Newcastle v Sunderland

In November 1881, the Stanley Cricket Club of south Byker decided to form an association football club, to play during the winter after the cricket season had ended. Just under a year later, in October 1882, they changed their name to Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) East End FC to avoid confusion with the cricket club in the town of Stanley, County Durham. Meanwhile, across the city, another cricket club began to take an interest in football and in August 1882, they formed Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) West End FC. West End played their early football on their cricket pitch, but later moved to St James' Park. East End turned professional in 1889. West End, however, did not fare so well; in Spring 1892 they approached East End with a view to a takeover, the directors having decided that the club could no longer continue due to financial problems. Ultimately, it was agreed that West End's players and most of its backroom staff would join East End. East End also took over the lease on St. James' Park, which effectively merged the two rival clubs together. By December 1892, they decided to give the club a new name and a new image. At a public meeting, several new names, including Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) Rangers and Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) City, were suggested, before all agreed on Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) United.

Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) United went on to lift the League Championship on three occasions during the 1900s; 1905, 1907 and 1909. The club's success continued in cup competitions, as they reached five FA Cup Finals in seven years, appearing in the final of 1905, 1906, 1908, 1910 and 1911. However they went on to win just one of them, the 1910 Final against Barnsley, in a replay at Goodison Park. However, there was still one particular low point during this period, as the team suffered a 9–1 defeat by fierce rivals Sunderland in the 1908–09 season. Sunderland still count the result as their record highest win.

After World War I, they won the League a fourth time during 1927. The team returned to the FA Cup final in 1924, in only their second ever final at Wembley Stadium. They were successful in defeating Aston Villa and therefore winning the club's second FA Cup trophy in its history. Notable players during this period include the likes of Hughie Gallacher, Neil Harris, Stan Seymour and Frank Hudspeth.

During the 1950s, United lifted the FA Cup trophy on three occasions within a five year period. In 1951 they defeated Blackpool 2–0, a year later Arsenal were beaten 1–0 and in 1955 United defeated Manchester City 3–1. The Magpies had gained a high profile, and so had their players; 'Wor Jackie' Milburn and Bobby 'Dazzler' Mitchell in particular.

An old war horse returned to revitalise the Magpies in the shape of Joe Harvey, who had skippered the club to much of their post-war

success. He teamed up with Stan Seymour to rebuild Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) United and they returned to the elite as Second Division Champions in 1965. Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) then became very much an unpredictable and inconsistent side, always capable of defeating the best, but never quite realising their potential.

Joe Harvey's side qualified for Europe for the first time in 1968 and surprised many the following year by lifting the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, (which was the forerunner of the UEFA Cup), beating Sporting Lisbon, Feyenoord, Real Zaragoza and Rangers along the way, before triumphing over two legs against Hungary's Újpest FC in the final. United possessed a reliable team and Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets)'s tradition of fielding

a popular

goalscorer at number 9 continued, as Welshman Wyn Davies was prominent.

In the years that followed European success, manager Harvey brought in a string of t

alented entertainers who thrilled the Gallowgate crowd. Players such as Jimmy Smith, Tony Green, Terry Hibbitt and in particular

centre-forward Malcolm Macdonald all became favourites amongst supporters. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Malcolm Macdonald was one of United's most popular figures and is still held in high regard by supporters to this day. He had an impressive goalscoring tally, which led United's attack to Wembley twice, in 1974 and 1976, against Liverpool in the FA Cup and Manchester City in the League Cup. But on each occasion the Magpies failed to bring the trophy back to Tyneside. A small consolation was back to back triumphs in the Texaco Cup in 1974

and 1975.

By the start of the 1980s, United had declined dramatically and were languishing in the Second Division. Gordon Lee had replaced Harvey as boss, yet he in turn soon gave way to Richard Dinnis and then Bill McGarry. But it was Arthur Cox who steered United back again to the First Division with ex-England skipper Kevin Keegan the focus of the side, having joined the club in 1982. With managers such as Jack Charlton, Willie McFaul and Jim Smith, Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) remained in the top-flight until the team was relegated once more in 1989.

