Long-standing rivalry between Newcastle United and Sunderland AFC
Tyne?Wear derby
Typical Newcastle United and Sunderland kits.
|
Other names
| Wear?Tyne derby
North East derby
|
---|
Location
| Tyne and Wear
|
---|
Teams
| |
---|
First meeting
| 1888
|
---|
Latest meeting
| 6 January 2024
FA Cup
Sunderland 0?3 Newcastle United
|
---|
Stadiums
| Newcastle:
St James' Park
Sunderland:
Stadium of Light
|
---|
|
Meetings total
| 157
|
---|
Most wins
| Newcastle (54)
|
---|
Most player appearances
| Jimmy Lawrence
(27)
|
---|
Top scorer
| George Holley
, Sunderland (15)
|
---|
All-time series
| Newcastle: 54
Draws: 50
Sunderland: 53
|
---|
Largest victory
| Newcastle United 1?9
Sunderland
1908?09 First Division
(5 December 1908)
|
---|
|
The
Tyne?Wear derby
, also known as the
Wear?Tyne derby
or the
North East derby
, is a
local derby
between the
association football
clubs
Sunderland
and
Newcastle United
. The derby is an inter-city rivalry in
North East England
with the two cities of
Sunderland
and
Newcastle upon Tyne
just 12 miles (19 km) apart. Sunderland play their home matches at the
Stadium of Light
whilst Newcastle play their home matches at
St. James’ Park
. The first meeting of the two sides took place in 1883, with the first competitive fixture being an
FA Cup
tie in
1888
which Sunderland won 2?0 over
Newcastle East End
.
The statistical balance between the sides is very even: to date, having played 157 times in their history (excluding friendlies) with Newcastle just edging out Sunderland by a win, 54 to 53 wins respectively whilst sharing 50 draws; (see summary of results for breakdown).
[1]
[2]
[3]
Sunderland have won six top-flight titles against four for Newcastle.
History
[
edit
]
The history of the Tyne?Wear derby is a modern-day extension of a rivalry between
Sunderland
and
Newcastle
that dates back to the
English Civil War
when protestations over advantages that merchants in
Royalist
Newcastle had over their Wearside counterparts led to Sunderland becoming a
Parliamentarian
stronghold.
[4]
Sunderland and Newcastle again found themselves on opposite sides during the
Jacobite risings
, with Newcastle in support of the
Hanoverians
with the German King George, and Sunderland siding with the Scottish
Stuarts
.
[5]
Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, the main rivalries in Sunderland and Newcastle were cross-town affairs. In Newcastle a rivalry existed during the 1880s between
Newcastle East End
(later to become Newcastle United) and
Newcastle West End
, which was ended with West End's bankruptcy in 1892. Meanwhile, on Wearside, a group of players broke away from Sunderland and formed the rival
Sunderland Albion
in 1888, though Albion was forced to fold four years later. The first meeting between the two took place in 1883, with the first competitive fixture an
FA Cup
tie in November 1887; Sunderland won 2?0.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the rivalry began to emerge. The 1901
Good Friday
encounter, late in the
1900?01 season
at
St James' Park
had to be abandoned as up to 120,000 fans made their way into a ground which then had a capacity of 30,000. The news was met with anger and rioting followed, with a number of fans injured.
[6]
However, in general, although the derby attracted big crowds ? with fans often climbing trees and buildings for views of the game ? there is little evidence to suggest any animosity between the two sets of supporters in the pre-war and immediate post-war period.
[
citation needed
]
On 5 December 1908, Sunderland beat Newcastle 9?1 at St James' Park, despite this Newcastle still won the league title that season finishing nine points ahead of their local rivals who finished 3rd.
[7]
[8]
The result remains the biggest ever win in a Tyne?Wear derby, as well as the Wearsiders' biggest ever win away from home
[9]
and Newcastle's biggest ever home league defeat. Newcastle's largest victory margin in a derby is 6?1, which they have achieved twice ? at home in 1920 and away in 1955.
[7]
In 1979, Sunderland won 4?1 at Newcastle, with
Gary Rowell
(who was born in
Sunderland, County Durham
) scoring a hat-trick.
[10]
On New Year's Day 1985, Newcastle-born
Peter Beardsley
scored a hat trick in Newcastle's 3?1 victory in the fixture.
[11]
In 1990, the sides met in a
Second Division play off
semi final dubbed 'the biggest Tyne?Wear derby in history'.
[8]
The first leg at Roker Park ended goalless after Sunderland missed a penalty; however they then won the second leg 2?0 at St James' Park. Towards the end of the second leg, some Newcastle fans invaded the pitch in the hope of forcing an abandonment.
[12]
However, the game was resumed and Sunderland completed the win.
[13]
Sunderland went on lose the final to
Swindon Town
, but were still promoted due to financial irregularities at Swindon.
