In pl/EFL, what is the worst derby ?
Ipswich Vs Norwich? Literally no one cares
Maybe Bristol Rovers Vs Forest Green or something
Ipswich Vs Norwich? Literally no one cares
Maybe Bristol Rovers Vs Forest Green or something
What is the worst derby in the league?
- Thread starter Ajr
- Start date
In terms of competitiveness, definitely the Merseyside Derby.
Fulham-Chelsea I'd say.
Fulham only won twice v Chelsea in last 25 years I think and until recently Chelsea fans couldn't care less about the game.
Definitely the least competitive derby considering the level and hype it gets in the media
Blackpool v Fleetwood. They're the closest 2 clubs to each other so it's a derby.
Blackpool's big rivals are Preston who were nearest club until Fleetwood came on the scene. Fleetwood were only founded in 1977 and didn't get into the Football League until just over 10 years ago. They had a sugar daddy owner who ended up in jail.
So it's new, a bit artificial, one of the clubs thinks someone else is their biggest rival and it's relatively low profile.
Blackpool's big rivals are Preston who were nearest club until Fleetwood came on the scene. Fleetwood were only founded in 1977 and didn't get into the Football League until just over 10 years ago. They had a sugar daddy owner who ended up in jail.
So it's new, a bit artificial, one of the clubs thinks someone else is their biggest rival and it's relatively low profile.
MK dons v Wycombe.
No one cares about MK
No one cares about MK
Thought you were suggesting in your first line that they were the 2 closest to each other in the country.
Probably not what you meant, but made me have a think what the actual closest are. You'd have your 2 Nottingham clubs and the Liverpool & Everton combo, those have to be the closest in England. Think Dundee and Dundee United are even closer than that.
Blackpool to Fleetwood about 10miles, so I assume plenty of the London clubs are closer. And maybe Salford/Bury to Old Trafford too.
That's a great shout!
In the Premier League I know the story of Brighton v Palace, and there's definitely a lot of passion/heated rivalry from both sides. From an outsiders perspective it's a bit hard to invest in, and Brighton didn't really have a natural rival for a long time due to their location.
Arsenal Chelsea of the Mourinho years. So one-sided… (but is it a derby?)
Last edited:
Yes, the nearest to each other, not for the whole country. There are plenty of teams who are actually closer to each other.
I was watching a video not long ago when someone visited the grounds closest to each other. That Dundee/Dundee United one is insane with how close they are. I brought it up on Google maps street view afterwards and had a look.
Derbies mean most for those people, who you know, live in those areas.
My local boys used to have a huge rivalry with Colchester, which when you look at the map it's a ludicrous one, as they're 100miles apart. But it goes back to some huge non league battles.
These days we're about 24miles off Reading, 30miles from Oxford and 40-50miles from MK within the same county.
But none of the fans like to admit any of them are "derbies" at all.
Our "traditional" derby was probably against Slough Town, a mere 12miles away, but obviously long lost in the sands of time as despite them having a resurgence to the Conference south, we'll never play them again realistically.
Liverpool vs Everton
Everton's last win at Goodison was in 2010. At Anfield they won once since 1999. I know there have been many draws, but still it's not like Liverpool were great during 2000s and most of 2010s.
Everton's last win at Goodison was in 2010. At Anfield they won once since 1999. I know there have been many draws, but still it's not like Liverpool were great during 2000s and most of 2010s.
And it always seem that Everton save their best for us, rather than Liverpool, like we’re their cup final or something. I’ve always had the sense that beating United has always been more important to their fans too.
Absolutely. Individual fans are going be very passionate about their derby no matter who their club is.
I'd always try not to shit on them and be disrespectful. We're very lucky in England to have such a great league system with well-supported clubs further down the ladder compared to many other countries.
Still, as a neutral there's some derbies I'd rather watch for the passionate atmosphere in the stadium or just be interested in finding out the score than others. These will tend to be ones between the bigger clubs where more fans = louder stadium for these derby games. Helps if the derbies are important games near the top of the table or the latter stages of cup competitions too as the stakes are high, and if they have a long history of playing each so that the rivalry has had time to mature through the generations.
I used to say it’s because we spent so many years in separate divisions that we haven’t developed that rivalry. But then we do have a strong rivalry with QPR despite playing them less frequently than Fulham.
We’ve played Fulham, our most frequent WL game less than half the times Arsenal and Spurs have played each other.
Barca v Espanyol is probably the worst biggest in Europe but maybe it means more to Catalonians despite the mismatch
Crystal Palace v Brighton feels like it exists because they've got nobody else
Liverpool v Manchester City: too much respect for each other, too polished, too friendly
Crystal Palace v Brighton feels like it exists because they've got nobody else
Liverpool v Manchester City: too much respect for each other, too polished, too friendly
The Merseyside derby always results in Everton giving free 3 points to Liverpool. It’s a shit derby.
probably the side that only got 13 points.
Celtic vs Newco
Scouse Derby never lives up to the hype
That's a weirdly bitter one as well, despite no-one else caring and many not not even knowing it's a supposed derby.
I kind of got into Barca v Espanyol at one point. It was when Espanyol had former Barcelona player Ivan de la Pena. He was their best player, the fans loved him and he always played like he had a point to prove in the derby. Even got his only full Spanish international caps while at Espanyol. Talented player who was a bit of a psycho too and had a bad injury record. I was cheering for Espanyol if watching that one.
Point taken about it not being great on paper though.
Last edited:
Didn't Espanyol end Barca's title dreams once on the last day with a 2-2 draw? That must've ramped up the rivalry
Derby County are the worst derby in the league.
De La Pena never got capped when he was at Barca?! That's certainly one for the "strange facts in Football" thread.
I mean, it's not a proper derby, they're not close enough (by miles, or even by divisions until quite recently) to count. Except it is, as a historical accident. Everyone knows why there is beef between Arsenal and United. Title races, two managers who didn't like each other, throwing of pizza, attempting breaking of legs in midfield, and we'll never agree if Keane or Viera was more dirty. But it was always a rivalry, not a derby. I don't know, and I don't think most Palace or Brighton fans know why either. But somehow they've constructed a proper derby out of it. It makes no sense, but it's also hysterically funny and part of the magic of football. Definitely not the worst derby.
Damn, beaten to it.
