On this day in 1997, the final game was played at Roker Park, concluding the 99-year history of English football’s most famous grounds.
“There’ll never be anywhere like Roker Park” claimed Bob Stokoe, who was part of the contingent of Sunderland legends gathered to pay tribute to the iconic ground. Most of the supporters gathered there would tend to agree.
Charlie Hurley, our Player of The Century, was also in attendance that day, as well as ’73 Cup winning captain Bobby Kerr, Jimmy Montgomery and a whole host of exceptional talents who had graced Roker Park over the years. The tone could easily have been mournful, with people assuming their spaces in the crowd for the final time, but the fixture against Liverpool was also the last chance to showcase the famous Roker Roar , as well as to celebrate the stadium’s storied history. It was a bittersweet occasion.
We had faced Liverpool in the first ever game at Roker Park and had beaten them 1-0 in that fixture – 99 years later we replicated this score as we ran out winners again in our final game. A goal from John Mullin in the first half was enough to ensure victory in the friendly, a good finish, with excellent vision by Chris Waddle to find Mullin.
At the final whistle, The King dug up the centre spot so it could be planted at the new ground, which was under construction on the vacated Wearmouth Colliery. Ritualistically, like some sort of strange mass, the gathered fans watched as Hurley reverentially plunged the spade into the turf at the middle of the pitch. A quiet moment of reflection for the onlooking fans, something akin to a religious ceremony underway. Funereally, the centre circle was hoisted up and marched across the side of the pitch, as a sombre man fluttered a lone Sunderland crest-adorned flag behind the procession. The beloved badge would soon be replaced by the more derivative crest we wear today.
A move to the Stadium Of Light beckoned. After the Taylor Report in 1990, the move to an all seater stadium was inevitable. Sunderland was moving into a new era.
The Stadium Of Light has had its moments, but it is also tarnished with some of the lowest in our history. People might look back nostalgically on the ground as we find ourselves in our current slump, looking back retrospectively with somewhat rose tinted glasses. After all, the SOL on its day can be one of the best atmosphere’s in the country. However, understandably, many will still feel as if we’ve still never recreated the magic of our old home.
Roker Park had the authenticity, that latent emotion sorely lacking in modern day constructions. At the risk of sounding nostalgic, Stadium's like Spur's new one may be technically impressive feats of engineering, but they lack the soul, the history and the tradition of something like Roker Park. As Stokoe said, “There’ll never be anywhere like Roker Park”.
