Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊

[Football] 'Local' Derbies





Frutos

.
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patreon
May 3, 2006
35,493
Northumberland
Most of the people in my office (Magpies, Mackems and one Tractor Boy) seemed surprised when I explained to them that Palace is our derby game.

They generally thought it would be Portsmouth.
 


Cowfold Seagull

Fan of the 17 bus
Apr 22, 2009
21,578
Cowfold
Most of the people in my office (Magpies, Mackems and one Tractor Boy) seemed surprised when I explained to them that Palace is our derby game.

They generally thought it would be Portsmouth.

Well you can't blame them, it does make much more sense geographically. Our rivalry does go deeper with them historically. Our spat with Palace is far more recent.
 




portlock seagull

Why? Why us?
Jul 28, 2003
16,979
Well you can't blame them, it does make much more sense geographically. Our rivalry does go deeper with them historically. Our spat with Palace is far more recent.

It’s nearly 50 years, hardly recent. Certainly long enough to be deemed historical, especially when everyone knows Pompey & Soton is their rivalry/derby. It’s hardly our fault that ignorance amongst the wider football fans and pundits communities continues, Christ, how many more games do we have to play against ‘them’ that start with ‘To the wider footballing world it may be a surprise...blah blah blah’ Clearly people are stupid (because they can’t remember) or so far up their Sky Boxset they’ve never heard of club rivalries/derbies beyond the top 6. It’s as if until Sky endorse by promoting and showing as THE 4pm Sunday live fixture it somehow invalidates our grudge match. Well, you can that that and shove it up your ‘football started in 1993’ arse I say.

Proudly Hating Palace. Because of Boxing Day. As all proper Albion fans know and do.
 








schmunk

"Members"
Jan 19, 2018
9,405
Mid mid mid Sussex
The Albion v Palace game raises the matter of what constitutes a 'local' derby i.e. how geographically close do the two clubs need to be need to be? Give or take a few miles (i.e. over the years grounds might move but cities don't) these are qualifiers for grudge games which cover a fair old distance:


- Albion v Palace 48 miles

- Norwich v Ipswich 43 miles

- Cardiff v Swansea 42 miles

Any others? Feel free to go international.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/A...7222f2816b2!2m2!1d-0.0860576!2d51.3979743!3e0

46 miles by road; 37 miles by African Swallow.


(right-click -> "Measure distance")
 




Green Cross Code Man

Wunt be druv
Mar 30, 2006
19,632
Eastbourne
Well you can't blame them, it does make much more sense geographically. Our rivalry does go deeper with them historically. Our spat with Palace is far more recent.
Why do you say this every time we play? Palace makes much more sense than Pompey as we have hardly played them over the years and have played palace far far more often. Palace is also considerably nearer than Portsmouth and London in general is a similar distance whether you are from the East or West part of Sussex. Hampshire is, however, very far from East Sussex so for half of the county does not register as 'nearby'.
 


Why do you say this every time we play? Palace makes much more sense than Pompey as we have hardly played them over the years and have played palace far far more often. Palace is also considerably nearer than Portsmouth and London in general is a similar distance whether you are from the East or West part of Sussex. Hampshire is, however, very far from East Sussex so for half of the county does not register as 'nearby'.

Pompey too hard tbh, stick with an easier rivalry.
 


The Large One

Who's Next?
Jul 7, 2003
52,343
97.2FM
"The phrase most likely originated from The Derby, a horse race in England, founded by the 12th Earl of Derby in 1780. The 19th Earl has since confirmed the Derby name was given to only two sporting events: the Rugby league game from either end of the family's Knowsley estate between St Helens and Wigan being the other. Since at least as early as 1840 'derby' has been used as a noun in English to denote any kind of sporting contest."

This is a definition of 'derby' in the Collins Dictionary, and not one I'd heard before. I'm calling BS on this one.

I'd always been led to believe it was because a mad game of 'football' (in reality, a mass game of British Bulldog), played between two ends of a village in Derbyshire. And anyway, I prefer this story to the horse racing one. So there.
 




*Gullsworth*

My Hair is like his hair
Jan 20, 2006
9,351
West...West.......WEST SUSSEX
Portsmouth to Southampton is around 18 miles. No one else comes close to being a Derby for either of them.
 


Vankleek Hill Seagull

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
8,251
Vankleek Hill, actually....
I don't really think we're on their radar, tbh.



Portland Timbers - Seattle Sounders is the biggest derby in the game in the USA and they are 173 miles apart.

A small distance by North American standards. Cultural relativity I suppose.

Another "local" rivalry that existed was Columbus Crew vs. Toronto FC. Only a 7 hour drive (approx. 430 miles), but fans from both teams made a long weekend of it. Now that Montreal is part of MLS, Columbus doesn't get a look-in as rivals. However, the atmosphere for both TFC vs. Montreal games is intense mainly because it's an English vs. French mentality, albeit Canadian style.
 


Simster

"the man's an arse"
Jul 7, 2003
54,110
Surrey
Another "local" rivalry that existed was Columbus Crew vs. Toronto FC. Only a 7 hour drive (approx. 430 miles), but fans from both teams made a long weekend of it. Now that Montreal is part of MLS, Columbus doesn't get a look-in as rivals. However, the atmosphere for both TFC vs. Montreal games is intense mainly because it's an English vs. French mentality, albeit Canadian style.

That Columbus thing doesn't count - it only lasted about 2 years! I know TFC took 2,000 there for one game but it's not really a derby or even much of a rivalry these days. As you say, Montreal is now the big one, and Columbus are just about to get Cincinatti...
 








TheJasperCo

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2012
4,590
Exeter
I think the Dundee/ Dundee Utd derby is the shortest distance between two ground (in the world perhaps). I wonder how locals decide which one to support - probably whichever one is doing better.
 


Marty McFly

Seagulls Over Canada
Aug 19, 2006
3,389
La Pêche, Quebec
Another "local" rivalry that existed was Columbus Crew vs. Toronto FC. Only a 7 hour drive (approx. 430 miles), but fans from both teams made a long weekend of it. Now that Montreal is part of MLS, Columbus doesn't get a look-in as rivals. However, the atmosphere for both TFC vs. Montreal games is intense mainly because it's an English vs. French mentality, albeit Canadian style.

As someone who was, and shortly will be again, based in Ottawa I feel I need to declare an allegiance to one or the other. Nearer to Montreal, but am an Anglophone... Decisions, decisions!
 









Paying the bills

Latest Discussions

Paying the bills

Paying the bills

Paying the bills

Albion and Premier League latest from Sky Sports


Top
Link Here