It has been revealed that Northumbria Police tried to have the Newcastle v Leeds match moved.
The norm is that when Newcastle play at home, Sunderland play away, and vice-versa.
However, for some reason there was an anomaly, Newcastle v Leeds clashing with Sunderland v West Ham.
Northumbria Police admit that they asked for one of the games to be shifted but the two leagues refused.
Used to having the luxury of only looking after only one game on any particular day, the Police say that they can cope but that the situation isn’t ideal.
To make matters worse, the games are scheduled for Saturday 15 April which is Easter Bank Holiday.
No doubt many Leeds fans will intend to make a weekend of it and countless West Ham supporters will be the same – many away fans who come up for games at Sunderland choosing to stay in Newcastle and travel over to the dark place just for the game.
With it being a bank holiday, you can only imagine even more will fancy extending their stay beyond the match(es).
A third strand sees Middlesbrough also at home, with Arsenal the visitors.
With all three away clubs almost certain to sell their full allocations, it will mean around 10,000 away fans heading to the three north east clubs.