Stirring up old rivalries

Let’s face it, there’s never been any love lost between Sunderland supporters and former Newcastle United player Steven Taylor.

A controversial ‘dive’ and a series of anti-Sunderland jibes, no doubt fuelled by Black Cats fans’ morbid chants aimed at the defender, have added spice to many Tyne-Wear encounters.

We could have been forgiven for thinking that Taylor’s exit from the Toon, a short stay in the North American Soccer League and subsequent move to championship side Ipswich Town would have calmed things down.

But no, the centre-back has hit the headlines again, calling Sunderland a horrible place and expressing his hatred of SAFC fans.

Inevitably, many angry Sunderland supporters have hit back – labelling the player as childish and telling him to grow up.

In an Echo poll 47% of people who responded called the comments ‘idiotic’ and that there was no need to make them.

The whole incident could be written off as banter, but it does have a serious side.

Like it or not, professional footballers are role models, and interviews expressing hatred of rival fans are simply unprofessional.

In the last couple of years there have been signs that Newcastle and Sunderland fans have put some measure of bitterness behind them.

Sunderland supporters raised thousands of pounds for Newcastle fans John Adler and Liam Sweeney, who were killed in the MH17 air disaster.

And Newcastle followers have also shown their generosity towards little cancer victim and Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery.

So Steven Taylor’s comments are ill-timed and ill-advised ... a bit of an own goal, in fact.