Really? Loads I know like beating us more. A City fans said when he went to WHL, all he heard Spurs fans in the pub talking about was beating us!
Imo... The biggest derby in terms of passion in Britain is the Celtic v Rangers one and Sunderland v Newcastle...
It's the NLD I think we want to win most. But beating you is still very sweet, especially important games like our run to CL place a few years ago. Made sweeter as we went years without beating you . Breaking bad runs (like Anfield years ago, and Old Trafford recently) always feel good. But the London thing puts you above all bar Arsenal in our like to beat list.
Bucks Blue, I'm with you on this one. Spurs fans really don't like arsenal but with Chelsea its pure hatred ( from both sides to be fair). Most of the Spurs I go with or know hate Chelsea but dislike Arsenal. I've not missed Chelsea or Arsenal at home or away for the last 14 seasons and I believe the atmosphere etc is far better and more hostile between Spurs & Chelsea than Spurs & Arsenal games. arsenal games weren't the same till recently as a lot of their new fans only knew success and saw us as an easy 3 points. We saw them as the "enemy" but they looked at us as an easy touch. Most gooners saw utd as their main rivals. Over the last 2-3 seasons we have improved and are closing the gap on them which has again provided some needle but not on the scale of a Spurs Chelsea game.
You're only saying that because you've been battered by Arsenal for nearly 20 season, with the odd result recently. So I can see why the NLD has lost some of it's gloss for spurs fans
Piskie, We weren't battered every game for 20 years, although there were too many spankings handed to us on the pitch in that time! The NLD lost some gloss as we saw you lot as rivals in that time but a lot of gooners saw us as an easy 3 points and not as rivals. As I said earlier, over the last few seasons we have improved and are closing the gap and the needle is coming back. But the Chelsea games have more hatred involved due to off the field incidents such as parsons green, Victoria, ruislip and many other occasions. With arsenal these incidents don't happen as often , thankfully.
The whole history of Arsenal is the issue for Spurs fans. It's mostly ancient history but that is never going to be forgotten unless justice is finally done for 1919 and Arsenal get relegated on non-football grounds. That makes the rivalry particularly fierce. Chelsea, on the other hand, were a fairly insignificant club from a different part of London until Abramovich appeared on the scene. It's a pain that they have done so well but I've no reason to have strong feelings about them one way or the other.
I grew up in London in the 80's and 90's so I know all about the firms I have to agree, I too am thankful that the rivalry between Arsenal and Spurs firms never got as bad as between Chelsea and Spurs (and West Ham and Millwall too)
For 2 clubs with an intense rivalry, the violence has tapered off over the last 15 years or so (maybe longer), although there's still some who go looking for it, it's on a much smaller scale these days!!
That was when we were playing you at the end of the season i think...i don't get the same sense of dread playing you lot...i can cope losing to you but not to the goons
There hasn't really been any significant hooliganism thankfully for 20+ years now at London grounds, but the firms at Arsenal and Spurs never really saw each other as their direct rivals. Chelsea, West Ham and Millwall always targeted Spurs and the trouble was usually concentrated there. Notwithstanding the obvious rivalry with some of the Northern clubs firms.
On the pitch Arsenal v Spurs will always be the biggest London game partly because its contested by two of London's biggest clubs regularly. Prior to the 60s you probably wouldn't have found a Chelsea fan remotely interested in Spurs or vice versa, back then it was Arsenal everybody pined for as they were by far and away London's most successful club at the time. For reasons already stated, Spurs v Chelsea got bigger and will continue to do so but it won't ever usurp the NLD. Football rivalry nowadays is too fragmented, it's not as black and white as it once was. Most of my Arsenal mates/family hate Chelsea most of all and don't mind Spurs. Conversely a lot of my Chelsea mates hate United/Liverpool most and don't mind Arsenal/West Ham. You tend to find similar patterns with Arsenal/Chelsea/United/Liverpool that have undergone huge change and transition in fanbase since Sky got involved, not to mention all 4 clubs have become far bigger since then and often pitted their wits against each other for major trophies.
