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.

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 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.

[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.

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.

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

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.

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".

[34] 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.

[38] 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".

However proposals were put forward to ban Newcastle fans from the ageing Roker Park on safety and security grounds.

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.

[42] 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.