Is this proof of Sunderland losing their supporting heartlands to Newcastle United? | OneFootball

I’m still good mates with the ex-missus and this is the time of year that we normally start going for our drives in the beautiful counties of Northumberland and Durham with our eldest daughter.

The weather this spring has been bloody awful but we are hoping to get back on the road soon.

Last year’s excursions took us to the likes of Holy Island, Amble, Barnard Castle etc.

Amble might not sound all that exotic but it is a true black and white town. There are sprinklings of mackems elsewhere in Northumberland – the likes of Alnwick, Bedlington and Blyth – though obviously they are also still overwhelmingly black and white territory..

However, it was whilst in Durham that I saw an unprecedented phenomema right in front of my very own eyes.

I have never ever witnessed so many people, especially bairns, decked out in our fantastic Newcastle United garb.

Even during the Keegan and Robson years I had never encountered this.

With Newcastle United now showing real ambition and playing good football again, our fanbase is definitely swelling at an incredible rate.

This of course is all bad news for Sunderland AFC.

IMAGO/Focus Images

The ailing Championship club look like they need all the supporters they can muster these days, to stop the Stadium of Light from looking half empty.

NUFC will become a huge global brand in the not so distant future.

This is one of the reasons I believe we need a new massive state of the art stadium.

Future generations would never forgive us if we didn’t build our own Field of Dreams.

Build it and they will come… and they’ll never ever stop coming, year after year.

As Newcastle United fans, we don’t need to continually try and convince ourselves that we are a massive club. We already know we bloody well are.