For the first time since 2016, this season’s Premier League schedule includes the Tyne-Wear derby between Sunderland and Newcastle United. With Sunderland’s promotion from the EFL Championship, the two northeast clubs will be together in the top flight again, bringing one of the fiercest rivalries that soccer has to offer back to the big stage of the Premier League. The duo did meet in the FA Cup in 2024, where Newcastle won 3-0, but the cup competitions are different than having this fixture on the schedule to look forward to during the season.
Legendary Newcastle striker Alan Shearer certainly agrees. “Fans, I think if they’re honest, they will all tell you that this area is a better area when Sunderland are in the Premier League,” he said, speaking before the season’s kickoff.
Soccer relies on local rivalries, and the Tyne-Wear derby is one of the best that the game has to offer. The two clubs first met in November of 1888 and have played 157 times in competitive matches with almost perfectly balanced results. Newcastle has won 54 matches, while Sunderland has won 53, and 50 matches have ended in draws. That balance is something that keeps a rivalry fresh and exciting because no one knows what will happen in any given match. At times, rivalries can become one-sided, and even with Sunderland’s fall out of the top flight, that hasn’t been the case in this derby.
With Newcastle coming under new ownership from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund while Sunderland plunged all the way down to League One and struggled to get back into and then escape the Championship, these are clubs who have been heading in opposite directions recently, but now that the Black Cats are back in the Premier League, they’re bolstering the squad to stay there.
Adding the most bodies of any promoted club with 11 transfers and counting, there has been a balanced blend with Granit Xhaka and Arthur Masuaku providing experience, alongside youth like Simon Adingra and Habib Diarra, added to Regis Le Bris’ squad. With all three promoted sides promptly being relegated in the past two Premier League seasons, Sunderland will need things to break in their favor, but talent has been added to this squad that can help them gel. Time won’t be on the Black Cats’ side, but if they start fast, there is a path to survival.
Matches with a local rival can also provide Sunderland with a jumping-off point for the season, with the first meeting between them and Newcastle United coming on December 13. By then, both teams will have an idea where they stand on the new season, and a rivalry match can propel the winner to a strong winter. This is something that Shearer is able to shed light on, having experience in this rivalry both as a player and a fan.
“As a player, [the Tyne-Wear derby] is one of the first fixtures that you look out for because they’re great games to play obviously, only if you come away with the right result. You get away with a little bit more in terms of how competitive you can be, and as a fan, you want the bragging rights,” Shearer said. “It’s a great occasion to look forward to, and Newcastle played them in the FA cup and got the right result, but to have a home and away fixture against your local rival is great for the area.”
There’s still one team missing from this rivalry in Middlesbrough, who complete the Tees-Wear derby with Sunderland, but after seeing the Black Cats make the breakthrough from the Championship, there’s no reason that Boro can’t follow them back to the Premier League if Sunderland can avoid the drop and stay in the Premier League. Soccer in the Northeast has been on the rise with Newcastle returning to Champions League play, and representation from outside of London has increased with Leeds United and Burnley also being promoted in this campaign. The return of the Tyne-Wear derby isn’t just adding another fixture to the Premier League calendar; it’s a clash that adds plenty of history and intrigue with it.