Former Newcastle United midfielder Lee Clark is part of a rare breed of player who has played for the Magpies and Sunderland, with a slight difference from most.
Both he and Jack Colback have represented the dark side despite being Newcastle United fans, and in Clark's case, it was that affiliation that ended his Sunderland career after being pictured with Newcastle fans down at Wembley wearing an SMB t-shirt.
By his own admission in an interview with The Telegraph, it made it 'impossible' for him to continue at Sunderland. What a shame.
Clark was sold to Fulham before making a return once again to Newcastle.
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Lee Clark wants the Tyne Wear derby back in the Premier League
We're not sure we share the opinions of Mr Lee Clark here
The former England midfielder was speaking to Ally McCoist on TalkSPORT (h/t The Chronicle) about the upcoming Playoff Final in which Sheffield United will take on Sunderland, with Clark saying he'd love Sunderland to win to bring back the derbies next year.
“Do you know what Ally? I’ve said this all the time, and my pals will tell you this, whoever spoke to us, I want Sunderland in the Premier League.
“I want the derby games back. I would love Middlesbrough in the Premier League. I want the North East clubs back. Let’s get North East football back on the map.”
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Can we just play the Mackems in both cups next year?
Again, I'm still on the fence with this one. Derbies will be fun, yes, especially after my Dad told me about a Mackem lad in the pub who plonked £500 down on the table and bet a Newcastle fan they'd take six points off us next season. I do want them to come up just to see him lose £500 (although the Geordie bottled it and didn't take the bed. Howay man, it's free money!).
But honestly, I really can't be dealing with the inevitable social media madness if they win on Saturday. They celebrated like they'd won the Champions League when they scraped past Coventry in the semi-final. COVENTRY!
Can we just rig it so we draw them in both cups?