Since then, it has hosted England matches, play-off clashes, championship cheers and relegation tears, grown in size and added the odd statue or two. On Saturday, ahead of the Black Cat's return to the Premiership, Sunderland AFC fans, players and officials will mark its birthday by entertaining Italian side Juventus.

JOHN HOWE talks to those who remember the impact of those first moments on July 30, 1997.

TOMMY Porter was groundsman for Sunderland AFC working at Roker Park and the Stadium of Light for 14 years and faced preparing the pitch ahead of the big match.

Now 74, retired and living in Middle Herrington, he has a season ticket and has put £10 on Sunderland to finish in the top two.

"The pitch was absolutely terrible. The contractors had been looking after it and 70 per cent of it was weeds and that was a couple of days before the Ajax match.

"When we got there the guy was on the pitch spraying everything green with dye.

"Looking back seeding the pitch while the stadium was being built was the wrong thing to do. It was a massive task to get it right. The weeds we pulled up had foot-long roots and it was a big worry, because we were going to take the can for it."

FRED Taylor, 47, has followed Sunderland AFC since 1966. Secretary of the Boldon Supporters Association branch, he remembers walking into the ground for the first time for the Ajax match. He is a season ticket holder in the North Stand.

"The first time I walked in it was half full, then by kick-off it was breathtaking, something I had never seen before as a Sunderland fan – that massive show of red and white. It was one of the best feelings I have ever had as a Sunderland supporter.

"I never wanted to leave Roker Park, but from that first season, I had to admit I was wrong."

MICHAEL Turnbull, as Bishop of Durham, blessed the stadium before the match. Now retired and living in Kent he still follows his "number one team".

"I remember the occasion very well. It was the biggest congregation I have ever spoken to. It was a great night, not only for the football club, but for Sunderland in general.

"Looking forward then, there was a great sense of anticipation that the club had gone through an important phase of growth.

"I used to go to the matches quite often and I am thrilled at recent success after all the up and downs. Bob Murray is a very good friend and, in a way, I was sad to see the end of that era, but with Niall Quinn, the club has got someone whose heart is in Sunderland, not just an import."

NIALL Quinn, then Black Cats centre forward, now chairman, was the first player to score at the Stadium of Light, eventually netting as Sunderland beat Manchester City 3-1 on August 15.

Speaking on the club's website, he said: "The stadium definitely made Sunderland a bigger football club. The players felt bigger and the atmosphere was great.

"I'd played at Highbury with Arsenal and they were great days. I played in front of full houses at Maine Road, but somehow the stadium was a bit different. There was a crescendo of noise everywhere. You came out of the tunnel and there was a sea of red and white in the opposite stand. It gave you an immediate lift."

BOB Murray, then chairman, left Sunderland AFC last year after 10 years at the helm after the Drumaville Consortium takeover.

Remembering the Ajax game during an interview on the club website, he said: "It was the opening of the stadium – I was nervous as we were still doing a lot of the snagging. The game was important to everyone. They wanted a top team to open the stadium and Ajax were top drawer. The pride and prestige it gave the supporters and the city was fantastic.

"I am flattered when people call it my legacy. It has allowed the club to grow in size and to attract a wider supporter base than ever before, whilst not pricing out supporters. It would be great to be remembered for that."

BRYN Sidaway was council leader and head of the city's ruling Labour group. Now an independent, he said: "It was a marvellous occasion to see the fans pack it out – very memorable.

"It was a big thrill to see the club relocate on to the colliery site and to see a magnificent new stadium, which even now, after 10 years, is one of the best in the British Isles.

"It was a real joint effort. Roker Park was unsuitable. You couldn't expand it. It was causing problems with parking and on health and safety grounds.

"The stadium has justified it. The colliery site would probably still be derelict if we hadn't done it, but saying that, there was a lot of opposition to it from councillors who are regulars over there now."

KEVIN Ball, pictured, was Sunderland's captain on the night against Ajax. Now the Black Cats under-18s coach, he recalls having what would have been the first goal scored at the stadium chalked off.

"It was so early in the game and I was thinking I was the first person to score, when I heard the whistle blow and saw Jeff Winter, the referee smirking.

"For me leading the team out at such a prestigious game was a privilege. Some fans will have fond memories of Roker Park, but moving to the Stadium of Light helped catapult the club forward in peoples' minds and helped push us forward."

Leading the celebrations after the final Birmingham game in 105-point championship-winning season in 1999 remains a high point.

"Going back three months later in pre-season, the stadium was empty and I remember walking out of the tunnel with my eyes shut and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. The Stadium of Light can do that empty or full."