Is Sunderland v Middlesbrough a derby? If you have to ask, the answer is obvious

Does Sunderland against Middlesbrough feel like a derby to you?

Author:
Michael Graham
Publish date:
Jan 19, 2023 8:20 AM EST

There are many opinions that divide the Sunderland fanbase, but whether or not the game against Middlesbrough is a derby is right up there among the most persistently talked-about.

From the Middlesbrough side of things, there appears to be little doubt. They have always considered it a derby and you can tell just by the behaviour of their fans and players on the day.

Sunderland fans, though? It’s nowhere near the same. That doesn’t necessarily make it not a derby, though, does it? A lesser derby? A secondary derby? Are there even levels of derby matches or is a derby simply a derby?

There is a lot to unpack, with plenty of criteria to consider, but surely there is one key element here that overrules everything else: If you have to ask if it’s a derby, it’s not one.

No one has ever asked whether Sunderland v Newcastle is a derby. The same can be said of Celtic v Rangers, Ipswich v Norwich, Manchester United v Liverpool, Nottingham Forest v Derby, and all the same-city rivalries outside of London.

That is not to say there isn’t a mixed perception within Sunderland fanbase of the Wear-Tees ‘derby.’ For many, it’s the real deal. That, though, tends to be a subjective perception of the individual, but derbies are not subjective by nature. They are a universal unifying thing among the support.

Geography aside, though, is there really any justification for Sunderland v Middlesbrough being a derby?

There is no real bitter history between the clubs, and no palpable animosity between them. We maybe take a little more interest in Boro than we do other clubs, but only a little.

I certainly can’t remember any particularly massive and meaningful games against Middlesbrough from my lifetime.

Perhaps most tellingly of all is that, for me at least, there are never nerves or anticipation ahead of the game. You start looking ahead to the derby against Newcastle weeks in advance. The closer the game gets, you actually start feeling a bit ill. On the day of the game itself, your toilet habits almost certainly change.

You don’t get any of that ahead of a game against Middlesbrough.

Look at the Luke O’Nien red card last week too. Had that happened the week before a game against Newcastle, the immediate narrative would have been that he had put himself out of the derby and we’d be pouring over what it meant for the game.

There has been none of that with the Middlesbrough game approaching.

So, from my perspective at least, geography is about the only reason it could possible be considered a derby. And, even then, it’s not especially strong geography, is it?

There are 30 miles between the two clubs. They are in different counties and the counties they are in don’t even border each other. To be fair, Sunderland is the closest major club to Middlesbrough, but Sunderland obviously have another one a lot closer.

Perhaps that’s why, for Middlesbrough, it’s a derby yet Sunderland fans continue to debate it?

Whatever the reason, the point still stands that if you have to ask whether or not a game is a ‘derby,’ it’s definitely not one, and Sunderland ask the question every single time.

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