The greatest rivalries in club football

[KyoPityus]

Daily mail

Ferencváros v Újpest 21...​

From Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and London. Rome to Rio and Buenos Aires.

Most cities have football clubs where derby day is the main event in the calendar for fans, publicans, pundits and police.

But some of the greatest football rivalries make no sense geographically.

Supporters of teams across the world look forward to travelling miles and miles just to earn the bragging rights for another season.

So, whatever the background to the biggest grudge matches, Sportsmail's team of experts have put their heads together to come up with the 50 greatest clashes that really get the blood boiling.

We will reveal our number one on Friday and, as ever, we want to know what you think of our list.

21 Ferencváros v Újpest

Traditional fanbase differences again help divide Hungary’s capital city.

The Green Eagles (Ferencvaros) have attracted a more middle and upper class support while The Purples (Ujpest) was traditionally the club of the working class.

Ujpest have the proud record of being the oldest club still in existence in Hungary after being formed in 1885, but modern history has been less kind with Ferencvaros’ ‘Double’ in 2004 the best of the most recent successes.

Take a look at crowd trouble...Hungarian style and a keeper appearing to get shot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm3Od2qo2ss&feature=player_embedded#t=568

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...eatest-rivalries-club-football-Nos-30-21.html

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

I'll be surprised if number 1 on the list isn't Galatasaray v Fenerbahçe. That is just the nuttiest football occasion on the planet!

 

[KyoPityus]

The list:
50) Anderlecht–Club Brügge, Belgien.
49) Blackburn–Burnley, England.
48) Colo Colo–Universidad de Chile, Chile.
47) Marseille–Paris St Germain, Frankrike.
46) Aris Saloniki–Paok Saloniki, Grekland.
45) Newcastle–Sunderland, England.
44) Barcelona–Espanyol, Spanien.
43) Rosario Central–Newell's Old Boys, Argentina.
42) Barcelona SC–Emelec, Ecuador.
41) Rapid Bukarest–Steaua Bukarest, Rumänien.
40) Sheffield United–Sheffield Wednesday, England.
39) CSKA Sofia–Levski Sofia, Bulgarien.
38) Hapoel Haifa–Maccabi Haifa, Israel.
37) 1860 München–Bayern München, Tyskland.
36) Sparta Prag–Slavia Prag, Tjeckien.
35) Lyon–Saint Etienne, Frankrike.
34) Atletico Madrid–Real Madrid, Spanien.
33) AEK Aten–Panathinaikos, Grekland.
32) America–Chivas, Mexiko.
31) Cardiff–Swansea, Wales.
30) Al Ahly–Zamalek, Egypten.
29) Penarol–Nacional Montevideo, Uruguay.
28) Dundee–Dundee United, Skottland.
27) Manchester City–Manchester United, England.
26) Schalke–Borussia Dortmund, Tyskland.
25) Internacional–Gremio, Brasilien.
24) Benfica–Porto, Portugal.
23) CSKA Moskva–Spartak Moskva, Ryssland.
22) Besiktas–Fenerbahce, Turkiet.
21) Ferencvaros–Ujpest, Ungern.
20) Dynamo Zagreb–Hadjuk Split, Kroatien.
19) Arsenal–Tottenham, England.
18) Genoa–Sampdoria, Italien.
17) Aston Villa–Birmingham, England.
16) Hearts–Hibernian, Skottland.
15) Everton–Liverpool, England.
14) Kaizer Chiefs–Orlando Pirates, Sydafrika.
13) Wisla Krakow–Cracovia Krakow, Polen.
12) Millwall–West Ham, England.
11) AC Milan–Inter, Italien.
10) Palmeiras–Corinthians, Brasilien.
9) Olympiakos–Panathinaikos, Grekland.
8) Roma–Lazio, Italien.
7) Liverpool–Manchester United, England.
6) Ajax–Feyenoord, Holland.
5) Barcelona–Real Madrid, Spanien.
4) Partizan Belgrad–Röda Stjärnan, Serbien.
3) Celtic–Rangers, Skottland.
2) Fenerbahce–Galatasaray, Turkiet.
1) Boca Juniors–River Plate, Argentina

 

[Vistoma]

I know I am biased but should we really rate behind Dundee V Dundee Utd!

