Sunderland have apologised to their supporters after an ostensibly friendly, yet incredibly naive, gesture on the part of club officials before Saturday’s Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle at the Stadium of Light backfired spectacularly.
Around 700 of the 6,000 strong contingent of travelling supporters have paid £600 a head to purchase special hospitality tickets in the Black Cats suite which comes equipped with a bar. In an attempt to welcome them – or possibly reduce the prospect of any vandalism – the normally red and white themed suite was specially redecorated with black and white banners and signage emblazoned with slogans including “We are United”. Bizarrely, “Cheer up Peter Reid” a reference to the Newcastle fans once favourite ditty about the former Sunderland manager, also featured.
A social media storm erupted on Thursday night when pictures of the new decor appeared online, leading to Sunderland admitting that the temporary re-brand represented “a serious error in judgement” and that “the space has been returned to its original state.”
Earlier Joanne Youngson, a Sunderland supporters liaison council committee member, used X to suggest Sunderland’s French majority owner, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, may not be quite fully attuned to the local mood, let alone the intensity of the north east rivalry as the clubs prepare to meet for the first time since 2016.
“Crazy,” posted Youngson. “Fair enough, take anything red and white down to minimise damage. But you don’t have to decorate the place for them. It’s just a real shame, their fans are going to be loving it – we would. That’s why I question whether Kyril knows what it means to us. He doesn’t get us, or the region, at all.”
Expressing his shock at Sunderland’s faux pas, former striker Marco Gabbiadini told BBC Newcastle: “I don’t believe it. It’s embarrassing. This will be ‘mentioned’ by Newcastle fans for the next 50 years.” Meanwhile Michael Graham, editor of the SAFC Nation, added: “It’s an insult like never before, a slap in the face to an entire supporter base.”
In a statement, Sunderland suggested that Louis-Dreyfus had been unaware of the rebrand but is now overseeing an internal investigation into how it happened. “We apologise to our fans for their understandable concern they have fairly voiced in response,” read the statement. “This sentiment is shared by the club’s ownership group and board of directors who have requested an immediate review to determine how the process unfolded.
“A direct decision has been taken by the ownership to restore the space to its original state and we once again apologise to our supporters that his was not taken sooner.”
It is all a far cry from 2007 when Sunderland’s former owner, Ellis Short, barred his then Newcastle counterpart, Mike Ashley, from wearing a black and white replica shirt in the Stadium of Light boardroom.