OMG I am so [censored] nervous biggest game of the season for us today, in what I would argue is the most passionate derby in the premiership, with probably only the Man Utd Liverpool rivalry matching in intensity and hatred between the fans, thankfully the mass battles around the ground are a thing of the past tend to be organised away from the matches these days. Worst ever for me was the year Newcastle fans were banned from the ground, people knew there were some there though was the most horrble atmospheres ever been in with trouble breaking out all over the place.
Rivalry is made worse as the north east as a whole is split in the team they support (probaly Newcastle in the acendancy since the Keegan years) in the counties surrounding the cities so the rivalry streches throughout the region.
Article on the history of the game from the last time we played
I guess the americans and maybe the southerners reading dont realise how important football is in the north east it is huge and these occassions alwasys make me think of the following quoted from Harry Pearsons 'The Far Corner'
"People who dont follow football think its just a game , somthing that can be packed away when its finishedand forgotten about. But the game, played out by 22 men in an hour and a half, is only th kernal of somthing greater. The game is the core, you might say, of the game. In the North East people wound the strands of their everyday life around it, childhood, youth, work, friendships, relatives, experiences, ,memories - until football becomes inextricable from life itself'
I feel sick.
HAWAY THE LADS