Records Don't Mean Anything in a Derby Game
When I think of rivalries in football, I think of fans and players who hate each other. It's a must win game to gain bragging rights against the other team, at least until the next time you play them. Specifically, when I think of British rivalries in football I think: Celtic - Rangers, Man United - Liverpool, Man United - Arsenal, Man United - Leeds or Newcastle United - Sunderland. Yeah, lots of teams hate Man United.
What really makes a rivalry or a derby?
The first reason I think is location. Maybe it could be the same city or county in the UK. If this is the case there are so many rivalries in British football. There are lots of multiple football team cities in the UK. Some are geographically closer than others. London has quite a few teams in the English Football League. I think as there are so many teams in one city, its slightly weakens some London derby games. I said some....
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West Ham United - Millwall.
They've made movies about this rivalry. Both from the East End of London, this also fits the pattern of rivalries being made because of location and close proximity. When this rivalry started in 1899, the two clubs were only 3 miles (4.8km) apart. Back then they were known as Millwall Athletic and Thames Ironworks. They would fight over attracting the local players to sign for their club and got in each others way of doing so. The violence of both fans has attracted story lines of books and movies such as "Green Street."
London Derbies
As most rivalries start because there are more than one team in the city; and there are quite a few professional team in the EFL; for London the derby name is a bit more specific. For example, The West London derby between either Chelsea, Fulham Queens Parks Ranger or Brentford. The South London Derby between Crystal Palace and Charlton. Or even The North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs.
When you think of football derbies in London this one of the first ones I think of is The Gunners v Spurs. The rivalry started in 1913 when Arsenal moved to Highbury in North London just 4 miles from Tottenham's White Hart Lane. Since 1950, these two teams have been in the same league every year but 1, (1977/78) the highest of any rivalry in the country.
Some rivalries maybe be situated in London but are not from the same area of London. The reason for this rivalry could be because of location yet I think it was intensifies because of recent games. Well, the hostility of recent games. The Battle of the Bridge. No, not the actual battle. The 2016 game between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspurs. As Spurs were actually challenging for the title that season and Chelsea were in bad form that saw Jose Mourinho lose his job, this some how became one of the feist games in Premier League history. The players were basically attacking each other left, right and centre, resulting in Spurs receiving 9 yellow cards, Chelsea receiving 3, Mousa Dembele was given a 6 match ban and both sides were finned by the FA for failing to control their players.
Some derbies are fierce and some are a bit more mellow. I've always seen Chelsea v Fulham as quite a mellow derby. Maybe because it's located in West London which can be a bit of a nicer part of the city. Then whenever you watch a game at Stamford Bridge or The Cottage the fans are rather quiet throughout the game. Some games at Stamford Bridge remind me of Covid times when no fans were allowed into the stadium and you could hear the players and managers talking on the pitch.
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Multi-team Cities
Another City with more than 2 teams in it is Birmingham. Whether it's Birmingham City themselves or; Aston Villa, Wolves or West Bromwich Albion. The Black Country derbies are usually fierce. For me, the one that tops the list is Birmingham City against Aston Villa. The Second City derby is only separated by 2.2 miles. The fans are wild and clearly hate each other. The games become all about pride, even though they haven't been in the same league as each other for a while.
The Merseyside Derby use to be seen as something slightly different. I can remember watching their games on the TV and seeing the fans all mixed in together. As the city is quite unique compared to the rest of the big cities in the UK, scousers all seem to come together more than other local cities. It would be great to see that happen again in the Premier League yet maybe the way safety goes now a days, it won't happen again. I think it is one of the biggest derbies in the UK in terms of both clubs sizes in one city. They are both well in the top 10 of biggest clubs in the country and I don't think any other city has two teams as big as Liverpool and Everton. Some might say Manchester, yet the fans of both Manchester clubs are either tourists or plastic fans that wish they were arm chair fans.
Across the Boarder - Inter-City Rivals
The Roses Derby is also because of location yet it is slightly different. Leeds and Manchester lie around 40 miles apart geographically. One in Yorkshire and one in Lancashire they are divided into North East and North West by The Pennines. This derby has a very nasty and harsh tone to it. There is a bitterness to the rivalry that also included a war; The War of the Roses; back in 1471. Both teams have directly challenged each other for titles and trophies since the 1960's and both have come out on top in their time. As there is location, challenging for titles and war included as factors this is one of the strongest rivalries in the country.
Even further into the North East lies two sleeping giants. Newcastle and Sunderland are both one team cities. Up there football is treated as a religion, or even a way of life. Both sets of fans are rowdy and up for every game. The passion is off the scale compared to other fans and they're not scared to show it. The Tyne-Wear Derby is two teams who are just 12 miles apart even though they are located in different cities. The Tyneside is how to fans who are up there on being the best fans in the country and I think it comes down to being one team cities, similarly to Leeds. The games between The Toon and The Mack'ems has one of the closest records in all rivalries across the UK. In 157 competitive games it is 54-53 in favour of Newcastle with 50 draws.
