2) Sunderland vs Newcastle United
The Tyne-Wear derby, also known as the North East derby emerged even before the
turn of the 20th century and this is one such derby that goes beyond the game of Football. The first match between the sides was played in 1883 and now in the recent fixtures, Sunderland have dominated Newcastle by going on a seven match unbeaten streak, but little of that matters altogether statistically because both the sides have had 53 wins in the derby so far and have shared 49 draws!
There have been many notable events linked with the clubs and their history, but the one that really catches my eye and highlights the importance of the match is seen in the event of 1999 when Alan Shearer and Duncan Ferguson were dropped to the Newcastle bench by Gullit ahead of the Tyne-Wear derby and Sunderland defeated Newcastle 1-2 but the outrage from the Newcastle fans was so much that Gullit resigned as coach before the next game of Newcastle!
The Wear–Tyne derby has 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. 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 Barton although manager Roy Keane played down the seriousness of the incident. 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 Haper, and was among 24 people who were arrested in connection with a string of hooligan incidents at the game. 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.
On 14 April 2013, some Newcastle United fans rioted in the streets of Newcastle-upon Tyne- following the 3–0 defeat by Sunderland at St. James’ Park, with one fan’s attack on a police horse gaining international media attention. Four police officers were injured and 29 arrests made. Confrontation between fans of the rival teams at Newcastle’s Central Station was shown in the series All Aboard: East Coast Trains in an episode entitled Derby Day.
Both the North East clubs are struggling in the league now and are fighting in the bottom 3 to avoid the drop and hence it only adds up to the spice if one goes down and the other bitter foe stays up!