Fact 1
34,054 bricks
The archive currently covers 34,054 individual bricks across 81 panels. That is a lot of names, a lot of memories, and a lot of trips to the Stadium of Light.
Wall Of Fame Facts
It probably won't surprise anyone that I couldn't resist pulling out a few interesting facts from the data…
Fact 2
John. It's always John.
The most common first name on the wall is John (1080 bricks), followed by David (978), Paul (707), Michael (533) and Ian (508).
Fact 3
Thompson and Smith — it’s a tie
The two most common surnames are Thompson (230) and Smith (230) — level on the wall, just as it should be. Richardson, Brown, and Wilson round out the top five.
Fact 4
Dad: 350 · Mam: 52
350 bricks mention “Dad” and 52 mention “Mam” — the proper North East spelling, not Mum (only 10). Grandads and Grandas account for another 133 between them.
Fact 5
Granda 37 vs Grandad 96
Even the wall settles the great North East debate. Grandad wins with 96 bricks, but Granda — the regional form — puts up a decent fight with 37. Nana gets a look-in too (15).
Fact 6
720 couples on the wall
720 bricks contain an “&” — two names sharing one brick. Whether that is a romantic gesture or a way to split the cost is between them and the wall.
Fact 7
361 memorials, 55 celebrations
At least 361 bricks are clearly memorial (“In Memory”, “R.I.P”, “Never Forgotten”). At least 55 mark a birthday or anniversary. Many more will be one or the other without the explicit phrase.
Fact 8
543 bricks mention SAFC by name
543 bricks include the letters “SAFC” in the text — presumably the other 34,054 assumed it went without saying. A further 137 explicitly declare themselves “SAFC Forever” or “For Life”.
Fact 9
The 1990s were a big decade
Of the 5,361 bricks that include a four-digit year, the 1990s are the most referenced decade — fittingly, the era the stadium opened. The 1920s and 1930s are represented too, a reminder that some of these bricks honour supporters born a century ago.
Fact 10
And then there are the others…
Among the thousands of names are: a brick for Monty the Dog, one that simply reads Haggis, another that declares Champagne Super Roker, and one that states, with complete confidence, Sure Is Chicken. One owner used all four exclamation mark slots on a single brick. And “The League Table Never Lies” sits somewhere on the wall, permanently and defiantly.
Fact 11
These go to eleven
The personal favourite. Somewhere on the wall sits a brick that reads: “JOAN TATE Eeeeeeee!” — pure, uncut Wearside. No explanation. No apology. Absolutely perfect.
All figures are based on text matching across the archive and should be treated as estimates — some bricks use abbreviations, unconventional spellings, or contain multiple dates. The true numbers will be higher in most cases.
This is an independent, unofficial fan project and personal community archive. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Sunderland AFC or the Stadium of Light. All photographs were taken from publicly accessible areas around the stadium. The site is completely free, non-commercial, and created as a labour of love / data engineering practice project. For official Wall of Fame enquiries, please contact the club directly.