United fans won’t lose any sleep over the

THERE is a gulf of gigantic proportions between two of England’s most grand and historic clubs.

Supporters of Newcastle United and Aston Villa stand apart bristling defiance which shows no signs of abating.

Thus a huge swathe of United’s fans shed no crocodile tears as Villa failed their final examination for Premier League re-entry at Wembley.

The animosity has festered since May 24, 2009, when Villa’s faithful mocked Newcastle upon their demise as a PL club.

Relegation came at Villa Park courtesy of a Damien Duff own goal with Holte Enders delightedly waving daubed bedsheets taunting Mags with slogans of “Sob on the Tyne” and “Your next Messiah, Ant or Dec?”

That a bunch of fans with no real connection to the other club, no obvious reason for resentment, should have gone to all the bother of stripping their beds has never been forgotten by the Toon Army.

It has not been a matter of a failure to move on - much water has flowed under the Tyne Bridge since - but more a display of a lack of class which has remained in the memory.

Consequently, when Villa were beaten by 10-man Fulham in the £170m Championship play-off final - ironically 36 years to the very day since their greatest triumph in lifting the European Cup - there were merely knowing smiles not sobs on the Tyne.

The fact Villa are managed by Steve Bruce only added to the the satisfaction in some quarters.

Bruce is viewed as the Geordie who never took the Newcastle job but instead became boss of Sunderland, where he suffered two crippling derby defeats.

There has been no such open distain from a personal point of view I should add. Far from it in fact.

Brucey is a good friend, a lovely warm man, as is his Villa assistant Steve Agnew.

I actually gave Aggers his first coaching job when he was playing