On Thursday afternoon, the buildup to Newcastle United’s Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland took a dramatic turn.
On Wearside, there has already been commotion about where the 6,000 Newcastle fans would sit inside the Stadium Of Light on Saturday during the FA Cup third round match. Many Sunderland season ticket holders have been compelled to give up their seats, much to their chagrin.
It has given Sunderland fans the impression that their club is laying on the red carpet for their main rivals, and what happened on Thursday exacerbated the situation.
Sunderland bar within Stadium Of Light features Newcastle slogans.
On Thursday, images of the Black Cats Bar, which will be besieged by Newcastle United fans this weekend, surfaced on social media.
Normally, the bar is plastered with Sunderland slogans, however this was no longer the case. Things like ‘haway the lads’ became ‘howay the lads,’ and ‘keep the red flag flying high’ became ‘keep the black and white flying high. There was also a banner ridiculing former Black Cats boss Peter Reid, encouraging him to ‘cheer up’ as the old song goes.
As you can expect, Wearside was outraged by the decision to accept these decorative changes. Their supporters are upset, and rightfully so. While that is amusing for us Newcastle fans, you have to realize that there would be a comparable outpouring of rage if St James’ Park was repainted with Sunderland slogans.
A dreadful error was committed, and the banners have already been removed. Meanwhile, Sunderland has issued an apology to fans in a statement.
They are, however, grappling with another dilemma.
Sunderland’s FA Cup ticket error could cost them the competition.
According to journalist Joel Bland, Sunderland might be punished by the FA for a ticketing error.
The game on Saturday is billed as a ‘EFL League One’ game rather than a ‘FA Cup’ match on paper tickets. According to reports, the erroneous branding could result in a fine, resulting in yet another big public relations catastrophe.
They have already harmed their reputation among their own followers, and now they may suffer financial consequences.
Everything looks to be going wrong on Wearside at the moment, which is all the motivation Newcastle and Eddie Howe require. If we can get off to a fast start at the Stadium of Light and score early, the atmosphere might rapidly turn sour…
