Sunderland and Newcastle United boast one of the most bitter rivalries in British football. And next season the two could meet in the Premier League, for what would be the first top flight meeting between them since 2016.
Sunderland boast strong recent record against Newcastle United. The Black Cats are unbeaten in their last seven league games against the Magpies, winning six. Though it was Newcastle who won the last meeting.
In the 2023/24 campaign, Sunderland lost 3-0 against Newcastle United in the FA Cup when Michael Beale was at the helm. This time round under Regis Le Bris, Sunderland are much more formidable, and they’re mounting a serious push for promotion to the Premier League.
Last time out, Sunderland beat Portsmouth 1-0 at the Stadium of Light to mark back-to-back wins, with the Black Cats remaining in 4th place of the Championship table but with the gap to leaders Leeds United now standing at just three points.
Possible Sunderland and Newcastle United groundshare mooted
There is an expectation that Newcastle United will soon announce plans to renovate their home ground of St James’ Park, and push the capacity from its current 52,000 to around 65,000.
Louise Taylor writes for The Guardian that ‘by mid-March’ the club’s owners will confirm whether they’ll spend £1billion on the renovations or whether they’ll triple that number and build a whole new stadium entirely.
She also adds that either option ‘will almost certainly prompt months of planning wrangles, not to mention the likely need to share the Stadium of Light with Sunderland while a potential rebuild takes place’.
Taylor goes on to suggest that whilst the move would be unpopular, it is achievable, highlighting the fact that Inter and AC Milan have groundshared successfully for some time now.
Michael Graham reacts to possible Sunderland and Newcastle United groundshare
Sunderland’s iconic Stadium of Light, with its near 49,000 capacity, certainly has the room to accommodate Newcastle United for a period of time. Though from both sets of fans, it’s a move that could cause huge rifts.
And journalist Michael Graham was quick to share his thoughts on Taylor’s mooted point, asking: “Errrrm, would Sunderland not get a say in this, like?”
It’s unsafe to assume that Newcastle United could so easily go and groundshare the Stadium of Light with Sunderland, whose owners would obviously recognise the unrest it would cause, and think twice before agreeing to a groundshare.
It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Kyril Louis-Dreyfus would entertain a groundshare. But as things stand, it certainly seems highly unlikely.