The rivalries in England

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Bucks Blue

Bucks Blue

Well-Known Member
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Mar 14, 2011
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Just outside High Wycombe
In England there are many rivalries amongst many cities throughout many divisions. In Birmingham you have Villa, WBA, Wolves, Stoke (kind of) and Birmingham where there are some fierce rivalries.

In London there is Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal, West Ham, Millwall, QPR and Fulham (plus some other lower league teams). The trio of Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs have a really fierce rivalry as does the West Ham v Millwall game.

In the Lancashire/Cheshire area you have Man Utd and Man City, Everton, Liverpool, Bolton, Blackburn and Wigan (and then Burnley, Blackpool and others). Obviously in the cities of Manchester and Liverpool there are the obvious respective rivalries whilst with the teams on the outskirts of Manchester, the rivalries are less strong.

There are then the matches between Newcastle and Sunderland in the North East, the South Coast derby between the Saints and Pompey, the Norwich against Ipswich, the battles between the Sheffield clubs and then the Swansea vs Cardiff games (as well as many others have missed)

But which area do you think has the most fierce rivalries?
Which match is the biggest of them all?
And which do you think is the biggest rivalry from a supporters point of view?

As a Chelsea fan I would say that in London, there are some great battles. The trio of us, Spurs and Arsenal all have huge games where the atmosphere is incredible against each other. hus I think London is the area with the most amount and fiercest rivalries in general.
However I think the biggest is the Manchester derby. It has always been huge but even moreso nowadays as City become a force in the league.
For the fans I would say the Newcastle vs Sunderland game is massive for the supporters. Seeing videos and being told stories from mates, it matters so much in the North East especially as there aren't that many teams up there!
 
Every person would say their derby is the biggest.

I'd say there are about 4 big clubs in London, 4 in the North West, 2 in the North East, 3 in the East Midlands, 4 in the West Midlands but often other clubs derbies get overlooked.

The atmosphere at games between West Ham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs is just brilliant but with the other London clubs it just has that "any other game" feel to it so I don't think they are real derbies in the true sense of the word.

I don't think any of the games between the Top 6 are the biggest derbies because they are two affected by Sky and league position.

I remember a time where a United fan outside Manchester didn't even know City existed never mind be their biggest rival.

Equally I remember a time where every Arsenal fan would have said unanimously that United were their biggest rivals, same with United re: Liverpool and Liverpool re: United so that's about 4 derbies chalked off for me.

I'd say the North East Derby is the biggest, followed by Sheffield Derby and then possibly Brum Derby.

The North East Derby pulls in 100,000 for both games. They are absolutely sell outs, two clubs that hate each other and view each other as their biggest rivals and ALWAYS have done. It also affects attendances as well and job position. When one loses the derby attendances often drop and the manager tends not to last long. Affects mood of the entire club. Unlike the others there are no other clubs near them. It's all working class as well and the clubs are close to the communities. I don't get the same feeling with many big city clubs.
 
SW6 - Home Of The Double said:
Newcastle and Sunderland is the fiercest I've seen.
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Same. I remember talking to a Geordie on the train and she was a ST at Newcastle and she gave me directions but was not for one minute able to hide her hatred for Sunderland and Mackems in general. That derby for me is by far and away the biggest and much bigger than North London Derby or Manchester Derby which are pretty much Sky manufactured IMO
 
District Line said:
Same. I remember talking to a Geordie on the train and she was a ST at Newcastle and she gave me directions but was not for one minute able to hide her hatred for Sunderland and Mackems in general. That derby for me is by far and away the biggest and much bigger than North London Derby or Manchester Derby which are pretty much Sky manufactured IMO
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<ok>

Been to Sid James Park and the Stadium of ****e for the respective games...the atmosphere is unbelievable.

I am told that it is only topped by the old firm games, but we won't be getting to many of them going forward!
 
Newcastle v Sunderland always seems to be a death struggle! I know we are recently adopting an anti against the Spuds but in all seriousness we do not have any historic aggro with London clubs! The only team that I have had a big negative about in the past is Leeds Utd, but I think thats over now. We haven't had a serious game with them for so long now--its probably better to forgive and forget!
 
With out considering league position and the importance of results I think I get more pleasure out of seeing us beat Liverpool rather than City.

Derbies are massive everywhere no one is more important than another to the fans and the bragging rights that come with them.
 
CPofL said:
Did you not see the title Drogs?
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oops <doh>

In that case, Liverpool v United has to be up there. I know Sky arselick it but the hatred some Liverpool fans have for United and vice versa is unreal.
 
west ham v millwall when it occasionally comes around is always a naughty london derby, on and off the pitch
 
Drogs said:
oops <doh>

In that case, Liverpool v United has to be up there. I know Sky arselick it but the hatred some Liverpool fans have for United and vice versa is unreal.
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Sky manufactured derby for viewers.