Later, Kevin Keegan returned to Tyneside to replace Osvaldo Ardiles as manager on a short term contract in 1992, taking what he claimed to be the only job that could tempt him back into football. United were struggling at the wrong end of Division Two; Sir John Hall had all but taken control of the club and he needed a minor miracle to stop the Magpies from tumbling into the Third Division for the first time in their history. Survival was confirmed by winning both of their final two league games, at home to Portsmouth and away to Leicester City, the latter to a last minute own goal, although as it transpired, Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) would have survived even if they had lost at Leicester .

The 1992–93 season saw a dramatic turn around in the club's fortunes. They won their first eleven league games before a 1–0 home defeat against Grimsby Town ended the run, two games short of the English league record of 13 consecutive wins. Playing an exciting brand of attacking football Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) became Division One champions with a 2–0 away win, coincidentally at Grimsby, and gained promotion to the Premier League.

Under Keegan, Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) continued to succeed, impressing with their attacking flair and a third place finish during the 1993–94 season, this was their first season back in the top flight. The attacking philosophy of Keegan led to Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) becoming labelled by Sky television as "The Entertainers". The following season Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) sold top scorer Andy Cole to Manchester United and finished 6th that season.

With the transfer money in 1995–96, Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) rebuilt with the signing of David Ginola and Les Ferdinand amongst others. The club came very close to winning the Premier League that season, and were at one time 12 points ahead of nearest rivals Manchester United, but eventually lost out. One match in particular from that season stood out, the 4–3 defeat to Liverpool, which has since been described as the greatest ever Premiership match. On 30 July 1996, the disappointment of missing out on the title was lessened to an extent, as the club signed Alan Shearer for a then world record fee of £15 million. The 1996–97 season saw Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) once again finish in second.

After short and unsuccessful spells as manager from Kenny Dalglish and Ruud Gullit, former England manager Sir Bobby Robson was appointed as manager. His first home game in charge was particularly impressive; it was an 8–0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday, which remains the club's record home win. Good performances such as these helped the club ensure survival in the Premiership in Robson's first season. A title challenge emerged during the 2001–02 season, and Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) achieved qualification for the Champions League after finishing in 4th place. However, Robson was sacked in 2004 after failing to qualify for the Champions League. Robson is still held in high regard by Newcastle(Click here to buy Newcastle tickets) supporters.

Graeme Souness was his replacement, but he proved to be an unpopular and unsuccessful choice being sacked on 2 February 2006, despite signing Michael Owen for a record £17 million. Glenn Roeder replaced Souness; during this time Alan Shearer overtook Jackie Milburn as the club's highest ever goal-scorer. Shearer retired at the end of the 2005–06 season, with a total of 206 goals for the club.

Glasgow born Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets)-based school teacher James Allan started the ‘Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) and District Teachers Association Football Club’ formed Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) A.F.C. on 17 October 1879. On 16 October 1880 the club changed its name to "Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) Teachers Association Football Club" ie the Teachers bit remained, but the statement which announced this indicated that the club opened its membership to all in order to relax financial troubles and increase the pool of players available to it. Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) Teachers AFC became Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) AFC on limited company status. Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) enjoyed an extremely "unhealthy" rivalry with Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) Albion F.C. (who confusingly had the same initials) until their demise in the early 20th century.

Ironically it was James Allan who founded Albion after being voted off the Committee of Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) AFC although he had formed Albion prior to the meeting.

Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) were admitted into The Football League for the 1890-91 season, replacing Stoke. It was the first time a new club had joined the league since its inauguration in 1989. During the late 19th century they were still famously declared as the "Team of All Talents" by William McGregor, the founder of the league, after a 6 v 1 over Aston Villa at Perry Barr (erroneously up to now attributed to a 7 v 2 home win against Aston Villa); and between 1892 and 1902 the team won the league three times and were runners-up a further three times.