I have been to their grounds and know you can, literally, throw a stone to the other but come on...

 

[Bramley]

The list:
50) Anderlecht–Club Brügge, Belgien.
49) Blackburn–Burnley, England.
48) Colo Colo–Universidad de Chile, Chile.
47) Marseille–Paris St Germain, Frankrike.
46) Aris Saloniki–Paok Saloniki, Grekland.
45) Newcastle–Sunderland, England.
44) Barcelona–Espanyol, Spanien.
43) Rosario Central–Newell's Old Boys, Argentina.
42) Barcelona SC–Emelec, Ecuador.
41) Rapid Bukarest–Steaua Bukarest, Rumänien.
40) Sheffield United–Sheffield Wednesday, England.
39) CSKA Sofia–Levski Sofia, Bulgarien.
38) Hapoel Haifa–Maccabi Haifa, Israel.
37) 1860 München–Bayern München, Tyskland.
36) Sparta Prag–Slavia Prag, Tjeckien.
35) Lyon–Saint Etienne, Frankrike.
34) Atletico Madrid–Real Madrid, Spanien.
33) AEK Aten–Panathinaikos, Grekland.
32) America–Chivas, Mexiko.
31) Cardiff–Swansea, Wales.
30) Al Ahly–Zamalek, Egypten.
29) Penarol–Nacional Montevideo, Uruguay.
28) Dundee–Dundee United, Skottland.
27) Manchester City–Manchester United, England.
26) Schalke–Borussia Dortmund, Tyskland.
25) Internacional–Gremio, Brasilien.
24) Benfica–Porto, Portugal.
23) CSKA Moskva–Spartak Moskva, Ryssland.
22) Besiktas–Fenerbahce, Turkiet.
21) Ferencvaros–Ujpest, Ungern.
20) Dynamo Zagreb–Hadjuk Split, Kroatien.
19) Arsenal–Tottenham, England.
18) Genoa–Sampdoria, Italien.
17) Aston Villa–Birmingham, England.
16) Hearts–Hibernian, Skottland.
15) Everton–Liverpool, England.
14) Kaizer Chiefs–Orlando Pirates, Sydafrika.
13) Wisla Krakow–Cracovia Krakow, Polen.
12) Millwall–West Ham, England.
11) AC Milan–Inter, Italien.
10) Palmeiras–Corinthians, Brasilien.
9) Olympiakos–Panathinaikos, Grekland.
8) Roma–Lazio, Italien.
7) Liverpool–Manchester United, England.
6) Ajax–Feyenoord, Holland.
5) Barcelona–Real Madrid, Spanien.
4) Partizan Belgrad–Röda Stjärnan, Serbien.
3) Celtic–Rangers, Skottland.
2) Fenerbahce–Galatasaray, Turkiet.
1) Boca Juniors–River Plate, Argentina

Dundee clubs above us?! And Everton Vs Liverpool?! Both of them are practically friends! Arsenal Vs Tottenham - proper Spuds fans despise Chelsea more!

 

[Asaba/Djaffo]

I watched the Brum Derby with a bunch of Villa fans and none of them were that bothered.

 

[SwissBlade]

Ha Ha

A load of them are just big games, not Derbies.

I always hate this "our derby's bigger than yours" - borrocks

Our game has as much more importance to us than any of those games.

Just because the Argies or Turks smash each other up a bit doesn't make it a bigger or better derby

Barca v Real? Not even in the same country!

No other Derby will compare to ours

 

[Darren]

Ha Ha

A load of them are just big games, not Derbies.

I always hate this "our derby's bigger than yours" - borrocks

Our game has as much more importance to us than any of those games.

Just because the Argies or Turks smash each other up a bit doesn't make it a bigger or better derby

Barca v Real? Not even in the same country!

No other Derby will compare to ours

The "Darren rule of derbies" is that a game is only a derby if it features teams from the same lower tier (i.e. city/district) local authority area or - at a push - contiguous ones - hence Marseille/PSG, Real/Barcelona and Man Utd/Liverpool are NOT derbies - they are just games between two of the biggest teams in their respective countries.