The biggest rivalry in English football is located in the North West of the country. These two teams are the two biggest teams in the country and have won the most league titles. Their accolades are a list as long as your arm. I'm not here to write about what teams have won, I want to talk about what makes the rivalries. Liverpool and Manchester United have been battling for league titles and cups almost since football began. Not many people alive today haven't seen either Liverpool or Man Utd win a trophy. Both have had significant dominance domestically and in Europe. More recently they haven't challenged each other for a title, it has been on or the other. This recent dip from either team doesn't take away from what these two teams have done in English football history. Even though both teams have big noisy neighbours they would both still list this as their biggest rivalry over their local rivals.
Player Rivalries
Keane v Vieira. Do I need to say much more? Roy Keane of Manchester United against Patrick Vieira of Arsenal. Just thinking back to the tunnel incident at Highbury in 2005. They were both the captains and leaders of their team challenging for the title. For a few seasons this will have been the biggest rivalry in the country and made even more tasty because of these two gladiators. You knew everything was left out on the field when they played against each other and what made it more was they were directly against each other on the field, both playing centre midfield for their respective team.
There are a few player rivalries that have come about because of certain incidents are maybe not the same as Keane v Vieira who went to battle together. For example, Luis Suarez v Patrice Evra or John Terry v Anton Ferdinand. Most people who know about football have heard these instances. There is also examples such as Kevin De Bruyne v Thibaut Courtois and John Terry and Wayne Bridge. Things sometimes happen away from the game that can cause a falling out and a rivalry spawns.
The most recent player rivalry that I can think of that is a similar bout to the Keane and Vieira saga is Gabriel of Arsenal and Erling Haaland of Manchester City. You have a centre back up against a centre forward so they are matched up on the pitch. For the past few seasons Arsenal have been challenging Manchester City for the Premier League title. Some seasons you can't really call it challenging with the numbers that City produce by the end of the season yet The Gunners have been either the best of the rest, or in and about challenging for three quarters of the season. You can see the whole Arsenal squad a desperate to win the league over city and I think that these two players are the ones to start showing a grit between the two clubs. You have Mikel Arteta as Pep Guardiola's understudy; almost like his apprentice and the apprentice now thinks he should be the boss.
Back to Gabriel and Haaland. In the past few seasons, the two players have had some real battles against each other. Scrapping with each other throughout the games, trying their best to win their personal battles to help their team over the line. Some fans may think that it can step over the line at time, yet personally I think it is exactly what the game needs. You're going to war and in war there are no rules. Any slight up you can get on your opponent do it and they both seem to do it. Sometimes it can look slightly unclassy yet who really cares if you've got the bragging rights in that moment.
The Old Firm
This one gets a section for it's self. For me it is the biggest football rivalry in the UK. I don't care about the standard of football in the Scottish leagues compared to the EFL. This is one of those games that everyone wants to witness at least once in their lives. Whether it's at the Ibrox and Celtic Park, it's one of those games you just have to go to to witness the atmosphere of the fans. This rivalry can be so strong that the clubs fear releasing tickets to away fans and have played games in the past with only home fans in the stadium.
Both teams are the top 2 biggest teams in Scotland making it not just the location in the city of Glasgow, but also the amount of times they have challenged for cups and titles. The last time a non old firm team won the Scottish Championship title was Aberdeen in 1985.
Another factor that makes this rivalry so strong is that; just like The Tyne-wear derby, it is a way of life; the choice of team in Glasgow also comes down to religion. Glasgow is separated in a similar way to The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Glasgow Rangers are known for traditionally having a large support base from the Protestant community. This would be emphasised by only signing players of a similar faith. On the other hand, Glasgow Celtic were based in the Catholic side of the city and would have just as strict rules. It became strongly known for certain schools that were Catholic would have no Rangers fans and visa versa for Protestant schools. This started as in the beginning Rangers fans are Native Scots and Celtic's origin was created by Roman Catholic Irish-Scots. Everything around the teams were set up this way, from the colours, emblems and style of life. These things also included what flags you were likely to see being branded by both sets of fans. Celtic fans are more likely to wave the tri-colour Irish flag and Rangers fans are more likely to brandish the Union Jack.
This has boiled over and throughout the years hasn't simmered down at all. On the pitch and off the pitch it is fierce, nasty and violent; and it's not going to change.
With the growth of the Old Firm rivalry over the years, do you think you can compare this rivalry to the Liverpool - Manchester United rivalry?
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