Newcastle United and Sunderland told key Premier League date they must watch out for
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Sunderland’s victory in last Saturday’s Championship play-off final means there will be two Tyne-Wear derbies next season.
Tommy Watson’s very late winner at Wembley ensured that the Tyne-Wear derby will return to the top-flight next season for the first time since the 2015/16 campaign. A 1-1 draw on 20 March 2016, secured by Aleksandar Mitrovic’s 83rd minute equaliser, marked the last time the two clubs met in the top-flight.
The Magpies were relegated that season, before Sunderland followed them a year later as Rafa Benitez’s side earned promotion back to the Premier League. Newcastle and Sunderland did meet in the FA Cup at the Stadium of Light back in January 2024, with the visitors finally ending their long wait for a victory over their fierce rivals courtesy of an Alexander Isak brace and a Dan Ballard own goal.
The prospect of a Tyne-Wear Premier League derby may be nerve-wracking for fans on both sides, but Dan Burn is relishing the prospect of playing against the Black Cats next season: "I want to play against the best teams, so I'd love to play against Real Madrid, Barcelona,” Burn said.
“That's why you want to play Champions League football - it'll be exciting. It'll be good to even see Sunderland getting back to the Premier League.
“It's such a weird thing because I'm really excited about it. I shouldn't be, but those were the games when I was a kid.
“The derby days were the first fixtures I'd look for when they came out, so I wouldn't say that I'm happy for them coming up but I am happy that we get the derbies back.”
And like Burn, there will be thousands of fans on both sides of the divide eagerly-awaiting when the 2025/26 Premier League fixtures are released:
Premier League 2025/26 fixture release date
The 2025/26 Premier League fixtures will be released at 9am on Wednesday 18 June. These fixtures will cover all 38 matchweeks - although exact dates and times of kick-offs won’t be released on that day.
Sky Sports and TNT Sports, the only UK TV rights holders of the Premier League next season, will pick their selections for matches closer to the time of games, with a commitment to provide confirmed kick-off days and times no less than six weeks before a match. That deadline was missed on numerous occasions last season, however.
"The Premier League has committed to giving supporters a minimum of six weeks' notice on UK broadcast selections until December 2024, and five weeks' from January 2025 until Matchweek 37," the Premier League said before the 2024-25 season.
Newcastle United fans will, of course, be keenly anticipating when their two matches against the Black Cats will be scheduled along with the first and last games of the season and those around the festive period. With Champions League matchdays to factor in next season as well, Magpies fans will also have one eye on their long away trips in hope that they don’t clash too much with their European adventures.