In 1913, Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) again won the league and lost their first FA Cup Final 1-0 to Aston Villa. It was the closest the club has ever gone to The Double.

The club's sixth (and to this day last) league championship came in the 1935-36 season, and the next season the club finally won the F.A. Cup after a 3-1 victory against Preston North End at Wembley Stadium.

Following the Second World War, the club suffered a downturn in fortunes, despite breaking a number of transfer records and being labelled 'The Bank of England Club'. In 1957 the club were implicated in a major financial scandal (the second in their history after the Andrew MacCombie scandal in 1904), resulting in an unprecedented fine of £5,000 and the suspension of the club chair and three directors. In 1958 Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) were relegated from the top-flight for the first time in their 68-year league history.

Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) won their last major trophy in 1973 courtesy of 1-0 victory over Leeds United in the FA Cup Final. Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets), a second division club at the time, won the game thanks to an amazing double save of Jimmy Montgomery to deny Peter Lorimer, described by many as the greatest save at Wembley, and by some even as the greatest save of all time. Ian Porterfield scored a stunning volley in the 30th minute to stun Leeds and take the win. Since 1973 only two other clubs (Southampton in 1976 and West Ham United in 1980) have equalled Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets)'s achievement of lifting the FA Cup while playing outside the top tier of English football.

In 1985, Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) appeared in their first and only (to 2007) League Cup final, losing 1-0 to Norwich City.

1987 saw one of the lowest points in Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets)'s history, as they were relegated to the third division of the English league for the first and only time.

Under new Chairman Bob Murray and new manager Denis Smith the club were promoted as champions the following season. In 1990, they were promoted back to the top flight, after losing to Swindon Town in the play off final, but Swindon's victory being revoked after being found guilty of financial irregularities. They stayed up for one year before being relegated on the final day of the season.

Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets)'s last outing in a major final came in 1992 when, as a second division club, they returned to the FA Cup Final. There was to be no repeat of the heroics of 1973, with Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) losing 2-0 to Liverpool.

The early 1990s was a turbulent period for the club. In 1995, they faced the prospect of a return the third-tier of English football. Peter Reid was brought in, and quickly turned things around. Reid's time in charge had a stabilising effect; he remained manager for seven years, one of the longest tenures in Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets)'s history.

In 1997, Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) left Roker Park, their home for 99 years. They moved to the Stadium of Light, a 42,000-seat arena that, at the time, was the biggest new stadium built in England since World War II. The move saw a renaissance at the club, as attendances jumped dramatically. The Stadium capacity was later increased to 49,000.

Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) returned to the top-flight as champions in 1999 with a then record points total of 105. Two consecutive seventh place finishes in the Premier League were followed by two less successful seasons and they were relegated to the second-tier with a record low points total of 19 in 2003.

Former Ireland manager Mick McCarthy took over at the club and in 2005 he took Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) up as champions (the third time in under ten years). However, the following season was a disaster; Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) finished on a new record-low total of 15 points. McCarthy left the club in mid-season and was replaced temporarily by Kevin Ball, a former player.

Following their relegation new hope was given to the club by ex-player Niall Quinn, along with the Irish Drumaville Consortium, successfully launched a bid to buy out former chair Bob Murray in July 2006. The consortium appointed former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, a former international team mate of chairman Niall Quinn, as their new manager. Quinn had been in charge for the first few games of the season in a disastrous start. However, under Keane the club rose steadily up the table with an unbeaten run of seventeen games from the start of 2007. Along with Birmingham City FC, Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) clinched promotion to the FA Premier League for the upcoming 2007-2008 season, following Derby County's 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on April 29th. Roy Keane was informed via a text message that Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) AFC had been promoted while walking his dog Triggs. On May 6th 2007 Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) were crowned winners of Championship after beating Luton Town 5-0 at Kenilworth Road.

Their form in the 2007-08 season has been better than the form they showed last time round at this level, and as of early November they occupy 15th place after 11 games and 9 points.