 

[SwissBlade]

The "Darren rule of derbies" is that a game is only a derby if it features teams from the same lower tier (i.e. city/district) local authority area or - at a push - contiguous ones - hence Marseille/PSG, Real/Barcelona and Man Utd/Liverpool are NOT derbies - they are just games between two of the biggest teams in their respective countries.

Not even in Barca's case... don't the greasy spaniards want to split from the Basque or catalan region or something...

They can't have it both ways tha knows

 

[Darren]

Not even in Barca's case... don't the greasy spaniards want to split from the Basque or catalan region or something...

They can't have it both ways tha knows

"Greasy Spaniards"? Can I advise you never to get a job with the EU or the UN!

Barcelona is in Catalonia (on the Mediterraean coast) which has a strong seperatist movement. The Castlilian Spaniards (capital Madrid) tend to want to keep Catalonia in Spain. The Basque Country is on the Spanish/French border in the north east of the country on the Atlantic coast

 

[moDtheGod]

Dundee clubs above us?!

Bizarre. A lot of folk I spoke to in my seven years of living in Dundee were happy to see the other side do well.

 

[Belfastblade]

spent most my life time watching the belfast derby with scum linfield and its pumping great games with all the passion... shame its not on the list

 

[happyhippy]

Was just about to mention Glentoran v Linfield!

It's all subjective, but the thing is for me, if you think there's a derby which is bigger than yours, you're not thinking about your own derby. Equally, not all teams have a 'mutually respected' derby.

When I lived in South London, Brighton hated Crystal Palace (the nearest club geographically); Palace fans hated Charlton though. Millwall have traditionally been pitted against West Ham or Chelsea, but if you talk to the people who don't want to kill people and are a bit older, the main rivalry was with Crystal Palace.

QPR hate Chelsea, but traditionally their rivalry was with Fulham or Brentford. West Ham hated Chelsea, and it was reciprocated, but now it seems that Millwall would the the recipients of most bile from both sets of fans.

Tottenham v Arsenal? Most Spurs fans would prefer to beat West Ham or even Orient.

Because we work and stand cheek by jowl with each other, day in, day out, the three biggest derbies in the UK are the Old Firm, United v Midweek, and Bristol City v Bristol Rovers.

Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool are very diluted.

 

[Bakewell Blade]

For me a derby has pure passion not just a big game. It signals hatered between the fans so how are we below Liverpool v Everton. I mean you see everton shirts on the kop! Not many pigs would dream of that! That's only one of the examples in the list.

 

[super_pig]

is there a statistical backing to this list e.g. number of arrests, yellow/red cards.. murders, goals etc.. or are you just making it up?

 

[tomtheblade]

There's also a difference between club rivalry and fan rivalry. In our case we have both in abundance i think, though it comes more from the fans. I think the true rivalries between teams come from the fans.

I guess there's quite a difference between a derby and a rivalry. No-one can argue that barca real isn't a *huge* rivalry..but its obviously not a derby.

In terms of derbies, the Sheffield derby has to be one of the biggest in the uk along with rangers/celtic because its a city shared by only 2 clubs with sets of fans who hate each other (in a non-personal way mostly though, if that makes any sense). Maybe i'm wrong but i would hazard a guess that the impact of some of the London derbies is lessened because there are so many teams in London.

edit: just to clarify what i said about fans 'hatred' what i mean is that if i meet a wednesdayite, i dont hate them as a person because of it, in fact i might be good friends with them (or even married to them), but i might hate the fact that they are a wednesdayite.

 

[shorehamview]

There's also not much away support in Spain. Real Madrid fans tend to watch Real Madrid Castilla, the B team, when Real are away.

As far as derbies, this old chestnut gets people going. For me a derby is between city rivals - Liverpool v Everton, Us v Pigs, etc. Not Us v Rotherham/Dingles/Dirties, not Liverpool v Man Utd. The "South Yorkshire Derby" is a misnomer. Barnsley and others might look at it as a derby, but that's because they are Dingles and know no better.

I'm not disputing there are teams with huge rivalries, but they aren't all derbies.

