A video has emerged of a Newcastle fan urinating on a memorial outside the Stadium of Light whilst signing "We hate Sunderland, we hate Sunderland."
The clip emerged on TikTok before being shared by Sunderland fans on Twitter. The video showed the individual urinating on a memorial dedicated to Bob Stokoe outside Sunderland’s stadium.
Stokoe passed away in 2004 after enjoying two spells as manager of Sunderland. He also came through the academy at Newcastle and spent ten years in their senior team, winning the FA Cup with the Magpies in 1955.
The statue of Stokoe, donning a jacket and hat, is situated directly outside the Stadium of Light, though no one appeared to be in the area when the unnamed individual urinated on the memorial.
The person behind the camera appears to say: “You see this, this is Thomas and he’s going to urinate. This is Bob Stokoe. Show them what you’re made of, lad.” The pair then broke into a song about their hate for Newcastle’s rivals, Sunderland.
Both clubs have been contacted over the matter.
Stokoe, who began his career at Newcastle, insisted back in 1999 that he felt he had a good relationship with the Toon Army. "I never received any bad feeling from Newcastle supporters," he said.
"I had done my bit at St James' Park as a player. I played there 14 years and there are not many players who do that. I always wanted to go back there as a manager - I would have loved that."
Stokoe managed Sunderland to FA Cup glory in 1973, the most recent major trophy in their history. The Black Cats, who were in the second tier at the time, were huge outsiders to beat Don Revie's much-feared Leeds side consisting of skipper Billy Bremner and Eddie Gray.
But they managed to pull off a huge upset in front of 100,000 fans at Wembley to win 1-0 thanks to Ian Porterfield's first half strike. Jimmy Montgomery also pulled off one of the competition's most famous saves to deny a Peter Lorimer effort.
Earlier this year, the Sunderland players involved were given the freedom of the city, following on from Stokoe's honorary freedom he received in 1994.
