Everton prepare for their first competitive game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium against Brighton on Sunday. New stadiums replace rundown venues with state-of-the-art arenas and bring hope of starting a new chapter for clubs and supporters. Sunderland inaugurated the Stadium of Light with a 3-1 victory over Manchester City on 15 August 1997. The match featured a disastrous backpass by Tony Vaughan, Niall Quinn scoring, Alan Kernaghan being sent off, Georgi Kinkladze equalising from the penalty spot, and Kevin Phillips combining with Quinn before Lee Clark sealed the win in front of 35,568 fans.
The Stadium of Light was named in honour of the local coal-mining community and the Davy lamp used by miners. It was, therefore, suitable that the first match came on a Friday night under new floodlights. Manchester City were the visitors, arriving with optimism that they would challenge Sunderland in the promotion race from the second tier. The Roker Park roar came with the new stadium, helped by the City defender Tony Vaughan playing a dreadful backwards pass straight to Niall Quinn,
who subsequently cemented his place in history. Alan Kernaghan helped boost the party atmosphere by getting sent off before Georgi Kinkladze equalised from the penalty spot for the 10-man visitors after being tripped in the area by Kevin Ball. Home fans had no need to worry, however, as they witnessed the first combination of Quinn and Kevin Phillips, the latter making his Sunderland debut. A booming free-kick was headed down by the Irishman, allowing his partner to jab home.
Collection
[
|
...
]