The first Tyne-Wear derby took place on Christmas Eve 120 years ago
ON this day 120 years ago a fierce football rivalry was born.
Christmas Eve, 1898, marked the very first Tyne-Wear derby.
It was a very different world. Seventy-nine-year-old Queen Victoria had been on the throne for 61 years, and the Prime Minister was a Tory grandee, the Marquess of Salisbury.
The Empire stretched across the globe, with the British Army that year claiming a famous victory at the Battle of Omdurman in Sudan.
Closer to home, the North East’s shipyards, collieries and factories were at full tilt as the region continued to establish itself as an industrial powerhouse.
In the midst of this, the spectator sport of Association Football was rocketing in popularity as working men enjoyed more leisure time and sought diversion from the rigours of their largely manual daily work.
Hard as it is to imagine today, Newcastle United were North East football’s new kids on the block, having come into existence only six years earlier.
Sunderland, meanwhile, with their “team of all the talents” had already won the league title three times when the inaugural derby took place on this day 120 years ago.
For the Magpies, the 1898-99 season was their first in English football’s top flight - and they were finding it tough going.
When they arrived at the recently-opened Roker Park, United had won only three of their 17 First Division fixtures.
But the Victorian Toon Army, much like their descendants in the decades that followed, were second to none in terms of fervour.
The Chronicle’s coverage of the build-up to the game illustrates football’s rapidly growing appeal.
We reported: “It was estimated that at least 8,000 enthusiasts joined trains at Newcastle Central Station, and numerous private brakes (horse-drawn carriages) and charabancs augmented this total.
“Despite 18 special trains being laid on, the railway company failed completely to cope with the number of people clamouring for speedy conveyance to Sunderland.
The report continued: “The average number crammed into each compartment was 18 to 20, and on the return journey the trains were even more crowded.
“Such miserable accommodation is unfair on the travelling public and is poor testimony to the organising ability of the railway staff.
“A further cause for complaint was the increased tariff charged for admission by the Sunderland directors.
“However, the tremendous enthusiasm for the game outweighed all other considerations and with a crowd of fully 30,000, Sunderland’s coffers will have increased by about £800.
Our report concluded: “The Newcastle team did not arrive until 1.30pm, having taken nearly an hour and twenty minutes to make a journey of only 12 miles.”
It would become a well-trodden path in both directions for players and fans of both clubs as one of British football’s most famous fixtures was born.
As for the action in that longgone Christmas Eve match, Sunderland scored first, only for United to roar into a 3-1 lead thanks to a goal from Willie Wardrope and two from Jock Peddie.
The Magpies survived a late Sunderland rally and second goal to run out 3-2 winners.
Back in 1898, winning that first derby gave the black and whites the catalyst to go on and secure First Division survival. They would finish 13th in a league boasting 18 teams.
And, six short seasons later, Newcastle United would win their first league title, sparking a remarkable period when they dominated English football in the Edwardian age.