With Sunderland having been relegated to the third tier of English football in 2018, they became eligible for the EFL Trophy, which also included underage teams of Premier League clubs such as Newcastle. Sunderland's first team met Newcastle's Under-21s in the 2018–19 competition, winning 4–0;[25] due to the local interest this match attracted a crowd of over 16,000, far above the average for the competition, but is not counted towards statistics relating to the derby (Sunderland went on to reach the final but lost to Portsmouth on penalties.)