In a memorable derby on 25 August 1999, Newcastle manager
Ruud Gullit
dropped leading scorers
Alan Shearer
and
Duncan Ferguson
to the bench. Sunderland went on to win 2?1 at St. James' Park thanks to goals from
Kevin Phillips
and
Niall Quinn
, and in the face of outrage from Newcastle fans, Gullit quit before their next match.
[8]
[14]
Sunderland repeated the feat a year later, in a match remembered for Sunderland goalkeeper
Thomas Sørensen
saving a Shearer penalty.
21st century
[
edit
]
In an eventful derby on 17 April 2006, Newcastle came from 1?0 down at half time to beat Sunderland 4?1 at the
Stadium of Light
.
[15]
One of Newcastle's scorers that day,
Michael Chopra
, later joined Sunderland and played in three derbies against Newcastle. On 25 October 2008, Sunderland beat Newcastle 2?1 at the Stadium of Light, their first home win in a derby for 28 years.
[16]
On 31 October 2010 Newcastle beat Sunderland, who played with ten men for over 37 minutes, 5?1 at home,
[17]
with their captain
Kevin Nolan
scoring a hat-trick, while Sunderland's former Newcastle defender
Titus Bramble
was sent off. Newcastle led the return fixture in January 2011 1?0 thanks to another Nolan goal, only for Sunderland's
Asamoah Gyan
to equalise in injury time.
[18]
The next derby took place in August 2011 at the Stadium of Light, where Newcastle won 1?0 thanks to a Ryan Taylor free kick. The return fixture at St. James Park ended 1?1. Both sides were charged by the FA for failing to keep their players under control, charges which they both accepted.
[
citation needed
]
On 14 April 2013, Sunderland defeated Newcastle 3?0 at St James' Park in manager
Paolo Di Canio
's second game in charge, their first away win in the fixture in 13 years. The attendance for the game was 52,355 with 2,000 Sunderland fans, this included the suspended Black cats midfielder
Craig Gardner
. The Sunderland goalscorers were
Stephane Sessegnon
in the 27th minute,
Adam Johnson
in the 74th minute and
David Vaughan
in the 82nd minute.
[19]
The following season saw Sunderland do the double over Newcastle for the first time since the 1966/67 season and win three derbies in a row since 1923
[20]
- the Black Cats edging a 2?1 Stadium of Light on 27 October 2013,
[21]
before a repeat 0?3 victory at St James Park on 1 February 2014, with goals from
Fabio Borini
, Adam Johnson and
Jack Colback
.
[22]
On 21 December 2014, Adam Johnson scored a late goal in the 90th minute past goalkeeper
Jak Alnwick
at St James' Park, ensuring that Sunderland had defeated Newcastle in four consecutive derbies - a new record and also Sunderland's third consecutive victory at St James' Park. On 5 April 2015 Sunderland again defeated Newcastle to make it five derby wins in a row and complete the double victory over Newcastle for a second consecutive season;
Jermain Defoe
scored from 22 yards on the stroke of half-time to give Sunderland victory.
[23]
On 25 October 2015 Sunderland once again defeated Newcastle to make it a record sixth consecutive derby victory. A penalty from Adam Johnson opened the scoring which saw Newcastle down to 10 men with
Fabricio Coloccini
sent off as a result. Then a goal from
Billy Jones
and a
Steven Fletcher
volley sealed the win.
[24]
The most recent league meeting of the two sides, on 20 March 2016 at St James' Park, ended in a 1?1 draw, with Jermain Defoe opening the scoring for Sunderland before
Aleksandar Mitrovic
equalised for Newcastle.
With Sunderland having been relegated to the third tier of English football in 2018, they became eligible for the
EFL Trophy
, which also included underage teams of Premier League clubs such as Newcastle. Sunderland's first team met Newcastle's
Under-21s
in the
2018?19 competition
, winning 4?0;
[25]
due to the local interest this match attracted a crowd of over 16,000, far above the average for the competition, but is not counted towards statistics relating to the derby (Sunderland went on to reach
the final
but lost to
Portsmouth
on penalties). Newcastle faced Sunderland away in the FA Cup on the 6th January 2024, the first derby since 2016. Newcastle won that match 3-0, securing a first away win over their rivals since 2011.
Hooliganism and violence
[
edit
]
The Tyne?Wear derby has on occasion experienced incidents of
football hooliganism
. In 1990, as Sunderland led the playoff semi final 2?0, some Newcastle fans entered the pitch, in the hope of getting the match abandoned. There were 160 arrests in connection with a game in 2001.
[26]
In March 2002, the
Seaburn Casuals
(a
Sunderland A.F.C.
firm) fought with hooligans from the
Newcastle Gremlins
in a pre-arranged clash near the North
Shields Ferry
terminal, in what was described as "some of the worst football related fighting ever witnessed in the United Kingdom".
