Fans clash outside St James’ Park in violent scenes ahead of Newcastle vs Sunderland
A group of Sunderland supporters broke away from the police escort outside of St James’ Park, leading to brief clashes with home fans
The build-up to the Tyne-Wear derby was marred by ugly scenes as Newcastle and Sunderland fans clashed outside St James’ Park. The bitter rivals were playing in a 12pm kick-off in the Premier League on Sunday, though there was drama outside the stadium before the game even got underway as a small cluster of Sunderland fans made their way to St James’ Park without a police escort. The visiting fans were eventually attacked after antagonising a large gathering of Newcastle supporters, with punches thrown and objects hurled in violent clashes.
Earlier on, the Sunderland team bus had also been a target for the home fans, with bottles and cans thrown as the visiting team arrived. Bottles and can were thrown outside the stadium (Action Images via Reuters) Police tried to restrain Newcastle fans (Owen Humphreys/PA Wire) Videos posted on X show large groups of fans outside the stadium, with home supporters seen throwing objects at a group of Sunderland supporters. Police were seen scrambling to put an end to the incidents, and reports suggest the violence was over quickly.
Fighting outside of St James’ Park. One fan appeared in a bad way. CPR administered before being taken away.
Not good 🙏🏻 pic. twitter. com/PwZuo8248l — Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) March 22, 2026 Daily Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards was at St James’ Park, and reported “brief violent clashes” as “small pockets of Sunderland supporters decided to walk to the stadium without a police escort”.