Following on from commachio's article. Would anyone here mind if we sold the naming rights for our stadium? I would never of dreamt of it at roker park, not so sure about the SOL though?
YES: If I had my way I would change the name to the Wearmouth Stadium in honour of the miners who worked on that site.
Personally I've never liked the SOL name ! I would have called it Wearmouth or even Sheepfolds - the former being my preference. Re-naming it for commercial reasons ? That would depend on the name - anything naff wouldn't be welcome - and the money would have to be good even if the name was half decent. I can't understand why the club don't do more to personalise the ground or give it a bit more character - Bob Stokoe's death or Ian Porterfield's would have been good opportunities to get away from the bland North, South, East and West stands for a start !!
See, i hated it, but i like it now. I'm all for naming the stands mind, i would name one after Bob Murray as well, he put us in the place, and made it possible for us to be disappointed at a possible top half finish! Porterfield and Stoke, maybe Shackleton/Hurley for the other 3? North, South < east and West is just ****.
If we are naming stands think Raich Carter would have to be one. I wanted it to be named Colliery Park, anything to do with our heritage really. This why I wouldn't be dead set against an Commercial name, SOL just doesn't do it for me.
Surely if we sold the naming rights we'd have no say over what it was called. I'd only be happy to do so if we got a **** load of money and had visability as to where the money was to be spent..... I'd be looking for a long term return ideally.....perhaps something physical perhaps so when the unwashed start takeing the piss we could say "yes but look what we did with the money.........
I didn't like SoL to start with, but it's got a national reputation now and I think re-naming it would be a backward step. If we named the stands, I'd like one named after James Allen who founded the club. The others could be chosen from Charlie Buchan, Raich Carter, Len Shackleton, Bob Stokoe, Bob Murray, etc. I'd probably miss out Stokoe because he's already got a statue outside, and the others have nowt. Allen, Buchan, Carter and Shackleton would be appropriate - A, B, C, and then S - aye, Shack was forever the oddball! Ha.
I wouldn't want to rename it for corporate reasons unless we either got a ****load of money or the company was really good (please, not the Tombola Stadium!) I'd quite like Wearmouth Stadium or something along those lines, and I do think that the stands need to be named (Stokoe, Carter, Hurley, maybe Bardsley )
No cos we'd end up with summit pap like The Tombola stadium or summit. The Stadium of Light sounds epic, I think its the best name in the UK.
NO. it is as it is,what if some clown, like FAT ASH, with loadsa dosh, wanted to call it the TAMPAX stadium, just for money,,,,,,,WOULD YOU WANT OR LIKE THAT?,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Pick a better subject as a thread mate.
Bob Murray's stated reason for choosing this name was to move away from Sunderland's traditional industrial pursuits and to look to the future of the city - a shiney new start, if you like. And if you look at it like that, I think SoL is a brilliant name (even if he did nick it). In fairness to Murray, he did acknowlege the pit heritage in setting it all up. Where I think he overstepped the mark was removing all reference to shipbuilding from the club ground, badge, etc. Sunderland AFC was built on the money of Robert Thampson, James Marr (shipbuilders) and Samuel Tyzack (coal owner). It was those guys who built 'The Team of All the Talents' in the late-1880s and got us into the Football League. To remember one and forget the other was, I think, unforgiveable. If I'd change anything now, it wouldn't be the name of the stadium, but to put that ship back on the club badge where it belongs.
I agree that I wouldn't like to sell the naming rights to any old sponsor; but I would still like to the stadium name changed from the SoL to the Wearmouth Stadium.
The SOL sounds fine as it is unique as you will find Benfica's ground is officially called The Benfica Stadium. It is in the district of Lux (light in English) in Lisbon
I think you may have unintentionally hit the nail on the head regarding our current stadium name. I feel that the majority of fans refer to it as the SOL because they are embarrassed by its full name. I actually protested outside of the stadium after the powers that be named the stadium, and I still feel as strongly about it to this day.
