Sunderland apologise after stadium bar redecorated with Newcastle slogans ahead of FA Cup tie

LONDON – Sunderland’s efforts to make Newcastle United supporters feel welcome for their FA Cup tie on Jan 6 hit a sour note with home fans, after the club plastered their fierce rivals’ slogans all over a bar at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus apologised after images posted on social media showed signage at the Black Cats Bar, which is used by away fans, proclaiming “We are United” and “Keep the Black and White flying high”.

Newcastle traditionally play in black and white stripes, while Sunderland play in red and white.

“I would like to apologise to everyone associated with Sunderland AFC for the events that have unfolded today. Like our supporters, I was disgusted and hurt by the pictures circulating online of the inappropriate signs that have now been ripped down,” Louis-Dreyfus wrote on Instagram on Jan 4.

The cities of Sunderland and Newcastle in north-east England are separated by just 19km, and their football teams have a long-standing rivalry which has been marred by violence and crowd trouble.

The teams have not met since March 2016, with Sunderland now in the second-tier Championship after being relegated in 2017.

The upcoming Tyne-Wear derby takes on added significance, with the two sides matched on 53 wins apiece.

Sunderland acknowledged “a serious error in judgment” and said the club’s ownership group and board of directors had requested an immediate review “to determine how this process unfolded”.

Sky Sports reported that the furore came about after concerns existing Sunderland branding would be vandalised. So Sunderland allowed Newcastle staff to do some temporary redecoration with “neutral” alternatives.

While home fans were livid, Newcastle supporters welcomed the decor changes, with a supporters group posting on social media that they could not “fault the hospitality” of their hosts.

Magpies boss Eddie Howe played down the incident, saying: “These things can happen. It’s up to Sunderland what they do with their stadium, nothing to do with us.”

But he did play up the importance of the rivalry, saying: “When the draw was made, I gave a couple of the Geordie lads an opportunity to speak about the fixture, just to set the scene.

“The players know everything they need to know about the fixture. They know what it means to everybody. I think you need that within your team ideally.

“Not to say you have to have it. But I think I always by preference would have a sprinkling of players that have come through the youth system, have a great understanding of the football club, can educate people, new players coming in, on expectations of the football club, how things have been done through time.”

Sunderland’s new manager Michael Beale agreed, telling the BBC: “Derbies are hugely important to the game, certainly the domestic game. When we are talking about the (European) Super League and things like that, the fear that we have as followers of the sport is that we’re washing down the derbies.”

Howe is under pressure with his side having lost five of their last six English Premier League matches, but Beale has defended the Magpies manager, saying he has overachieved at St James’ Park.

Newcastle reached the League Cup final and secured a Champions League spot in Howe’s first full season at the helm.

Said Beale: “Eddie is everything that is good about British coaching. He has done a good job... Sometimes you can overachieve a little bit early.”

Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville still believes Howe is the right man for the job but warned on Sky Sports: “Newcastle have to make sure that this run they’re going through is just a blip and doesn’t become what they are for the rest of the season.

“There’s a danger, given the fixtures they’ve got coming up in the next few weeks, of it becoming a really terrible run and bigger questions being asked.” REUTERS