Tyne-Wear derby: 'A remarkable occasion'
The Tyne-Wear derby is back – and the North East is already bracing for one of English football's most fiercely contested rivalries.Following the release of this season's Premier League fixtures, Sunderland will host Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light on 13 December, with the return game taking place at St James' Park on 21 March. These dates are now etched in the minds of supporters across the region.Few matches stir the emotions quite like the Tyne-Wear derby. For some, it's about pride. For others, it's about history. But for everyone, it's a game that transcends the football pitch.BBC Radio Newcastle's Newcastle United commentator Matthew Raisbeck said: "When I think of the North East derby, I think of passion, passion that both sets of fans have for their club and how much we get to experience that when the games are being played."On the other side of the divide, Sunderland's matchday commentator Nick Barnes shared his own take - one that focuses on the emotional toll the derby can take on those involved.He said: "In one sense, it's a fantastic occasion. In the other sense, it's a real headache, madness in the build-up to the game itself, with all the banter and social media goes bananas. The anxiety, anticipation and the tension and everything that goes with the atmosphere, it is a remarkable occasion."Listen on BBC Sounds
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
9 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Jack Draper holds nerve and earns Wimbledon seedings boost in making Queen's Club semi-finals
Jack Draper is a perfectionist in every sense of the word, which means that for the third consecutive match he departed the court quite unimpressed by the level of tennis he demonstrated. There were, after all, quite a few self-sabotaging concentration lapses, his forehand was too erratic and he did not always seem comfortable moving on the slick grass. In the most important moments, however, when the match hung in the balance, the 23-year-old locked in and produced his best tennis. Once again, the British No 1 held his nerve in the final stages of a tough three-setter as he defeated Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals at Queen's Club for the first time in his career. The victory means Draper will return to his career-high ranking of No 4 on Monday, securing him a top-four seeding at Wimbledon. At a time when almost every player wishes to avoid an early meeting with Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, he cannot face either of the world's top two before the semi-finals. However, a meeting with Alcaraz here remains on the cards. One day after his own dramatic three-set win, as he recovered from 2-4 in the final set to defeat Jaume Munar in a three hour, 26 minute marathon, Alcaraz, the top seed, returned to the semi-finals at Queen's Club with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Arthur Rinderknech. Alcaraz has won 16 consecutive matches, the longest winning streak of his career. Afterwards, Alcaraz stressed how difficult it was to recover less than 24 hours after such a tough match. 'Could be better, honestly, but I thought I was going to feel much worse than I feel right now,' the world No 2 said. 'But we are tennis players, we have to do whatever we have to do just to recover, to be in good shape the next day. I'm just feeling great. I'm glad that today was one hour, 20 minutes. Today was more grass [than clay], so I'm just happy and hopefully tomorrow I'm going to feel much better.' For Draper the past few days have, in some ways, emphasised just how much things have changed over the past year. Although he has broken new ground this week by reaching a first semi-final at Queen's Club, he still feels some way from producing his best. 'The level of what I'm playing could be more consistent, definitely better,' he said. 'I think it will come. The more I practise, the more I play, I'm getting a little bit better each time. I don't know when it will come together, but still doing well to be in the semis. Day by day, we'll see. While he has previously been able to produce his best level from the beginning of the grass season, Draper is still finding his feet after enduring his first full clay-court season and the significant efforts it took for him to adapt his game to suit a completely different surface. 'It's just such a hard adjustment,' said Draper. 'I really tried on the clay to play a certain way, to be aggressive in the back court, to be tough from the back of the court, and I spent probably like a month and a half on the clay. This is still [early] because I didn't practise too much before the tournament with certain things. I'm sort of going by ear out there a little bit, and I'm trying to become more and more comfortable on the grass. When you get more comfortable in the movement, more comfortable in what you're trying to do out there, it just starts clicking.' During the decisive moments, though, the confidence that Draper has gained over the past few years has been plain for all to see and every match affords him the opportunity to further improve his level on grass as he attempts to peak in time for Wimbledon. Draper will next face the talented Czech Jiri Lehecka, who ended the excellent run of the British No 2, Jacob Fearnley, with a 7-5, 6-2 win. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Elsewhere, the world No 1, Jannik Sinner, released his first music single, Polvere e Gloria (Dust and Glory), with the famous Italian vocalist Andrea Bocelli. Alongside Bocelli's singing, Sinner reiterates parts of his past speeches during trophy ceremonies. On Thursday, the same day the song was announced, Sinner suffered his first defeat to a player ranked outside the top 20 in nearly two years, losing in three sets to Alexander Bublik in the second round of the Halle Open. In Nottingham Katie Boulter's bid for a hat-trick of titles came to an end as she was beaten 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 by McCartney Kessler. The British No 2 and eighth seed secured a service break early in the deciding set but the American stormed back to reach the semi-finals.
