'So out of touch' - Sunderland fans blast club over Black Cats Bar controversy ahead of Newcastle United game

It has been a controversial evening on the Sunderland social media sphere ahead of this Saturday's derby against Newcastle United in the FA Cup.

On Thursday, images began to circle on Twitter and Facebook depicting a revamped Black Cats Bar ahead of the Wear-Tyne derby at the Stadium of Light - with Sunderland's signage and colours removed and replaced with the black and white of Newcastle United.

Sunderland have sold a hospitality package to Newcastle United supporters as part of their allocation of around 6,000 tickets for the game, with the Black Cats bar sitting between the North Stand Upper and Lower, which will also be filled with visiting fans.

The Echo was able to confirm the legitimacy of the images with thousands of fans then taking to social media to voice their opinions on the decision to let their arch-rivals redecorate a portion of their home stadium.

The Echo also sent a series of questions regarding the decision this afternoon, prior to the statement being released this evening.

Later on Thursday evening, the club issued a public apology for the rebranding of the Black Cats Bar, which you can read in full here. The bar has now been returned to its original state, with the club admitting a 'serious error in judgement' was made.

But what have angry fans been saying about the events as they unfolded? The Echo reached out to Sunderland supporters on social media for their thoughts and this is what they said:

Leon Flint said: "I’ve always stuck up for the owners but this has shown exactly what they think of us and what their priorities are."

Adam Guest added: "I'm pleased they've admitted the club is at fault for this and not tried to blame a third party. also pleased they're investigating how it happened. Somebody, somewhere, has been incompetent."

Andy said: "This is a necessary step and the easy bit. What happens internally is the next step, I guess we need to see what happens. Nothing doesn't appear an option. BCB is disgraceful, but only part of what has been appalling operations and event management."

Twitter user Stripey said: "They’ve lost the fans they still had inside now I’d imagine, absolutely ridiculous. They either don’t know how big Saturday is or they don’t care man. Back them all the time but not after this one. The players don’t deserve us not to be behind them though."

Phil Ellerington added: "Got caught end of the day! No other previous owner would have given this a second thought!"

Martyn said: "Quite frankly, I do not believe that nobody from the ownership group and/or board of directors knew about this until this afternoon."

Alfie Bolding replied: "So they’re saying they made a mistake and then also saying they don’t know how it happened? Make it make sense."