Newcastle United fans bashful as Tyne Wear Derby with Sunderland named best football rivalry in world

The fierce derby between Newcastle United and Sunderland has been named football's greatest rivalry in a viral online poll.

The Football History Boys have been holding a 'Rivalries World Cup' to determine the most infamous clashes across the footballing world and it all came down to a final smackdown on Tuesday evening in the grand final. The last two fixtures left standing were the Tyne Wear Derby and the Old Firm Derby.

It was a close-fought affair between the North East and Glasgow but, with a little help from famous Newcastle United fan account Toon Polls, it was the Tyne Wear Derby that took the trophy with 53% of the vote from nearly 10,000 votes online.

The fixture between Newcastle United and Sunderland had beaten the Superclassico (Buenos Aires vs Boca Juniors) in the semi-final, the Intercontinental Derby (Fenerbache vs Galatasaray) in the quarter-final and the Edinburgh Derby (Hearts vs Hibs) in the round of 16.

The final was a close-fought affair with some Magpies supporters even expecting to concede loss to the Old Firm classics, which return in the Scottish Premiership this weekend. One fan said: "As much as I love our derbies, it doesn't come close to the Old Firm games."

Another added: "I'm a Geordie born and raised but the Glasgow Derby is far bigger than ours."

Newcastle United and Sunderland have met 155 times over the two clubs' history with results incredibly equal over that time. The Magpies and Black Cats have claimed 53 wins each with 49 of the Tyne Wear Derby matches ending in a draw.

The two sides haven't met since 2016 when the clubs drew at St James' Park in the season when Newcastle United were relegated to the Championship. Before that, Sunderland had won six derbies on the bounce and have now gone a total of nine fixtures unbeaten.

A Tyne Wear Derby this season once again looks unlikely with both clubs in different leagues and Sunderland already knocked out of the Carabao Cup, although a chance FA Cup meeting remains a possibility.