Derby flag display to be 'most ambitious yet'

This is Wearside creates displays for Sunderland fans

Sunderland fans say their home ground flag display will be the "biggest one ever" when the club takes on rivals Newcastle in the Premier League for the first time in almost a decade.

The Wear-Tyne derby on 14 December at the Stadium of Light will be their first clash in the top flight since 2016.

Daniel Stokell, co-founder of supporters' group This is Wearside, said dozens of volunteers were pulling together the secret display, which will include elements that reference a rivalry dating back to the English Civil War.

Mr Stokell said: "You come into the Stadium of Light, this is our ground, this is what what we are, that's the type of mentality that we're wanting to use."

The 24-year-old said the clash was the "biggest game on the calendar".

"We want to mark it with the most ambitious display yet," he said.

Mr Stokell said the full design would be revealed at the match.

Volunteers are helping to create the flag displays

Sunderland's return to the Premier League followed a 95th-minute winning goal in the Championship play-off final last season.

The rivalry between the two North East teams runs deep and some previous derbies have seen significant disorder.

In April 2013, trouble erupted outside St James' Park and in Newcastle city centre after Sunderland beat Newcastle United 3-0. More than 100 people were arrested.

• Listen: The Wear-Tyne Derby: It's more than football

Mr Stokell said it was a "huge rivalry" with some supporters choosing not wearing black and white and refusing to go to Newcastle or consume associated drinks.

"I know it's the same for Newcastle as well," he said.

This is Wearside created a Remembrance Day display earlier this month

Volunteers have been taking part in open days to get involved in creating the derby display.

Mr Stokell said it was in its early stages as they still had to clean and repair equipment used for their Remembrance Day display.

Hundreds of This is Wearside volunteers helped create a giant poppy arrangement for their match against Arsenal earlier this month.

"To clean 46,000 pieces of plastic, plus all the damaged and destroyed ones, is quite a big task."

Volunteers are still cleaning thousands of banners used in their Remembrance Day display

This is Wearside was founded in January 2024, taking over displays from a previous supporters' group.

The group, which is hoping to raise £30,000 to fund the display, has ambitions to expand into organising community projects.

Newcastle and Sunderland will meet again in the Premier League on 26 March at St James' Park.