[27]
The leaders of the Gremlins and Casuals were both jailed for four years for conspiracy, with 28 others jailed for various terms, based on evidence gained after police examined the messages sent by
mobile phone
between the gang members on the day.
[28]
On 2 April 2003, about 95 fans were arrested when around 200 fans of Sunderland and Newcastle clashed in Sunderland city centre before an
England
UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying match
against
Turkey
in the city. The fans then attacked the police, pelting them with missiles including bottles, cans and wheel trims. Some sources attributed these clashes to a resurgence in the conflict between the Gremlins and Seaburn Casuals.
[29]
At the end of the 2002?03 season, Sunderland topped the football arrests table with 154.
[30]
[31]
In 2008, after Sunderland beat Newcastle at home for the first time in 28 years, there was a small pitch invasion by Sunderland fans, and missiles were thrown at Newcastle midfielder
Joey Barton
, although manager
Roy Keane
played down the seriousness of the incident.
[32]
On 16 January 2011 in the
FA Premier League
clash at the
Stadium of Light
, a 17-year-old Sunderland fan ran onto the pitch and pushed over Newcastle goalkeeper
Steve Harper
, and was among 24 people who were arrested in connection with a string of hooligan incidents at the game.
[33]
However, incidents of violence are not as common as sometimes suggested ? for example Sunderland were awarded the best behaved fans award for the 2010?11 season, despite the derby day arrests.
[34]
On 14 April 2013, some Newcastle United fans rioted on the streets of
Newcastle upon Tyne
following the 3?0 defeat by Sunderland at St. James' Park,
[35]
with one fan's attack on a
police horse
gaining international media attention. Four police officers were injured and 29 arrests made.
[36]
Confrontation between fans of the rival teams at
Newcastle railway station
was shown in the television series
All Aboard: East Coast Trains
in an episode entitled "Derby Day".
[37]
Away fans and policing
[
edit
]
The
1996?97
season saw Sunderland join Newcastle in the
Premier League
. However proposals were put forward to ban Newcastle fans from the ageing Roker Park on safety and security grounds. A last-minute agreement by Sunderland and
Northumbria Police
was to allow 1,000 Newcastle supporters to attend the game. However, Newcastle had already made arrangements for a live televised beamback, and so rejected the offer. Responding to criticism from fans, Newcastle's then Chief Executive Freddie Fletcher suggested that the state of Roker Park was to blame and told fans: "Don't blame Newcastle. Don't blame Northumbria Police. Blame Sunderland!"
[38]
In response to the ban on Newcastle fans at Roker Park, Newcastle placed a similar ban on Sunderland fans for the return fixture at St James' Park.
[
citation needed
]
Fearing that this would set a precedent for future derby matches, supporters groups and fanzines of both sides joined together to form the
Wear United
pressure group. Supporters of both sides were assured that away fans would be able to attend future derby games, though this was probably more to do with the fact that the 1996?97 season was Sunderland's last at Roker Park before moving into the brand new
Stadium of Light
.
[
citation needed
]
In January 2014, following violence after the previous year's derby in Newcastle, a 'bubble trip' was announced for Sunderland fans wishing to travel to St James' Park for the game- supporters would be denied entry unless they travelled to the game on official buses leaving from Sunderland, regardless of where they lived.
[39]
The measure resulted in an angry response from both Sunderland and Newcastle supporters, with websites and fanzines from both sets of fans issuing a joint statement opposing the measure.
[40]
Subsequently, a row broke out between the clubs and Northumbria Police as to why the bubble trip was being implemented, and Sunderland AFC withdrew the conditions, and in a joint statement with Newcastle United, criticised Northumbria Police's claims that they had not directed changes in kick off times over many years as 'false and absurd', and that all future games would kick off at times to suit the clubs and any TV broadcasts.
[41]
Summary of results
[
edit
]
- As of 6 January 2024
[1]
[2]
[3]
Honours
[
edit
]
- As of 1 June 2017
Records and statistics
[
edit
]
Derby double
[
edit
]
Newcastle have achieved the double in nine seasons (most recently in the 2005?06 season), while Sunderland have managed seven doubles, most recently in 2014?15.
