Sunderland rolling out the black and white carpet for their local foes

Fans of Sunderland had every reason to be optimistic about their chances of eliminating fierce rivals Newcastle United from the FA Cup heading into the first Wear-Tyne derby in eight years. Although St. James’ Park, their neighbors, are in a higher division than them, their competition record over the last 20 years has been very dismal and hasn’t gotten any better in the last few seasons under the current ownership structure. Even with Eddie Howe’s transformational influence, Newcastle has been humiliated in the third round of the FA Cup twice by lower-league opponents, despite their rapid rise in the Premier League since the arrival of its Saudi owners. Considering their extensive skill set and terrible away form, there is every chance that run of early exits could continue on Saturday when Sunderland welcome them to the Stadium of Light.

And what a warm welcome it was set to be. A welcome so extraordinarily hospitable and unprecedented that even if – and it’s a giant Hollywood sign-sized “IF” with flashing neon lights – Sunderland do beat their visitors on the pitch, any temporary humiliation visited upon Newcastle will pale into almost total insignificance compared to the ignominy long-suffering Mackems have just been subjected to by their own club hierarchy. Anyone who has sat through the excellent Sunderland Til I Die documentary series will know fans of the club have had to put up with no end of appalling boardroom decisions but that was all supposed to have changed with the most recent takeover two years ago. Alas it hasn’t and now whatever tin-eared dunderhead signed off on the utterly insane idea to redecorate a corporate bar and dining area at one end of the Stadium of Light with Newcastle colours and slogans surely deserves a lucrative Netflix comedy special of their own.

Confirmed on Thursday, after more than a week of circulating as an unverified online rumor, the news that Sunderland was planning to play up to their neighbors in this way caused understandable laughter on Tyneside, leading ecstatic Mags to celebrate the greatest gift given to them since a wealthy nation state took over their club. When they emerge close to the ground, an army of 6,000 people will still be piecing their split sides back together if they can manage to stop laughing long enough to board the coaches that will take them to the derby. Considering given the recent events, they should reasonably anticipate receiving a complimentary bottle of brown ale upon arrival, which will make it easier for them to appreciate watching their team run out to the sound of a moving pre-match performance of the Blaydon Races over the stadium PA.