Newcastle Road was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

ground in the

Monkwearmouth Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in North East England. Monkwearmouth is located at the north side of the mouth of the River Wear. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with Bisho ...

area of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and was the home ground of Sunderland A.F.C for twelve years, between 1886 and 1898. It was the sixth ground at which the club had played. Also called ''Ashville Ground'', it was located between Newcastle Road, Eglinton Street North and Crozier Street. Sunderland AFC's first game at the ground was a friendly against Birtley on 10 April 1886. The game ended as a 3 – 3 draw. On 5 May 1888, the now-defunct Sunderland Albion F.C. played their inaugural game at Newcastle Road; a 3 – 0 victory over Shankhouse Blackwatch, although Albion would go on to play their home games at Sunderland AFCs previous ground of Blue House Field. Sunderland AFC became the main tenants of Newcastle Road, initially playing a mixture of friendlies and

Durham Challenge Cup The Durham County Challenge Cup (commonly known as the Durham Challenge Cup) is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Durham County Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup for the ...

games. On 30 October 1886, Newcastle Road hosted Sunderland's first ever home tie in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

; a 2 – 1 victory over Newcastle West End F.C. Landowners, the

Shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

owning Thompson Sisters, charged the club £15 rent in the first year, and labourers from the Thompson yards were enlisted to help build the stands. Sunderland joined

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in 1890, their first home league game being a defeat against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

on 13 September of that year. Six months later, in March 1891, the first

England International The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

to be held in Sunderland was played at Newcastle Road, as 15,000 spectators watched England beat

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

4–1. In their first season in the Football League, Sunderland drew an average home attendance of 6,091 at Newcastle Road. The ground had an estimated capacity of 15,000, but frequently admitted many more, including a then English record football attendance of 21,000 for an 1891

tie vs Everton F.C. Over the course of the next decade, the club averaged crowds of 7,450 at Newcastle Road, peaking at 11,033 for their final season. Sunderland were hugely successful during their time at Newcastle Road, winning the league championship three times and embarking on a home run that saw them undefeated in 81 games and scoring 270 goals in the process. The success led them to be dubbed "The Team of All Talents", and Sunderland went on to be the first English side to be crowned World Champions By 1896, rent on the ground had risen to £100, and space for expansion at Newcastle Road was limited. Recognising the need for growth, the board set about finding a new home. Sunderland became a

Limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

, raised financing through the sale of shares, and purchased farmland in

Roker Roker () is a tourist resort and affluent area of Sunderland, North East England, bounded on the south by the River Wear and Monkwearmouth, on the east by the North Sea, to the west by Fulwell and on the north by Seaburn. It is administere ...

for a new stadium. The final league game at the Newcastle Road was a 4–0 win over

Nottingham Forest F.C. Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Trent ...

on 23 April 1898 and in the summer of 1898, Sunderland moved to

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; ...

, where they would remain for 99 years. The ground features in a painting by the artist Thomas M. M. Hemy, a brother of

Charles Napier Hemy Charles Napier Hemy (Newcastle-on-Tyne, 24 May 1841 – 30 September 1917, Falmouth) was a British genre and marine painter. He was born to a musical family in Newcastle-on-Tyne, and trained in the Government School of Design, Newcastle, follo ...

. The image depicts a game between Sunderland and

Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Pa ...

in 1895, and is believed to be the oldest painting of a league football game. The painting was later placed in the reception area at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

, the current home of the club.

Internationals

References

{{coord, 54, 55, 08.48, N, 1, 23, 12.02, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Defunct football venues in England Home Grounds of Sunderland A.F.C. Sports venues in Tyne and Wear English Football League venues Sunderland