It doesn’t help Steve Bruce that North East rivalries are far more tribal in nature than when Mickley-born Bob Stokoe lifted the FA Cup with Sunderland, argues James Hunter

OUTSIDE the Stadium of Light stands a statue of Sunderland’s revered FA Cup-winning manager Bob Stokoe.

Wearing tracksuit, trenchcoat and trilby, arms aloft in triumph, Stokoe is forever freeze-framed in his famous full-time dash across the Wembley turf following Sunderland’s 1973 victory over the then-mighty Leeds United.

Stokoe remains the last Sunderland manager to win a major trophy. And certainly he is the only Geordie ever to have a statue raised in his honour outside Sunderland’s footballing home.

Born deep in black-and-white territory in Mickley, Northumberland, Stokoe was a Newcastle United fanatic who won the FA Cup as a player with the Magpies in 1955.

As a manager, he crossed the divide to take charge at Sunderland and earn his place in Wearside footballing folklore. Nearly 40 years on, football in the North East is far more tribal than it ever was in Stokoe’s era. The days in which fans used to watch whichever side was at home on any give weekend, turning up at St James’ Park one weekend and Roker Park the next, are long gone.

The more polarised the rivalry has become, the slimmer the chance of a manager from ‘the wrong side of the Tyne’ succeeding at Sunderland – or at Newcastle, for that matter.

As Steve Bruce discovered during Sunderland’s defeat to Wigan, heritage is an easy stick with which to beat a manager in times of trouble.

Disaffected chants of ‘Bruce out’ gave way to altogether more personal attacks centring on the manager’s birthplace, waistline and parentage.

No matter that Bruce had left the North East at 16 and spent two thirds of his life away from the region, twice turning down the chance to take over at Newcastle, before returning two-and-a-half years ago to be appointed Sunderland manager.

He has never made any attempt to play down his roots and accepted that, if results went for him, his birthplace wouldn’t matter but if they went against him, the Geordie tag would quickly resurface. And he was right about the latter. The fans’ hostile reaction towards their manager is bound to have shocked owner Ellis Short, who was watching from the directors’ box on Saturday.