[1]
Newcastle
Season
|
Home
|
Away
|
1909?10
|
1?0
|
2?0
|
1911?12
|
3?1
|
2?1
|
1913?14
|
2?1
|
2?1
|
1920?21
|
6?1
|
2?0
|
1955?56
|
3?1
|
6?1
|
1956?57
|
6?2
|
2?1
|
1992?93
|
1?0
|
2?1
|
2002?03
|
2?0
|
1?0
|
2005?06
|
3?2
|
4?1
|
Sunderland
Season
|
Home
|
Away
|
1904?05
|
3?1
|
3?1
|
1919?20
|
2?0
|
3?2
|
1923?24
|
3?2
|
2?0
|
1954?55
|
4?2
|
2?1
|
1966?67
|
3?0
|
3?0
|
2013?14
|
2?1
|
3?0
|
2014?15
|
1?0
|
1?0
|
Biggest wins
[
edit
]
Sunderland
9?1: (A) 5 December 1908
Newcastle
6?1 (H): 9 October 1920, (A) 26 December 1955
Most consecutive wins
[
edit
]
Sunderland
6 games:
14 April 2013 ? October 2015
Newcastle
5 games:
24 February 2002 ? 17 April 2006
Most consecutive draws
[
edit
]
4 games:
8 April 1985 ? 13 May 1990
Most derby appearances
[
edit
]
Most derby goals
[
edit
]
Attendances
[
edit
]
Highest attendances
[
edit
]
Venue
|
Attendance
|
Score
|
Date
|
Sunderland
|
68,004
|
Sunderland 2?2 Newcastle United
|
1950
[42]
|
Newcastle
|
56,000
|
Newcastle United 1?1 Sunderland
|
1905
|
Lowest attendances
[
edit
]
Venue
|
Attendance
|
Score
|
Date
|
Sunderland
|
25,400
|
Sunderland 2?0 Newcastle East End
|
1888
[43]
|
Newcastle
|
17,494
|
Newcastle United 1?3 Sunderland
|
1893
[6]
|
Crossing the divide
[
edit
]
A number of players have made first team appearances for both Newcastle and Sunderland, namely:
In addition, the guest system operated in British football during World War II meant that most teams fielded guest players. Amongst these was the Newcastle forward
Jackie Milburn
who made two guest appearances for Sunderland against Gateshead twice during the
1944?45
season. Another Newcastle striker,
Albert Stubbins
also guested for Sunderland several times during the
1941?42
season, including an appearance in the Wartime Cup Final, which Sunderland lost to
Wolverhampton Wanderers
despite a Stubbins goal.
Managers
[
edit
]
Bob Stokoe
, who won the
FA Cup
as a player with Newcastle in 1955, was manager of Sunderland between 1972 and 1977, guiding the Wearsiders to their famous FA Cup victory in 1973 and promotion to Division One in 1976. He returned to manage them briefly again in 1987.
Only two men have taken charge of both teams. On 15 May 2007, Newcastle appointed
Sam Allardyce
as their new manager, who had played for Sunderland in the early 1980s. He was named the new manager of Sunderland on 9 October 2015, becoming the first person to manage both derby rivals.
[44]
In summer 2019, former
Sunderland
Manager,
Steve Bruce
was appointed as Newcastle manager, replacing
Rafael Benitez
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"Sunderland football club: record v Newcastle United"
.
www.11v11.com
. Retrieved
6 January
2024
.
- ^
a
b
Game by Game: vs Sunderland
, Toon1892.com [does not include 1888 FA Cup match]
- ^
a
b
Club Details | Newcastle United
, TheStatCat
- ^
Middlebrook, S.
Newcastle Upon Tyne: Its Growth and Achievement
, p. 87. Newcastle Chronicle and Journal, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1950 and Corfe, Tom
History of Sunderland
, pp. 35?45. Frank Graham, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1973
- ^
Griffiths, Bill
A Dictionary of North East Dialect
, p. 86. Northumbria University Press, Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2004
- ^
a
b
Brown, Michael (18 October 2012).
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.
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. Retrieved
25 June
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.
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a
b
"Real Radio Northeast - 100~102fm :: Newcastle v Sunderland: The Stats"
.
Heart North East
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. Retrieved
25 June
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.
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a
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FIFA.com.
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
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[1]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
- ^
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, Sky Sports,
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.
www.thesubsbench.ca
. Archived from
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.
- ^
"Fight like 'scene from Braveheart'
"
.
bbc.co.uk
. 12 March 2002
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19 May
2008
.
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. ic Newcastle. 14 March 2002
. Retrieved
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.
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. Turks.US Daily News. 3 April 2003. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
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.
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.
- ^
Echo, Liverpool (18 August 2003).
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.
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.
- ^
Wilson, Jonathan (25 October 2008).
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.
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- ^
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. Archived from
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.
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.
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. London. 15 April 2013. Archived from
the original
on 18 April 2013
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"Man 'disgusted' at Tyne-Wear derby police horse attack"
.
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- ^
Jeffery, Sarah (10 December 2013).
"Tyne-Wear Derby trouble takes centre stage in East Coast TV documentary"
.
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. Retrieved
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.
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Candlish, Alan
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, p. 322. Sports Books Limited, Cheltenham, 2006
- ^
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.
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.
- ^
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.
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
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.
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.
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.
BBC Sport
. 15 May 2007
. Retrieved
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2007
.
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