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The Newcastle manager found himself on firm footing as he rang the bell.

The Magpies manager had just set the 2023 Great North Run under way to loud cheers in the centre of the city.

But he had failed to anticipate those Black Cats runners who were not so thrilled to see him as they whizzed past.

"The biggest stick I've ever had," he remarked this week. "I got verbally attacked by 50% of the people there."

This is not an inter-city rivalry. These regional neighbours have won only one major domestic trophy between them in the past 50 years, and Sunday's game signals the first time they will meet in the Premier League for nearly a decade.

But few fixtures halt an area quite like the Tyne-Wear derby as former Black Cats manager Peter Reid knows better than most.

"They're football crackers," he said. "Put it this way, there is a little bit more needle up there."

'The two biggest games of the season'

Nikos Dabizas also is aware of what can happen when these worlds collide.

A huge picture in the former Newcastle centre-back's home acts as a daily reminder.

It captures the Greek ecstatic, shirtless and among his jubilant team-mates, after netting the winner in front of the away fans at the Stadium of Light in 2002.

This was a fixture that certainly left its mark on him.

"The key is the passion of the fans," he said. "This feeling that goes from generation to generation. This tradition makes this game so unique."

So what is at the root of the intense rivalry between two football-mad towns less than 15 miles apart?

Well, as far as a Black Cats season ticket holder is concerned, it transcends football itself.

"You can go back to the English Civil War with Newcastle supporting the monarchy and Sunderland backing the parliament," he said. "It's rooted in political and economic factors.

"Newcastle receive the funding, Newcastle have the big city, Newcastle are the ones people always talk about when it comes to the North East. The other side are always overshadowed."

But it is not at all one-sided.

A former player's father was even "mobbed" by delirious Newcastle supporters after his son scored a decisive free-kick in a 1-0 victory at the Stadium of Light in 2011.

That is how much it meant to the Geordies.

"It took a little bit of time afterwards to grasp the importance of it," the player said.

"It made my life a lot simpler. I was forgiven to make the odd mistake when playing, simply because of that goal.

"I still go up to St James' Park and you've got dads telling their kids, 'See this lad? He scored the winner against the Mackems'."

A derby win can even boost the standing of an already popular figure.

A former Newcastle manager had not long delivered promotion back to the Premier League when he took charge of his first derby in 2010.

There may have only technically been three points at stake, but he quickly understood the "added responsibility" of this game because people in the North East "live for their football".

He said: "There are some derbies where you are unsure why they are derbies. This one, you do.

"These are two huge clubs - close from each other - with their own identities.

"Realistically, they are the two biggest games of the season so you are conscious that the last thing you want to do is to lose, particularly in your own stadium."

A region reignited

That manager need not have worried.

His side ended up thrashing Sunderland 5-1 at St James' Park in 2010, but Newcastle have only won a single derby in the Premier League since then.

In fact, Sunderland have been victorious in six of the last seven meetings in the top flight.

A former Sunderland manager masterminded half of those victories, having swiftly realised that the fixture was "much bigger" than many outsiders thought.

"Beyond family, the club is the most vital thing to the people of Sunderland," he said.

"The passion is such that the result of the club can change the mood of the city so imagine the result of the derby? You can feel it.

"I was informed on the first day. 'Please stay up, but you must beat Newcastle'. I remain unsure if it was more important to stay up or to beat Newcastle."

Sunderland, like Newcastle before them, eventually slipped through the relegation trapdoor in 2017, and spent eight years away from the top flight.

So a division separated these rivals when they last met in the FA Cup nearly two years ago.

And the contrast was stark.

The combined cost of Sunderland's starting line-up that day was a tiny portion of the £40m Newcastle had spent on a single player.

The most experienced individual in the hosts' starting line-up was a considerable distance ahead of others, at just 30 years of age.

"It's unlikely the fans really believed, deep down, that we were going to win that game," a former midfielder said. "But now it's different."

In numerous ways.

Only two players are likely to be the only survivors from that 3-0 defeat in Sunday's lineup following the astute arrivals of several new signings.

Sunderland also have a different manager, of course.

Not only has he led Sunderland to promotion - his fearless side have competed evenly against some the best teams in the top flight.

In fact, the reigning champions are the only team in the current top six to have beaten Sunderland this season, while his side are also undefeated on their own ground.

Such an impressive start to the campaign means Sunderland go into Sunday's game a point ahead of Newcastle in the table.

So it is all set up to be a gripping afternoon when these rivals renew hostilities at the Stadium of Light.

"On Sunday, the world will know the North East is back on the map with elite fixtures again," a former player added.