A highly anticipated Wear-Tyne derby in the Women’s Championship this week, the North East has been split this week in the lead up to Sunderland taking on Newcastle at the Stadium of Light.
The rivalry between Sunderland and Newcastle has gone on in all aspects of life. Despite being just a 30 minute drive from each other, the two cities and their people are each other’s worst enemies, and that goes for not just football, but in life too.
The men’s teams are part of different leagues, with Newcastle being in the Premier League, while Sunderland sit in the Championship. The teams last played against each other in January 2024, where Newcastle slaughtered Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in a cup game, winning 3-0 due to many mistakes from Sunderland’s Daniel Ballard. The women have only recently been put in the same league, with Newcastle being promoted at the end of last season to the Championship, putting them against Sunderland and another local team, Durham, to which they narrowly missed out on a win against last week.
Sunderland have had a poor start to the season, currently sitting in 8th in the league table. Their first 2 games of the season, against Birmingham City and Southampton, they lost 5-0 and 0-3 respectively, and have had narrow wins and a draw since then. Sunderland finished last season in 3rd, very close to winning the league and being promoted to the WSL, losing out to Crystal Palace who were promoted instead. Sunderland played against Sheffield United in the Women’s League Cup in the first round last week, bagging a 2-1 win.
Newcastle finished last season on a 10-0 win in their final home game of the season against Huddersfield, in which they had an attendance of a whopping 7,382. Newcastle’s attendances are always large, with fans flocking in weekly, the atmosphere is exactly what football is all about. Despite their first defeat of the season last week against fellow locals, Durham, and being a game behind most teams due to Reading being demoted due to not being able to afford their place in the league, Newcastle are sitting 6th in the league, after a draw in their opening game against London City Lionesses, and a couple of wins against Sheffield United and Portsmouth. Their Women’s League Cup fixture last week saw them draw against WSL team Everton, but did not get the extra bonus point due to losing on penalties.
Both teams have a great chance at winning the derby this weekend, and the fans are ready for the major showdown between the teams. It is set to be a massive day for both players and fans.
The reverse fixture will take place at St James’ Park on 23rd March 2025.
Sunderland V Newcastle will be available to watch on Sunday 13th October at 14:00 (BST) on the Barclays Women’s Championship YouTube channel.
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