to 1997 it was used as a venue by the English football club AFC Sunderland . After that, the Black Cats moved into the newly built Stadium of Light . Roker Park was in Roker , in the northern part of Sunderland. Roker Park also refers to a city park in Sunderland that was created in the Victorian era .
history
When the chairman of Sunderland FC and his brothers (the Henderson brothers ) decided to build a larger stadium for the club, the choice fell on a piece of land owned by a Mr. Tennant. He sold the farmland only on condition that a house be built on the property in addition to the stadium. As a result, rent continued to be paid for the property until the house was finally completed.
Roker Park was completely built just one year after the building land was purchased, with the wooden stands being completed in just three months. The famous grandstand Clock Stand had 32 steps, had no seats and had breakwaters for safety. The turf was bought in Ireland and was of such good quality that it didn't have to be replaced for 37 years. It was developed in such a way that a gradient of around 30 cm was created between the center and the side of the playing field, which accelerated the runoff when it rains.
Roker Park was officially opened on September 10, 1898 by the Marquis of Londonderry . In the first game Sunderland defeated Liverpool FC 1-0.
In 1912 the stadium was largely concreted and the capacity increased to 50,000 visitor places by 1913. In 1929 the wooden main stand was replaced, with the new stand built by Archibald Leitch , whose influence can also be seen in Ibrox Park , home of the Glasgow Rangers . The construction of the new main grandstand led the club to the verge of bankruptcy . The stadium's official capacity in the 1930s was 60,000. For the game of the 6th round in the FA Cup between the Sunderland AFC against Derby County came on March 8, 1933 the record number of 75,118 spectators in the stadium.
Further work on Roker Park followed in the following years. In 1936 the 115-meter-long clock stand was rebuilt and then opened by Lady Raine , wife of the then club chairman Sir Walter Raine .
During World War II , a police officer was killed when a bomb fell in the center of the pitch.
In 1952, the Roker Park was expanded to include a floodlight system , which made it possible for games to take place in the evening.
When England hosted the Soccer World Cup in 1966 , the clock stand was expanded to include additional seats.
In the 1970s, Roker Park was expanded, adding an irrigation system for the lawn and improving the floodlight system to a European standard. In addition, an electronic control system was introduced, which made it possible to closely monitor the grandstands if necessary. The roof was also re-covered.
When Sunderland FC went through a sporting downturn in the 1980s, Roker Park also began to suffer due to the tight financial situation. As a result, the capacity of the venue was greatly reduced.
The FA wrote after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 and the subsequent Taylor Report provides that a stadium would be fully equipped with seats, after which the capacity to 22,500 spectators reduced. After there were no possibilities to increase the capacity, the club decided to move to a new stadium. In 1997, Roker Park was demolished and replaced by residential complexes.
Web links
- chroniclelive.co.uk: Images of Roker Park (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ footballgroundguide.com: visitor record ( memento of the original from December 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ stadiumguide.com: data on the stadium (English)
