Roker Park centre circle plaque campaign gains thousands of backers | OneFootball

A campaign to install a Sunderland AFC plaque on the roundabout marking the former centre circle at Roker Park has gone viral. According to Sunderland Echo, an online support page launched on Monday has already drawn nearly 2,300 signatures.

Roker Park was the Black Cats’ home from 1898 to 1997, before the move to the Stadium of Light, built on the Wearmouth Colliery site. While the new ground builds its story, many supporters still see Roker Park and the Roker Roar as the club’s spiritual home.

Co-founders Gav Blakey and Ged Mullen-Buick, both 41 and from Houghton-le-Spring, say the project is rooted in personal history. Blakey says his parents met at Roker Park, he held a Fulwell End season ticket from age two, and his standout memory is Gordon Armstrong’s winning header in the 1992 FA Cup quarter-final, when he was seven.

Mullen-Buick recalls being 12 when the ground closed and learning its significance from his older brother. He argues there is still no football or club plaque on site to reflect that heritage.

The pair say they were prompted by plaques marking the centre circle at other former grounds, including Maine Road in Manchester, the site of Highbury, and The Dell in Southampton. They feel the club’s current nods to nostalgia, from retro shirts to the Welcome to Sunderland sign, make this the right moment to recognise the spot.

They hope to present the signatures to the club and the City Council to try to make it happen. With the 30th anniversary of Roker Park’s closure next year, they believe a plaque could help families explain the ground’s place in Sunderland’s history, even as the Stadium of Light continues to write its own moments, such as Dan Ballard’s play-off goal against Coventry.

Source: Sunderland Echo