The Tyne–Wear derby, also known as the North East derby, is a local derby between the association football clubs Sunderland and Newcastle United. The derby is an inter-city rivalry in North East England with the two cities of Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne just apart. Sunderland play their home matches at the Stadium of Light whilst Newcastle play their home matches at St. James' Park. The first meeting of the two sides took place in 1883, with the first competitive fixture being an FA Cup tie in 1888 which Sunderland won 2–0 over Newcastle East End. The statistical balance between the sides is very even: to date, having played 156 times in their history (excluding friendlies), both Newcastle and Sunderland have won on 53 occasions while sharing 50 draws; (see summary of results for breakdown). Sunderland have won six top-flight titles against four for Newcastle. Former Sunderland and A.C. Milan player Yann M'Vila has described the fixture as bigger than the Milan derby. History Rivalry beyond football The history of the Tyne–Wear derby is a modern-day extension of a rivalry between Sunderland and Newcastle that dates back to the English Civil War when protestations over advantages that merchants in Royalist Newcastle had over their Wearside counterparts led to Sunderland becoming a Parliamentarian stronghold. Sunderland and Newcastle again found themselves on opposite sides during the Jacobite risings, with Newcastle in support of the Hanoverians with the German King George, and Sunderland siding with the Scottish Stuarts. Football rivalry Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, the main rivalries in Sunderland and Newcastle were cross-town affairs. In Newcastle a rivalry existed during the 1880s between Newcastle East End (later to become Newcastle United) and Newcastle West End, which was ended with West End's bankruptcy in 1892. Meanwhile, on Wearside, a group of players broke away from Sunderland and formed the rival Sunderland Albion in 1888, though Albion was forced to fold four years later. The first meeting between the two took place in 1883, with the first competitive fixture an FA Cup tie in November 1887; Sunderland won 2–0. Around the turn of the 20th century, the rivalry began to emerge. The 1901 Good Friday encounter, late in the 1900–01 season at St James' Park had to be abandoned as up to 120,000 fans made their way into a ground which then had a capacity of 30,000. The news was met