North London derby? You mean North-East derby!

Newcastle fans living in London play counterparts from rivals Sunderland

Friday, 17th January — By Caitlin Maskell

North east derby photo Paul White

Spot the ball! Newcastle and Sunderland face off at Market Road [Paul White]


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IT was a week when an old football rivalry between nearby clubs was renewed, sending passions raging in a battle for bragging rights.

But we’re not talking about Wednesday night’s Premier League clash between Arsenal and Spurs.

The real crunch battle was played out on the Market Road pitches on Saturday when Newcastle fans living in London played their counterparts from North East rivals Sunderland.

The Barry Venison Cup – named after the mullet-haired icon who captained both clubs – led to a heated match, but all in a good cause.

Money raised from the event went to the Children with Cancer charity.

The London Magpies team, which is sponsored by The Dolphin pub in Tonbridge Street, King’s Cross, pictured below [Paul White]

Sunderland ran out 1-0 winners.

The London Magpies have made The Dolphin in King’s Cross a favourite haunt – supporters famously ran the bar dry when the club went to the Carabao Cup final at Wembley last year – and the pub is sponsoring the team this season.

Freddie Bunn, the team’s media and events secretary said that there was “no love lost on the day” and that there had been injuries in both camps.

He added: “It was pretty cagey on the day and got quite aggressive. We’ve actually got one player coming away with a fracture and another one that’s broken his tibia.

“It was quite rowdy but always within a sporting capacity. After the 90 minutes we all went to Doyles on the Cally Road and shared pizza and beers.

“Children with Cancer is a great cause that can and has united the two sides and the cause was to get together and do something positive.”

[Paul White]

The London Magpies, one of the oldest supporters’ clubs in the country, was established in 1964 and has a members’ club of about 500 people made of supporters from the North-East that have moved down to London but retain their love for the St James Park outfit.

The club train every week at Coram’s Fields in Bloomsbury and play in a supporters’ league where they take on fans’ teams from all over the world.

Mr Bunn said: “The Dolphin is always crazy, and we can’t thank them enough. The numbers of supporters have just grown and grown.

“There’s been a huge cyclical nature to it because the more people that turn up, the more goes back into the communities so it’s been a really good project.”

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