Football teams that don't have a local rival.

NicolaSacco said:
I don’t know quite how that happens. I guess proximity to London doesn’t help (Essex has bugger all of note).
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I think the last time Kent had two was when Maidstone United went bust in '92. Used to be well represented in the Conference leagues as well, but I think there are only 3 or 4 in those two divisions now.

A decade or so ago the likes of Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic used to run adverts in the Medway towns (Gillingham being one) for a package that offered free coach travel when you bought a ticket.
 
Chipper said:
Tranmere?

Parked out in the Wirral, too small to be rivals with Liverpool and Everton.

Wikipedia is trying to tell me Chester, who they haven't played since 1991.

Also mentions Wrexham, Bolton and Oldham but I'm not convinced.
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Bolton was always the rival randomly.
 
I don't think Reading really have a local rival.

Oxford and Swindon would be the nearest but I think they are each other's rivals.
 
Carlisle are out in the sticks. Nothing between Lancaster and Edinburgh for them on the way up there on the train.
 
Watford?

Yes I'm aware Luton are their most hated rivals, but not only are they not in the same town, they're not even in the same county. Only thing that tenuously connects them is the M1.
 
Leeds seem to think we care about their existence still for some reason
 
AdamColeBebe said:
Leeds seem to think we care about their existence still for some reason
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I get where you're coming from with this, as they are third on our list and very much top of theirs - but we do give a shit about them.
 
Leeds share a lot of rivalries rather than owning one genuine local one.

Fulham are our "local" rival, but there's no real spark there. Other than this recent yoyoish run in the Premier League, they've never really been in the same league as us since the sixties (and back then a portion of the fans would probably go and even watch Fulham when Chelsea were away), so multiple generations have gone through years of support without it being a thing. Your rough equivalent would have been Bury going up (rather than bust) and having to forge something with them.
 
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NicolaSacco said:
There’s a lot of one way rivalries. Colchester Utd absolutely hate Ipswich, sing all their terrace chants about us. I’ve yet to meet an Ipswich who cares in the least. Surely it’s the same in Manchester, with a lot of teams (Bolton, Oldham maybe?) hating Utd, but more than likely Utd fans have a soft spot for one of them?
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I haven't heard any terrace chants about Ipswich but while there's a decent amount of Colchester fans who don't like Ipswich pretty much all Colchester fans see Southend as their main rival. Colchester-Ipswich is what I like to call a Scrappy-Doo rivalry, the smaller club likes to think the bigger club gives a shite about them but at most the bigger club sees them as cute at best, an inconvenience at worst.

I do think there's a couple of factors that could explain why maybe some Colchester fans dislike Ipswich more recently compared to Southend. First Southend over the last year have been facing very serious threats of liquidation which I think has garnered a little bit of sympathy. Because while they may not like each other it's better for football and the rivalry if they don't dissolve, compare that to Ipswich having the most success they've had in over 20 years. Plus generally anytime Colchester have had a good player in the last 10 years half the time they've ended up at Ipswich either directly or indirectly at some point. Then a few years ago when Colchester signed a batch of players from Ipswich they were utter dog shite and were on high wages which took a while to shift.

Tbh I think any animosity towards Ipswich comes from older fans but I can understand why some fans in the last couple of years have taken their thoughts away from Southend and more towards Ipswich.
 
Historically, Wolves and Stoke used to be rivals in the Staffordshire derby when Wolverhampton was in Staffordshire most older wolves fans would consider stoke their main rivals not West Brom.
 
MsNuno said:
Historically, Wolves and Stoke used to be rivals in the Staffordshire derby when Wolverhampton was in Staffordshire most older wolves fans would consider stoke their main rivals not West Brom.
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I'd love to see Stoke-Vale play each other in the league again, was a regular fixture in the 1990s (and a fair bit of fan violence) but they haven't played each other in league since 2001/02.
 
Outside of England I always find it strange that there are no other top tier rivals to PSG in Paris.
If we think of how many teams there are in London it is a lopsided comparison.

FYI two other local teams are Paris FC in Ligue 2 and Red Star FC in the national championship (3rd tier)
 
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