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Family divided over Tyne-Wear derby

Jo LonsdaleNorth East and Cumbria
Kirsty Cummings A selfie of a family of four, with Steven Cummings at the rear wearing the black and white shirt of Newcastle with his arm round his son, who is in a Newcastle strip with Kirsty Cummings at the forefront taking the picture with her daughter, also wearing a Sunderland strip just behind her. Kirsty Cummings
Steven Cummings and son Isaac, four, support Newcastle but wife Kirsty and daughter Olivia, 11, are Sunderland fans

It is one of the fiercest rivalries in football, and on Sunday millions of people will watch the Tyne/Wear derby with an intensity reserved only for that fixture.

So what do you do if the person you fall in love with supports the opposing side?

Kirsty Cummings, 40, from Fishburn in County Durham, cannot remember a time when she did not support Sunderland.

"My dad was a big fan, he took me under his wing and he just got me hooked for life," she says.

A Sunderland season ticket holder, she met husband Steven before realising he supported her team's greatest foe - Newcastle United.

Kirsty Cummings Three people are at a game wearing Sunderland tops with their arms in the air. They all have the word Dad on the back of their tops. Kirsty Cummings
Kirsty Cummings's dad died in 2022 and she says she and her siblings carry him with them into every game

"We met the week before Valentine's Day and he took me out and I remember saying, 'I can't drink too much, I'm off to the game tomorrow', and it was then we realised.

"In truth, it didn't really bother me, he is who he is," she laughs.

Kirsty says the previous fixture between the two teams on 14 December, when Sunderland won 1-0 at the Stadium of Light, was "absolutely amazing".

"To be honest I'd have been happy with a draw, sometimes I still pinch myself that we won."

Kirsty Cummings Kirsty Cummings is standing outside a large stadium with her arms around her daughter. They are both in blue, Sunderland's away strip. Kirsty Cummings
In the Cummings' household, the women support Sunderland and the men Newcastle

Husband Steven, 37, says: "In our house the boys are the Geordies, the girls are the Mackems."

He is confident Newcastle will take the honours at St James' Park.

"All week I've had my wife blasting out all the Sunderland tunes, and trying to get a reaction from us, but I'm quietly confident we can win."

Newcastle and Sunderland meet almost 10 years to the day since the last Premier League Tyne-Wear derby at St James' Park.

But Kirsty says they keep the rivalry light-hearted.

"Mind, when Sunderland lose, I walk through the door and he'll say, 'What was the score today then babe?' And I'll be like, 'Shut up, I'm going to bed'.

"But actually, it's usually more me winding him up than him winding me up," she laughs.

Kick-off at St James' Park is at 12:00 GMT. Live commentary is available on BBC Radio Newcastle, with a Total Sport pre-match special from 10:00 GMT.

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