26 Jun 2009Quinn reveals Sunderland ground expansion possibility

Football Clubs News | Football Technology and Stadia

Niall Quinn has revealed that the capacity of Sunderland's Stadium of Light ground could be increased in the coming years.

The Sunderland chairman believes that the club will be in the mix to be one of the host cities should England be successful in its bid to hold the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022.

However, despite the ground already meeting the criteria to be a hosting venue, as it is a stadium that has at least 40,000 seats, Quinn has revealed that there may still be a reason to add more viewing space.

He said: "We don't need to increase the size for the World Cup because 40,000 is the guideline.

"But there's a small bit of me that knows we can turn this club around and if we're getting 40,000-plus averages with a team in the bottom-five, what would we get for a team in the top-half?"

Quinn added that there is the potential to increase to either 55,000 of even 60,000 seats, which is something that could be achieved during a pre-season.

Sunderland previously played their home games at Roker Park before moving to the Stadium of Light in 1997.

Written by Terry Mitchell

© Copyright