The rivalry is more off the pitch and to do with the Canals than anything to do with football
 
Style said:
With out considering league position and the importance of results I think I get more pleasure out of seeing us beat Liverpool rather than City.

Derbies are massive everywhere no one is more important than another to the fans and the bragging rights that come with them.
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Liverpool against Man Utd is always a huge game but do most United fans consider it greater than the Manchester derby? I feel the North East derby is by far the fiercest of the lot.
 
The worst (as in "most unhealthy") rivalry I came across was that between United and Leeds. I knew of a Leeds supporter who got done for arson, for setting fire to a United supporters' coach. Fortunately, no one was on it at the time.

The most exciting derby of recent times, in my opinion, has been the North London derby, because so little has separated us and the Goons for a quite a few seasons, now. However, I expect the Manc derby to overtake every other derby on the planet, for the next few seasons, with United ever increasingly becoming the underdogs.

I know the Mousers like to think that the United v 'Pool match is the biggest match on the planet, but 'Pool have been in United's shadow for so long, now, that that match bores me to tears.
 
If its most exciting NLD wins hands down, maybe it's because neither can defend and both are attack minded but I've never seen a boring NLD, even a 0-0 draw between them has been exciting.

Merseyside Derby is by far the worst for entertainment. Always boring and dull affairs marred by red cards and awful refereeing in Liverpools favour. Outside the Tyne-Wear Derby I'm not a fan of Northern Derbies in general though. Only the Manchester and Sheffield Derbies carry any weight
 
The Chelsea v Spurs derby, whilst not viewed by us Spurs fans as more important than the NLD, nonetheless tends to be a splendid contest. Regardless as to how far above us in the league you boys have been, we've always managed to give you a good game, and always going out to attack you with flair and pace. It's always made for a very good game. What makes it doubly entertaining is the fact that there isn't the same depth of rivalry between us, as there is between us and Arsenal. With the NLD, I find it very difficult to enjoy the game, but I never seem to have that problem watching the Chelsea game.
 
District Line said:
If its most exciting NLD wins hands down, maybe it's because neither can defend and both are attack minded but I've never seen a boring NLD, even a 0-0 draw between them has been exciting.

Merseyside Derby is by far the worst for entertainment. Always boring and dull affairs marred by red cards and awful refereeing in Liverpools favour. Outside the Tyne-Wear Derby I'm not a fan of Northern Derbies in general though. Only the Manchester and Sheffield Derbies carry any weight
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Been to a few Sheffield derbies DL. The original ooh-ahh (Bob booker) is a great mate and spent many a good time in Sheffield with him at United and can honestly say the atmosphere at those matches is fantastic.
 
Bristol City v Bristol Rovers is a pretty good derby - however there are 2 leagues between us so unlikely to happen in a competitve game for a while.
The Bristol City v Cardiff (only 40-ish miles apart) games are very competitive - England v Wales etc
"Should have built a wall not a bridge"!!
 
I think the big cities are where you find the most rivalry. When there's a broad mixing of fans, there's gonna be a daily battle in the playgrounds, workplaces and pubs, and the desire for oneupmanship's bound to be immense. So in that category, you have the intra-city rivalries like Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Newcastle-Sunderland (big overlap between cities and fanbases), Bristol, Sheffield, West/South/North London etc.

But I think the fiercest rivalry is bred from a hatred which transcends the confines of geography. Millwall's fanbase is in Kent, West Ham's is in Essex, yet they still hate each other like they're original EastEnders and that's a more explosive rivalry than any of the more footballing London ones among the bigger clubs. Likewise Leeds when we play Man U and Millwall, and even Chelsea in the past. Man U-Liverpool. Palace-Brighton. Cardiff-Swansea/Bristol/Leeds. It's like it would have been easier to just drop those rivalries, but the hatred has prevailed so much that it became impossible to keep rivalries local.

Of course then you have cute little small-town rivalries like Norwich-Ipswich, Doncaster-Rotherham, Oxford-Swindon, Forest-Derby and Pompey-Southampton. But they don't really make a mark.

So in response to the original question, it depends how you judge it really. If you mix 'most' (and factor in overlap of fans, how close they compete in the division, how fierce the actual games are) and 'fierce' (atmosphere and antics off the pitch), I don't really know which game takes it. I agree that Man U vs Man City will overtake Liverpool as Sky's preferred 'all-time greatest rivalry' when the Orwellian producers get their memory-rewriting Men In Black pens out, though.
 
Most of the violent hatred has nothing at all to do with football, but has its roots in other historic events, most of which has undoubtedly been forgotten by the thugs who actively engage in that hatred and violence.

The vast majority of football rivalries is healthy, and an acceptable part of the entertainment factor that draws us all to this sport.
 
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