| Like many clubs
in the UK, Newcastle’s biggest rivals are their
closest, and for the Magpies, it’s Sunderland
F.C.
Sunderland is just 12 miles from Newcastle, but while
the clubs may not be in the same city they do have a relationship
similar to that of Manchester City and Manchester United,
or Liverpool and Everton.
The Sunderland team are known as the Black Cats,
a name chosen by the fans themselves when the team moved
to their new stadium. The reason a new name needed to
be found was because the club’s original nicknames
were all related to their old ground Roker Park,
so when they moved from there in 1997 a new name had to
be chosen.
Their new home was to be the Stadium of Light [map],
which, more than five years on, is still well acknowledged
as one of the best stadiums in the league. In fact, Total
Football magazine, once voted it the 'Best Stadium
in England'. The Stadium of Light has a current capacity
of 48,000 but there is talk of this increasing to 54,000
in the near future.
Since the club was formed in 1879, by a teacher named
James Allen, the Black Cats have spent most of their years
competing against the country’s best teams in the
Premiership, but in the 2002-2003 season they were relegated
to the first division (now known as the Coca-Cola Championship)
with a record-low 19 points, which is where they now compete.
But the club have had their fair share of successes, winning
the English League six times and the FA Cup twice, most
memorably in 1973 when, as a second division club they
beat high flying Leeds United.
And over the years Sunderland have had some great names
at the club to help them to their successes, namely Charlie
Buchan, Raich Carter, Len Shackleton, Brian Clough, Jim Baxter and Ally McCoist.
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