When fans hear the term ‘rivalry’, they usually think of the closest club in terms of geographical location. For most clubs, this is true, but sometimes rivalries are created from wider issues such as religion, culture, politics, history – the list goes on! Some rivalries came about because of incidents on the pitch/touchline from either individual players or managers of the past – just ask Frank Rijkaard and Rudi Voller after their, ahem, spat at Italia 90.
Here, Sport360 looks at the fiercest rivalries in British football.
11) SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY vs SHEFFIELD UNITED
The two clubs haven’t played in the top-flight of English football simultaneously since the 1993-94 season, but the Steel City derby is still considered as one of the most hotly contested games outside of the English Premier League.
One of the most infamous meetings between the two Sheffield clubs was on December 26 1979. This game would go down in history as the ‘Boxing Day Massacre’ – a day that was plagued with irrational hatred, blood, guts, and police brutality.
The Sheffield derby hasn’t taken place since 2012 because of United’s relegation to League One – let’s hope the Blades can claw their way back up to the Championship as soon as possible for some more feisty affairs!
10) LINFIELD vs GLENTORAN F.C.
Known as Belfast’s Big Two or the Belfast derby, this is the meeting of Northern Ireland’s most supported and successful football clubs. Due to the NIFL Premiership format, the two teams meet at least three times a season, with the second meeting traditionally being played on Boxing Day.
Although both teams are predominately Protestant, Glentoran found the allegiance of Belfast Celtic supporters after the Irish nationalist club folded in 1949. Pre-1980s, Linfield controversially – and some have argued deliberately – fielded few Catholic players and have since been stigmatised as being a club that hold an anti-Catholicism policy.
Crowd violence has afflicted many games of the past due to the political unrest between both Linfield and Glentoran supporters.
9) NOTTINGHAM FOREST vs DERBY COUNTY
Games between East Midlands rivals Derby County and Nottingham Forest have always been considered events of high-animosity with red cards, fines and multiple match bans never being too far away.
The winner of the fixture is awarded the Brian Clough Trophy, in memory of the late Brian Clough, who is highly regarded at both clubs after bringing great success to Derby as manager between 1967 to 1973 and then to Forest when at the helm between 1975 to 1993. Supporters and commentators alike have described the rivalry to be as much about which club owns Brian Clough’s approval rather than down to the clubs’ geographical locations.
Both teams currently reside in the Championship and out of the 11 previous meetings, Forest have won three compared to the Rams’ six, including a 5-0 thumping on March 22 , 2014 when Derby’s Craig Bryson scored a hat-trick – the first treble scored in the fixture for 116 years.
8) PORTSMOUTH vs SOUTHAMPTON
The South Coast derby is the biggest rivalry in the UK south of London. Only 17 miles separate Southampton and Portsmouth, with both cities rich in port history and non-existent neighbourly goodwill.
The two clubs have rarely shared the same division and compared to other local fixtures, the Hampshire clubs rarely meet, but that’s not stopped both sets of fans giving each other pet-names with Saints fans calling their rivals ‘skates’ and the opposition Pompey faithful replying with ‘scum’.
Harry Redknapp, a man with vast footballing experience, which includes managing both clubs said of the rivalry: “The fans genuinely hate each other. It’s a strange hatred and I haven’t known another like it.”
7) ASTON VILLA vs BIRMINGHAM CITY
The ‘Second City’ derby is between West Midlands rivals Aston Villa and Birmingham City. Other rivals in the area include Walsall, West Bromwich Albion, and Wolverhampton Wanderers, but Villa and the Blues regard each other as their biggest foe.
Leading up to the year 2000, Blues fans probably felt as though they were the second city’s second team after Aston Villa’s European Cup triumph in 1982 and their consistent presence in the Premier League since 1992.
But in 2002, that was all to change when Birmingham were promoted back to the top flight and dismantled Villa 3-0 at St Andrews – the first league fixture between the two teams in 15 years in a game that was marred for Villa fans because of the ‘Enckelman slip’, an embarrassing error by their goalkeeper.
As of December 2016, Birmingham and Villa find themselves in the Championship, a division both clubs have rarely been at odds in – in fact, only nine of the 111 league meetings between the two sides have taken place in English football’s second tier with the remaining 102 taking place in England’s top flight.
6) CARDIFF CITY vs SWANSEA CITY
The South Wales derby, or simply the Welsh derby, is the meeting between Wales’ biggest football teams Cardiff City and Swansea City, who both play in the English football system. Although the tie has mostly been played in the lower leagues, it’s a fixture that has produced some of the most violent scenes of football hooliganism in UK history – most notably from Cardiff’s end.
