Geordies v Mackems – The derbies are back! | OneFootball

Newcastle United and Sunderland will be in the same division.

For one season anyway.

The return of Premier League derbies.

The 2015/16 season was the last time Newcastle United and Sunderland faced each other in a Premier League game.

Ten seasons later, 2025/26 will see league derbies played again.

Newcastle United hammered and outclassed Sunderland on Wearside in January 2024, strolling to a 3-0 away victory in the FA Cup.

Before that though, the most recent league derby had been 20 March 2016, a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park with Mitrovic scoring late on for United.

Difficult to see anything but a season of struggle for the Mackems but they will be of course throwing everything into their two cup finals against Newcastle United next season.

Anybody who watched them in the play-offs will have seen just how poor Sunderland are. They were outplayed and outclassed by Coventry City in the semi-finals, yet carried outrageous luck to go through.

Then on Saturday, it was more of the same, Sheffield United will still be unable to comprehend throughout the summer how they managed not to win at Wembley. so superior they were to Sunderland.

Just goes to show how cruel a game football can be, no guarantee in any match that the best team will win.

Remember as well, this is how the Championship league season ended:

Sunderland having finished a massive 24 points behind Leeds United and Burnley, as well as 14 points behind Sheffield United (who had two points deducted for off-field reasons, otherwise it would have been 16 points difference).

Burnley and Leeds were both terrible in the Premier League when relegated and then lost their best players, yet one and two years later respectively, they have strolled to promotion, a country mile ahead of Sunderland.

Leicester, Ipswich and Ipswich were promoted 12 months ago and between them spent a combined £306m (Figures via transfermarkt – Ipswich £128m, Southampton £122m, Leicester £76m) to prepare for the Premier League.

For numerous months now it has been obvious that that three were heading straight back down and ahead of today’s final matches, the three promoted (and now relegated) clubs have won only 12 of their combined 111 Premier League matches this season so far.

It is very difficult to see anything but the same fate for Leeds and Burnley, never mind Sunderland, such is the gulf in quality now between the Premier League and Championship.

Worth remembering as well that before Sunderland won the ‘Six in a row’ cup as Mike Ashley dragged Newcastle United down into a desperate state, in the derbies that were played after 1980 and before 2013, the record was 31 derbies played and 13 Newcastle United wins 14 draws and just four Sunderland victories in a period of 32+ years.

Whilst between April 1967 and January 1979, Sunderland didn’t win a single league derby either.