Stadium of Light
football stadium in Sunderland, England
The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Premier League club Sunderland. With seating for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the 10th largest football stadium in England. The stadium primarily hosts Sunderland home matches. The stadium was named by chairman Bob Murray to reflect the coal mining heritage of the North East and the former Monkwearmouth Colliery site on which it stands. A Davy lamp monument stands at the entrance to reflect the coal mining industry that brought prosperity to the town.
As well as hosting Sunderland games, the stadium has hosted three matches for the England national football team, as well as an England under-20, an England under-21 and two England women's team matches. With an original capacity of 42,000, it was expanded in 2000 to seat 49,000. Its simple design is apparently to allow for redevelopments up to a capacity of 64,000. The attendance record at the Stadium of Light is 48,353 set on 13 April 2002, when Sunderland played Liverpool with the visitors running out 1–0 winners. Along with hosting football matches, the stadium has played host to performers such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Oasis, Take That, Kings of Leon, P!nk, Coldplay, Spice Girls and Elton John.
The public source identifies “Stadium of Light” as football stadium in Sunderland, England. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Stadium, Light and football.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Stadium of Light”, the useful work is to connect “football stadium in Sunderland, England” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q31969. Authority coordinates are 54.914, -1.388. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000 and 2002.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Stadium of Light”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Stadium of Light primary sources, Stadium of Light archive and Stadium research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Stadium of Light”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Stadium of Light” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.