The most infamous incident occurred during a 1988 post-match clash on Swansea beach, resulting in some Cardiff fans retreating into the sea – sparking the famous Swansea taunt: “Swim away.”
Cardiff joined their Welsh neighbours in the 2013-14 Premier League season to play the first-ever game between the two Welsh heavyweights in England’s top flight. Cardiff won the first encounter 1-0, but it would be Swansea who had the last laugh after watching their rivals’ relegation, but not before winning the reverse fixture 3-0 – a game in which Swansea’s Jonjo Shelvey performed the ‘swim away’ gesture to Cardiff fans.
5) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR vs ARSENAL
The North London derby is when old foes Arsenal and Spurs meet; a colossal game between two of the capital’s footballing giants. As of the beginning of 2017, Arsenal have largely dominated this rivalry since the turn of the millennium, but Spurs have fared better recently, and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has yet to lose a derby in the Premier League.
Outside of the league and as recent as 1991, the two London clubs have contested the FA Cup semi-final three times. In 1991, Spurs progressed and eventually beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 in the final, but it would be the Gunners who would have the last laugh and win the other two semis. Firstly in 1993, after Tony Adams’ only goal of the game provided Arsenal with a final against Sheffield Wednesday, and secondly in 2001 – when French-duo Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires scored in reply to Gary Doherty’s strike on 14 minutes.
The Gunners won the 1993 final, but would lose to Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium in 2001.
4) LIVERPOOL V EVERTON
The Merseyside derby is the longest running in England’s top-flight and the fact that both clubs are less than a mile apart makes it even more impressive.
Pre-mid- 1980s, the derby was known as a friendly affair as games between the sides did not enforce segregation. However, since then, the rivalry between the Reds and Blues has intensified and since the Premier League’s 1992 inception, it has become an explosive fixture that has produced more red cards than any other.
As of the end of 2016, there have been 227 meetings between the sides with the red side of Merseyside only losing three of the last 33 fixtures. They recently won the latest fixture on December 19 with a dramatic last-minute winner from Senegalese winger, Sadio Mané.
3) NEWCASTLE UNITED vs SUNDERLAND A.F.C
The Tyne-Wear derby is a game every football fan – no matter what allegiance – looks forward to. It’s a fixture that is a magnet for controversy and never short of drama and provides a rivalry built on feuds that stretch all the way back to the English Civil War. During that era, Sunderland became a Parliamentary stronghold to oppose declaration advantages that were given toCavaliers in Newcastle during the era of King Charles I.
Fast-forward to modern times, in the 1996-97 season Newcastle fans were told they were banned from attending the game at Sunderland’s aging Roker Park because of safety and security reasons. The decision caused outrage and led to the first and only joining together of both sets of supporters, who formed the Wear United pressure group.
2) LIVERPOOL vs MANCHESTER UNITED
This fixture is the biggest game in Premier League history and one of the world’s biggest games in terms of revenue and global support. It’s an inter-regional rivalry that sees the two most successful teams in England – the clubs share 122 major trophies between them – battle it out for North-West bragging rights.
35 miles separate Manchester and Liverpool and since the industrial revolution, rivalry has been a constant theme between the cities, most notably near the end of the 19th Century when Manchester merchants funded the construction of the city’s ship canal allowing goods into the mainland quicker – a critical blow to Liverpool’s economy, trade, and historic sea port.
Although both clubs can claim historical supremacy, all of Liverpool’s league titles [18] were won pre-1992, a fact with which fans of Manchester United, who have won the Premier League 13 times, regularly taunt the Merseyside Reds.
Interestingly, the two clubs share a very similar history in terms of success, following, footballing disasters (Munich 1958; Heysel 1985, Hillsborough 1989), stadia; and the fact both sets of fans considering their rivalry with each other above their local competitors, Everton and Manchester City.
1) CELTIC V RANGERS F.C.
On the day of an Old Firm derby, ties and friendships of every Glaswegian are cut for 90 minutes. It is a rivalry that is deeply imbedded in British culture with even many English admitting it’s a game that trumps anything below the Anglo-Scottish border.
In a book by Richard Wilson, The Old Firm, he states the Glasgow divide derives from a mix of religion and economics. In short, the Catholic underclass of Glasgow, who migrated from Ireland, were provided no financial aid from West Scotland’s Protestant establishment, which would later produce Rangers.
The fixture is one that is estimated to be worth well over £140million (Dhs635m) to the Scottish economy and has contributed to social, political, and of course, religious division.
On September 10, 2016, Celtic recorded one of their biggest ever wins over Rangers – beating them 5-1 after the Gers had witnessed a dismal four years climbing the Scottish football leagues because of insolvency.