 

[judge]

i think its hard for us to justify the fierce rivals tag when neither team sells out for the derby

and tbh i cant understand the attitude of both sets of fans (mostly on internet forums ) of calling each other scrubbers and saying the opposing stadium and surrounding area is a dump etc makes me despair to hear people talking about their own city that way

never hear anyone saying it face to face though funnily

 

[tomtheblade]

i think its hard for us to justify the fierce rivals tag when neither team sells out for the derby

and tbh i cant understand the attitude of both sets of fans (mostly on internet forums ) of calling each other scrubbers and saying the opposing stadium and surrounding area is a dump etc makes me despair to hear people talking about their own city that way

never hear anyone saying it face to face though funnily

I think it probably depends on the way its said. As long as it's friendly banter you can be as insulting as you like as far i'm concerned...in fact the more insulting the funnier it can be. It's only when there's real vehemence around it that there's a problem. Of course i don't really think Hillsborough (as a general area) is a dump it's just poking fun.

I don't know if there's a hard and fast definition of the word 'derby' but i don't see anything wrong with 'South Yorkshire Derby'..it's just a way of communicating that its a local rivalry. Because the 2 Sheffield teams, Barnsley, Rotherham, Chesterfield and Doncaster are so close together it makes sense to name it in that way. It might even be the case that a Blade living on the outskirts of Sheffield would be closer to Rotherham than Hillsborough.

There's obviously a limit though..you would never call the Liverpool-Man U game a 'north west derby'

 

[SheepdipBlade]

Didn't the clever people at the Football Studies Unit at Leicester Uni once state that the Sheffield Derby was the most passionate derby south of the border??

It was something to do with the proximity of the clubs (unlike the East Anglian Derby or the NE Derby etc), the fact that Sheffield has comparitively few "mixed" families (unlike Liverpool etc) making the event more polarised and "tribal" - and because football is more important in Sheffield than in "cosmopolitan centres" like Manchester.

The Sheffield Derby is certainly hotter than a number of those listed higher than us - - though having said that, it has rarely been as spicey as a Chesterfield vs Mansfield game!!

 

[The Fox]

Has anyone here been to a Chesterfield v Mansfield Match ( I haven't by the way), as a few years back it used to be the game of the season for both .

Someone once told me that the match was characterised by fighting between Overweight 50yr old blokes in white cardigans.

 

[tomtheblade]

Didn't the clever people at the Football Studies Unit at Leicester Uni once state that the Sheffield Derby was the most passionate derby south of the border??

Indeed. I'm not surprised to hear this...(though im skeptical as to how exactly you measure 'passion')

In fact it amazes me that Sheffield doesn't have a much bigger status in the football community as a whole. Obviously its probably to do with the fact that both Sheffield clubs have underachieved in the most part.

But when you consider our history- if England is the 'home' of football then Sheffield is the cradle. first football club in the world, oldest ground in the world, the original 'United' and the pigs admittedly also being one of the oldest league clubs as well.

Sheffield should really promote its sporting heritage more when it comes to football imo.

 

[SheepdipBlade]

Has anyone here been to a Chesterfield v Mansfield Match ( I haven't by the way), as a few years back it used to be the game of the season for both .

Someone once told me that the match was characterised by fighting between Overweight 50yr old blokes in white cardigans.

Yeah - but only once, and never again .

The game was just a front for settling scores from the Miners Strike - literally pick axe handles and all sorts of running battles along Saltergate and down towards the Spire and Railway Station. Our "gentle banter" with the Forest Scabs pales into total insignificance.

Worst footy related bother I've ever seen - and really really scarey

Thankfully - as Mansfield are now enjoying the delights of the Blue Sq, the good folk of Chesterfield can now sleep peacefully in their beds

 

[shorehamview]

For local (ish) rivalry there's Preston and Blackpool - they really hate each other with a passion. It makes the old Firm look like Thora Hird v Vera Lynn.

And as far as calling Hillsborough a dump, it is a dump. I wouldn't want to poo in the middle of their car park, it would improve it.

 

[FlyingFjortoft]

the Football Studies Unit at Leicester Uni

Please tell me that's made up.

 

[beightonblade]

most intense i've been to is an owd firm derby... mind yer in Scotland most are either Rangers or Celtic.

Blades v Pigs is a gud un but were just not as MASSIVE as the pigs