Tyne-Wear Derby

Lore & Background

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

The result remains the biggest ever win in a Tyne–Wear derby, as well as the Wearsiders' biggest ever win away from home 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. In 1979, Sunderland won 4–1 at Newcastle, with Gary Rowell (who was born in Sunderland, County Durham) scoring a hat-trick.

Reader's Guide

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. 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. On 31 October 2010 Newcastle beat Sunderland, who played with ten men for over 37 minutes, 5–1 at home, 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. 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.

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 Stéphane Sessègnon in the 27th minute, Adam Johnson in the 74th minute and David Vaughan in the 82nd minute. 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- the Black Cats edging a 2–1 Stadium of Light on 27 October 2013, before a repeat 0–3 victory at St. James Park on 1 February 2014, with goals from Fabio Borini, Adam Johnson and Jack Colback.

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.

Did You Know?

• Sunderland won five consecutive derbies from 2013 to 2015, not six.
• The 2024 FA Cup meeting was the first derby since 2016.
• The Women's Championship match in October 2024 set a league attendance record of 15,387.