[Archived] Best Rivalry in English Foootball

[Philly13]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Toronto+manager+Ryan+Nelsen+recalls+BlackburnBurnley+hatred/8284324/story.html

I saw this and it made me think, what do you all think is the best in England? Obviously, not being from England, I can't see the passion up close so I really can't know as well as natives.

[ABBEY]

theres only one...all others are frauds.

[Mike E]

What a daft question. It's OBVIOUSLY Chorley vs Darwen.....

[hi-jaq]

A lot of so called "local derbies" in the UK are either over-hyped or played too regularly to be seriously intense.

Ours is different, I live half way between Blackburn and Burnley, and I'm surrounded by both sets of fans. During the season there is the normal banter and whatever, but when it comes to derby week, things just change, and you can see the tension in peoples faces.

We don't get much press coverage regarding our derby so it goes under the radar which is brilliant, because only those who go to the games know what they are like and the atmosphere inside the stadium is always immense.

I never went this year, but the last time we played them in the Premier League, you could hear the crowd singing from miles away about an hour before kick off and both sets of fans we going at it for the whole match and then some more afterwards.

We don't play eachother all too regularly so when we do meet, it's always an occasion. Add to that the fact that they haven't beaten us for 34 years, and no matter what they do, and how close they come, we always get the slice of luck to rub their faces in it (like David Dunn's 2 minutes over the allotted injury time offside equaliser in the last game, and Martin Olsson's dive at Turf Moor a few years back), and we make sure that they know it!!!

[ABBEY]

i have a dingle neighbour and i grew my hair and in dingle week his wife offered to cut my hair ,shes a hairdresser. I said if you think im letting a dingles wife loose on my napper a couple of days before we extend the streak she was one off ha.

[Rover_Shaun]

All rivalries are big to those who are involved. Looking from the outside we would say ours is bigger than the Tyne-Wier, Glasgee, Liverpool, Liverpool-Man U derbies etc etc because we are detached from the others

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

In terms of the level of animosity I do think ours is more intense than most. I think thats down to a number of factors:

1. How rarely its played.

2. How one-sided its been for a long time.

3. Burnley have more than their fair share of hooligans.

4. The 8-mile gap is in my opinion pretty much the perfect distance for encouraging hostility. A good percentage of each club's support don't encouter the opposition on a day-to-day basis so for many the edges haven't been smoothed over. And yet its not too far away that either set of supporters can ever forget or ignore the other.

On the other hand personally I don't think it rivals Rangers and Celtic, sectarian/religious violence is always the most heated kind.

[tomphil]

It's the most intense small town derby in England and one of the oldest that's for sure although the authorities and the clubs themselves seem intent on killing that off. There are some feirce rivalries in the UK obviously and a lot of lower league ones that go under the raydar but like has been said this one is just the right size and has all the ingredients for various reasons to be one of the best. Not the biggest because of the towns etc but if Blackburn & Burnley where the size of clubs that Newcastle/Sunderland are or the towns were the size and type of cities like Cardiff/Swansea then this would be far and away the biggest i reckon, probably unplayable

[Salgado Is A Hero]

It's arguably one of the most heated in England for sure.

But no derby in England matches some foreign ones that are based on religion, social class and things like that.

We're just a geographical derby.

[matt83]

Derby days are unique and in last 34 years great for us but in my opinion there are relatively few teams in the uk that have games I would consider a "proper" derby game. For me:

1-clubs need to be in different towns so you can despise everything about their town and they yours. Having been a few times the Merseyside derby its a good example as it becomes like a wired Scouse love in rather than hatred. Rangers and Celtic hatred bucks this obviously but comes from religious areas.

2-I think clubs need to both hate each other equally. Eg man city may hate Man U but frankly man Utd biggest game is against Liverpool therefore not the best derby. Same for leeds vs man u. Then there are clubs that have no rivals like Bolton that latch onto us or Middlesbrough onto Newcastle and Sunderland etc.

3-clubs need to be historically of similar abilities. Eg Fulham may hate Chelsea but they were languishing in the old division 4 for far too long for Chelsea to hate them back.

4-geographically relevant. Eg Norwich vs Ipswich 50 miles apart too far away.

Not saying our derby is the best by any means but with my criteria basically leaves very few teams. Us vs dingles, newc vs Sunderland, pompy vs Southampton, wolves vs west brom, etc. None of which would make it into the popular media top 10 uk derbies.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

The East Lancs derby is overhyped by both the local media and by the Richard heads who come out for the one game.

[McClarky]

It's worse when the teams come from different towns. I'm always being asked about it to compare with Hearts v Hibs and although the passion is similar the venom in ours is far greater due to the fact the 2 towns are lining up against each other.

[Andy]

The East Lancs derby is overhyped by both the local media and by the Richard heads who come out for the one game.

Agree with this.

To many of us it's the best rivalry in England, but for mpst outside of East Lancs, it's more of a case of 'the Cotton Mill what?'

[The Prof.]

Us v Venky's?

[Stuart]

The East Lancs derby is overhyped by both the local media and by the Richard heads who come out for the one game.

And at the same time, 'the oldest derby in the league' is completely ignored by the national (i.e. southern) media.

You are right about the Ricky heads though.

[wilyrover]

Where people get a distance of only eight miles between Blackburn and Burnley is beyond me. It's at least ten miles between the town centres, and another mile to Ewood. Also, where does this talk of the oldest derby come from? County and Forest were playing each other as far back as 1871 - four years before we were even formed. We played PNE before Burnley were formed.

[matt83]

Where people get a distance of only eight miles between Blackburn and Burnley is beyond me. It's at least ten miles between the town centres, and another mile to Ewood. Also, where does this talk of the oldest derby come from? County and Forest were playing each other as far back as 1871 - four years before we were even formed. We played PNE before Burnley were formed.

Are you sure derby weren't formed in 1884. But agree about that 8 miles it must be at least 15 miles.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Where people get a distance of only eight miles between Blackburn and Burnley is beyond me. It's at least ten miles between the town centres, and another mile to Ewood. Also, where does this talk of the oldest derby come from? County and Forest were playing each other as far back as 1871 - four years before we were even formed. We played PNE before Burnley were formed.

Yeah you're right on the distance. As the crow flies the grounds are about 12 and the town centres are about 10.5. I just got it from the media who always seem to quote that, I assume they maybe got it from signs on the M65.

[NH1875]

Yeah you're right on the distance. As the crow flies the grounds are about 12 and the town centres are about 10.5. I just got it from the media who always seem to quote that, I assume they maybe got it from signs on the M65.

I still reckon 8 miles is about right, as the support for each club dilutes outwards from the towns to the surrounding towns and villages, e.g Rishton, Gt Harwood & Clayton are mostly Rovers, Padiham, Hapton, Altham are Claret, but the frontier seems to be through the middle of Accrington...