South Wales Argus
10 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Tesco apologises for Lionesses display in Cardiff store
The UEFA Women's Euros kicks off on July 2 in Switzerland, with both Wales and England qualifying for the tournament. They have even been drawn in the same group (Group D) and will face off against each other on Sunday, July 13. So when a large Lucozade archway appeared in a Tesco store in Cardiff with the England Lionesses all over it, Welsh fans weren't happy. Hi @asda, do you care to explain why you are strongly pushing for support of the Lionesses in your Cardiff stores? Not only have @FAW_Womens qualified for the tournament, they are in England's group and direct rivals! This is deeply offensive, read the room.@FAWales — Rich 🏴🇪🇺 (@BluebirdRichie) June 19, 2025 Tesco's England display labelled "offensive" and "disgraceful" by Welsh fans Tesco has received considerable backlash from the Welsh public following the erection of the display, which gives people the chance to win a meet and greet with the Lionesses. The display has been labelled as "offensive" and "disgraceful" on social media. One Welsh fan, posting on X (formerly Twitter), said: "Do you care to explain why you are strongly pushing for support of the Lionesses in your Cardiff stores? "Not only have @FAW_Womens qualified for the tournament, they are in England's group and direct rivals! "This is deeply offensive, read the room." Wales and England have both been drawn in Group D for the upcoming UEFA Women's Euros. (Image: Nick Potts/PA Wire) Another added: "@Tesco Must be lovely for our Welsh women footballers, walking in Tesco and seeing the England women's team. Disgraceful." While a third person commented: "This is so, so bad. In the capital city of Wales, and they're promoting England at the Euros. "As mentioned in the tweet, they're in the same group as us and our direct rivals. Honking." Even FAW Chief Executive, Noel Mooney, had something to say about the display. Also posting on X, he said: "We are @Cymru .. why is this in our capital??" RECOMMENDED READING: Tesco apologises for Lionesses display Tesco has now come out and apologised for the Lionesses display in its Cardiff stores. A spokesperson said: "We're sorry this happened. "We wish both the Welsh and English teams good luck in the upcoming Euros and know many of our colleagues and customers will be supporting their home nations in the tournament.'
The Guardian
11 minutes ago
- The Guardian
India's Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal make tons to leave England toiling in first Test
India slightly snuck into the country four weeks ago, dribs and drabs getting an 'A' tour underway before the bulk of the first-teamers landed and started playing intra-squad cricket. The delayed finish to the Indian Premier League commanded eyeballs initially, then the World Test Championship final last week. All told, it was a soft launch. But on the opening day of the summer's marquee series, the tourists announced themselves with a flex of their muscles. Centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal, 101, and Shubman Gill, 127 not out, had driven England to distraction and taken India to 359 for three. Gill's first outing as captain had proved an unqualified success and no one was talking about the absences of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. A chastening start for Ben Stokes and his men, therefore, albeit not unfamiliar territory as regards their initial tormentor. Jaiswal notched up 712 runs against them in India last year – including two double hundreds – and his image was practically burned on to their collective retina by the end. Might his first Test match encounter with the Dukes ball see a change of fortune? The answer, it transpired, was no. But then Jaiswal is a player who likes to make a strong first impression, having compiled a century on debut in the Caribbean, one in his first Test in Australia, and now one on arrival in England. It was some knock, too – the first by an Asian opener at Headingley, no less – as he left diligently, cut ferociously and drove through the covers with panache. Indeed, until Stokes castled him after tea with an inswinger that nipped away, Jaiswal's chief concern was bouts of cramp in his forearms as he cruised into the 90s. Even then, despite a couple of delays with the physio and obvious pain, he moved to 99 with a flurry of fours off Brydon Carse before a pinched single brought up Test century No 5. While Jaiswal moved through the gears – 96 balls for his half-century, only 48 more to double it – Gill started fast and then bedded in. And at 5.44pm, as he caressed Josh Tongue through the covers for four, he became the first Indian since Virat Kohli 11 years ago to make a century in his first innings as captain. Gill's celebration, a punch of the air and guttural roar, was in stark contrast to the serenity that got him there. At the other end was his vice-captain, Rishabh Pant, who finished unbeaten on 65. The responsibility of being Gill's new No 2 had dampened none of the mischief, either, Pant dancing down the pitch to Stokes second ball and clobbering him back over his head for four. In the final over, when thoughts might have turned to safety, he summed up the day as a whole by swatting Chris Woakes for six with a jaw-dropping swivel pull. This being Headingley, so often a scene of the absurd and a ground where the past six Tests have been won by the side bowling first, England will refuse to believe they are snookered. By the same token, sticking a team in under clear skies and seeing them lose only three wickets across three sessions was clearly suboptimal. Both captains wanted to bowl first, however, and the modern way – certainly the Stokes and Brendon McCullum way – is not always to do so with an eye on skittling a side cheaply. Against New Zealand at Trent Bridge three years ago, for example, Stokes inserted, saw the tourists rack up 553, and England won by five wickets. India scored 418 at Edgbaston that same summer after being asked to bat first and lost by seven. Of greater concern was the fact that Stokes was the best of the quicks on show, not simply his figures of two for 43 from 13 overs but by way of obvious threat. Carse flickered at times, even if his solitary removal of KL Rahul before lunch came via a lazy waft, but Tongue was largely scattergun and Woakes found precious little movement. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion If there was one relative success among the frontliners it was probably Shoaib Bashir sending down 21 overs with little assistance from the surface and holding his own. With an economy of 3.1 under the overall run-rate of 4.2, the off-spinner had performed a day one role some thought beyond him. Drift was his friend, even if no chances materialised. It had not taken long for the total at stumps to look possible, India dominating the early exchanges and getting to within touching distance of lunch when Rahul's error on 42 opened up an end. The removal of Sai Sudharsan almost immediately, strangled down leg off Stokes for a four-ball duck on debut, might have appeared a bit fortunate when India walked off at 92 for two but there was clearly a plan behind it. This was pretty much the only one that came off for England, however, Jaiswal and Gill putting on 129 for the third wicket in an afternoon of toil for the bowlers. Had Carse not overstepped, Jaiswal would have been lbw 43 when a yorker hit boot and then bat. And had Ollie Pope hit the stumps with a shy from midwicket, Gill would have been run out for one. Ifs and buts count for little, however, and India have unquestionably arrived.
