Sunderland fans angered by official FA Cup announcement days before Newcastle United clash

Sunderland host Newcastle United in the FA Cup third round at the Stadium of Light on Saturday (12:45pm kick-off).

It's the first local derby between the two sides the sides last met in the Premier League back in 2016. But there have been plenty of famous meetings between Sunderland and Newcastle.

The FA Cup's official X account reflected on previous meetings, tweeting: "The Tyne-Wear sides have delivered some ICONIC looks throughout the years."

The tweet was accompanied by pictures of former Sunderland players Darren Bent, Naill Quinn and Kevin Phillips as well as former Newcastle stars Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand and, bucking the trend of famous strikers, Aaron Hughes.

But several Sunderland fans took issue with the wording of the FA Cup's X announcement, pointing out that it should be 'Wear-Tyne' rather than 'Tyne-Wear'.

"This is Wear-Tyne derby, not Tyne-Wear," one wrote. Another added: "Wear Tyne. Get it right."

Although the announcement wasn't referring to the derby itself, rather than the two teams - there is an argument for it to be called the Wear-Tyne derby. Although more commonly known as the Tyne-Wear derby outside of the region, it can also be called the Wear-Tyne derby if it is being played at the Stadium of Light, as is the case this weekend.

Newcastle's last derby win over Sunderland came at the Stadium of Light back in 2011 courtesy of a Ryan Taylor free-kick. The last meeting between the sides saw Aleksandar Mitrovic cancel out Jermaine Defoe's opener to end Newcastle's run of six straight defeats against Sunderland with a 1-1 draw at St James' Park.

Both sides have been relegated from the top flight since then, Sunderland suffered a further relegation to League One but bounced back to the Championship in 2022 and currently sit in a play-off position.

Meanwhile, Newcastle quickly returned to the Premier League and managed to secure a top-four finish and Champions League qualification last season. But this season has been more difficult for Eddie Howe's side as they head into Saturday's derby having exited the Champions League and Carabao Cup while also sitting ninth in the Premier League table with a run of seven defeats in eight matches.

Howe's side only lost seven matches all season in all competitions in 2022-23, and they will be desperate to avoid an eighth defeat in nine this weekend.