The stadium was named by chairman Bob Murray to reflect the coal mining heritage of the North East and the former Monkwearmouth Colliery site on which it stands.

[5] The attendance record at the Stadium of Light is 48,353 set on 13 April 2002, when Sunderland played Liverpool with the visitors running out 1–0 winners.

Following the release of the Taylor Report in January 1990, Sunderland was obliged to make plans to turn their Roker Park home into an all-seater stadium.

So, by 1991, Sunderland chairman Bob Murray had started to scour the local area for possible sites to build a new all-seater stadium.

[7] The 49,000 all-seater ground was labelled "the Wembley of the North" by Sunderland fans and would boast a capacity that not even Manchester United's Old Trafford exceeded until 1996.

Shortly after the plans were announced in 1992, Nissan launched an official objection, ultimately forcing Sunderland to abandon the idea.

[7] The area, on the north bank of the River Wear in the Sheepfolds district of Sunderland, was only a few hundred yards from Roker Park, and close to the centre of the city.

[5] The stadium was opened on 30 July 1997 by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, with bands such as Status Quo, Upside Down and Kavana playing.

[18] The stadium name had been associated with the area since 1970 when it appeared in a Monty Python's Flying Circus episode Literary Football, which was hosted by a native of South Shields, Eric Idle.

[21][22] A film crew for the Premier Passions documentary series recorded the moment that Bob Murray faced Sunderland fans immediately after the naming with many expressing their disappointment.

In March 2010, Sunderland Chairman Niall Quinn announced the club were considering plans to sell naming rights to the stadium as a new way to boost income.

[27] The South Stand was renamed to the Roker End in December 2018, following a poll organised by the Red & White Army supporters club.

The South East corner of the stadium is designated as the Family Zone,[33] and has family-oriented branding within the concourse, as well as entertainment such as PlayStation 4 consoles.

The device controls various aspects of the pitch, including exposure to light, temperature, water, and air, to make the grass able to grow in any conditions.

[39] Wooden boards mimicking the Leitch lattice work were also added to the Roker End in 2019 as part of an initiative by the Red & White Army supporters group to bring a sense of identity to renamed stand.

[45] In 2015, Sunderland became the first football club in the world to open a sensory room within the Stadium - thereby allowing people on the Autism spectrum to watch matches in a sound-proofed environment.

The stadium originally had mainly red seats, except for a Sunderland emblem and the words "SUNDERLAND A.F.C" in white lettering on the East Stand, and the slogan "HA'WAY THE LADS" ("Ha'way" is a Mackem dialect equivalent of the Geordie word "Howay", meaning "Come on"[50]) in white lettering on the North Stand.

Over time, sections of red seats become bleached by the sun, turning them pink - which became a source of mockery from opposing fans.

When Stewart Donald purchased the club in the summer of 2018, frustration over the pink seats (and the general state of the stadium) came up frequently in his early engagements with fans.

[54] The seat change took place in phases, with hundreds of volunteering fans joined occasionally by club officials and players.

In a Q&A with supporters association 'Red & White Army', new club owner Stewart Donald committed to bring back the Fan Zone.

A 30 hectare site area around the Stadium, including the Sheepfolds Industrial estate, was designated as the 'Stadium Village' development zone by Sunderland City Council in 2007 - and a draft Supplementary planning document was released in 2009.

[65] The plan, adopted in 2010, described a framework for redeveloping the Stadium Village area into a mixture of commercial, residential and entertainment facilities with a focus on health and well-being.

[67] Initial redevelopment work focused on the Northern end of the site, adjacent to the stadium's North Stand and the Black Cat House ticket office.

[79] The plaza would incorporate an enhanced Fan Zone, and is modelled on a similar space being developed as part of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

[86] On 30 September 2021, it was announced that the Stadium would host its first women's football international; an England 2023 World Cup qualifier against Austria on 27 November 2021.

[102] The stadium won the RSVP magazine's Most creative use of a sporting venue award in 2007 for its usage as the university's graduation site.

[103] The highest football attendance at the Stadium of Light is 48,353 set on 13 April 2002 for a Premier League game between Sunderland and Liverpool.

[105] The lowest recorded attendance for a first-team competitive game at the Stadium of Light was 3,498 vs Oldham Athletic in the EFL Trophy Second Round on 1 December 2021.

[114] Sunderland's biggest league defeat at the Stadium of Light is 4–0 which has happened on five occasions: vs. Arsenal (11 May 2003), vs. Manchester United (26 December 2007), vs. Aston Villa (14 March 2015), vs. Southampton (11 February 2017) and vs. Middlesbrough (7 October 2023).