“Never Gonna Leave Ol’ Durham Town…”

Before I moved away from the North East nearly a quarter of a century ago, one of my favourite places to wander around was Durham, with its beautiful cobbled streets, the castle and cathedral.

In fact, the view from the bridge over the River Wear, with the castle towering on the east bank, is one of the most picturesque and loved scenes in the country (according to a TV programme from the 1990’s) competing with Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, various Lake District scenes and St. Michael’s Mount and Tintagel in Cornwall.

Brought up in North Shields and having gone to school in Newcastle’s West End, I was used to being surrounded by Mag fans, but unlike other stories I’ve heard about school life, there was never — to my knowledge — violence linked to the team you supported.

Nevertheless, as you can imagine, I got more than enough ear-bashing and taunting from Newcastle supporters, yet there was some solace to be found in my old school’s slogan, which began: “By the banks of the silvery Wear, ‘neath proud Durham’s towered shrine”, which referred to the burial place of St. Cuthbert — the school I attended.

It was always nice to get away from Newcastle City or North Shields, where it would’ve been careless to wear any Sunderland colours or sport the badge on a hat. Durham always felt safe. I was on home territory — County Durham and Wearside.

Historically, Sunderland was part of County Durham.

The old county borough was abolished in 1974, with the formation of the new “Metropolitan County of Tyne and Wear”. The Durham coalfields had strong ties to Sunderland AFC and the Durham Miners’ Association recognises their shared heritage.

Sunderland is often seen as a “Durham Miners’ Club” and for people in County Durham — certainly when I was growing up and before my exile from the North East — supporting Sunderland was often the default choice. Whilst some areas leaned towards Newcastle United, it’s fair to say that Durham generally favoured supporting the Lads.

I’m not sure when the phrase “Durham Mag” became a thing, as it certainly sounds like an oxymoron and it wasn’t a phrase that was coined before the turn of the century.

Some people claim it emerged during the Kevin Keegan years as the visitors experienced a surge in success and media attention which resulted in many younger people in neighbouring County Durham becoming Mag fans. Sunderland’s fall from grace over the last ten years didn’t help, as youngsters — for the most part — want to support a successful or at least a Premier League side.

This whole topic came to the fore after the recent Leeds match, when I decided to stay in Durham after the game.

At check in, the lady at the desk asked if I’d travelled far. I told her I’d driven up from Worcestershire but that I’d only just come from the Sunderland game. She gave me a stern sideways look and jokingly said, “Oh, you support them, do you? Boo!”

I was quite taken aback and informed her that when I used to live locally, most of Durham was red and white — we were, after all, on the banks of the Wear.

She retorted that “These days, it’s about half-and-half in the area of Sunderland fans and Mags”.

I’m not an expert as I never actually lived in County Durham, but some references I’ve seen suggest that it used to be 80% to 20% in favour of supporting the Black Cats, whereas now, it’s nearer to 50/50. But no wonder the term “Durham Mags” has such a negative connotation — it’s used pejoratively to imply that these supporters are “plastic fans” or “glory hunters” who lack a genuine local or heritage connection with Newcastle.

Hopefully this season is the start of the fightback and a marker for when school children will want to start supporting the red and whites — the dominant team in the North East, derby victors, and a team going places.

A team that isn’t aligned to dodgy Arab owners, that cares about the community, and has a long-term plan and identity in place.

Happy New Year, and haway me bonnie lads!