There’s nothing quite like a rivalry in football to get the blood pumping and while plenty of the game’s most bitter cross the borders of cities and even countries, in England in particular, there’s nothing quite like a local derby when it comes to winning valuable bragging rights.
The first derby in English football history? You’ve got to go way back to Boxing Day in 1860 (!) when Sheffield FC played Hallam FC under new rules that were eventually adopted to the worldwide game, introducing elements such as throw-ins and corner kicks. Today, of course, there’s plenty of derbies up and down the country, usually at least a couple each week if you take into account the lower leagues.
So who are England’s champions when it comes to local derbies? I took a look at the games involving the biggest clubs in various cities, and here’s the answer.
#1 Manchester Derby
The Manchester derby – played between the city’s biggest clubs – Manchester United and Manchester City – has risen to more prominence in recent years after City’s oil-rich takeover transformed them into one of England’s most powerful clubs. The 80’s, 90’s and early 00’s were a largely fruitless time for City, which meant the derby was basically one-sided in favour of United, who chose to ignore their neighbours in favour of rivalries with the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal.
Now though, it’s come back to the forefront. 2016/17 saw success for the blue side of Manchester rise as they defeated United 2-1 away at Old Trafford and then avoided defeat at the Etihad, sharing the spoils with a 0-0- draw. 2013/14 though saw a 4-1 victory for City at the Etihad, and two seasons prior they famously thrashed United 6-1 at Old Trafford.
Unfortunately for City, the stats still favour United and that too by some distance. As of April 2017, there have been 174 competitive meetings between the two, and United have won 72 of those games compared to 50 for City, with 52 being draws. Notably, City went without a win in the derby for thirteen years at one point – from September 1989 to November 2002.
Still, at least City can say they sent United down a division with a derby win as April 1974 saw the Citizens defeat United 1-0 at Old Trafford thanks to a goal ironically from United legend Denis Law, condemning the Red Devils to a season outside the top flight, something they haven’t experienced since.
#2 Merseyside Derby
The Merseyside derby – otherwise known as the “friendly derby” due to the number of families with both Liverpool and Everton supporters – might not be a bitter rivalry from a fan’s perspective, but it’s certainly one of the most competitive games of the season every time it rolls around. With the clubs situated just 400m apart, it’s certainly one of the closest local derbies, too.
It’s not surprising that Liverpool lead Everton in the win/loss stakes – after all, they were England’s most successful club throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s despite Everton having a very strong side themselves in the 80’s. And in the 90’s, while Liverpool fell behind the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal, Everton fell even further behind and were often involved in relegation scraps.
The current stats are 91 wins for Liverpool and 66 for Everton, with 72 draws. The huge number of competitive matches between the two, however – 228 compared to Manchester’s 174 – shows how consistent both sides have been over the years in terms of staying in the top division.
Notable recent games? 2012 saw an FA Cup semi-final between the two, won by Liverpool 2-1 following an Andy Carroll header; and both 2014 and 2016 saw Liverpool beat Everton 4-0 at Anfield – 2014’s win being the biggest there since 1972. You have to go back to 2010 to find the last Everton win – they beat the Reds 2-0 at Goodison Park thanks to goals from Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill.
With all of Ronald Koeman’s spending this summer – as well as the return of Wayne Rooney to the fold – you can bet that Everton will be gunning to change that statistic in 2017/18.
#3 North London Derby
While London has a huge number of football clubs, the most famous derbiy in England’s capital city arguably takes place in the north of the city between heated rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. The fans of the two teams despise each other and on the pitch, things aren’t much better. Most recently the rivalry was thrown into the forefront again as Sol Campbell was excluded from a legends’ parade at Tottenham due to his crime of transferring to Arsenal back in 2001!
In terms of results, it’s Arsenal who are currently in front, winning 80 derbies compared to 62 for Spurs, with 51 draws between the two as well. The Premier League era, in particular, has been successful for Arsenal, as they’ve won the majority of league games between the two sides despite losing both home and away in the inaugural 1992/93 season.
The lowest ebb for Spurs? Either losing 5-4 at White Hart Lane in 2004/05 despite leading throughout the first half, or in 2011/12 and 2012/13 – both seasons saw them hammered 5-2 at the Emirates.
This season seemed to mark a change, though – the sides drew 1-1 at the Emirates, but Spurs comfortably defeated Arsenal 2-0 at White Hart Lane. And with the Gunners slipping out of the top four for the first time in two decades and Tottenham now established as title challengers, it could be Spurs who become dominant going forward.
Due to Arsenal’s superiority in the earlier Premier League days though, their rivalry with fellow Londoners Chelsea has also come to the forefront. Thankfully for the Gunners though, they have the upper hand there too – 74 wins over the Blues to 62 losses, with 54 draws between the two. So in a derby sense, it could be argued – by Arsenal fans of course! – that the Gunners are London’s most dominant team.
#4 Birmingham Derby
Thanks to Birmingham’s status as England’s second-biggest city, the Birmingham derby is unsurprisingly also known as the ‘Second City Derby’. Unfortunately, though, the two teams involved – Birmingham City and Aston Villa – have been devoid of any success over the last few years to the point where neither team is currently in the Premier League. For a city as big as Birmingham, that’s quite shameful.
The rivalry is a hugely fierce one, with the hooligan element of both fanbases often clashing during derby matches. Due to Birmingham’s struggles in the early Premier League era there haven’t been quite as many competitive matches between the two as there have been in other derbies, and it’s no shocker that it’s Villa who have the upper hand – they have 51 victories to Birmingham’s 37, with 29 draws between the two.
One of the more memorable games in recent time, however, was a Birmingham win. It came in the 2002/03 season, the first one for the Blues in the Premier League, and involved Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman making a horrendous error – he let a throw-in slide under his foot directly into the net, and the goal led to a 3-0 victory for Birmingham at St. Andrews.
Most recently though Villa came out on top again. 2016/17 saw a 1-1 draw at St. Andrews followed by a 1-0 victory for the Villains at Villa Park, with the goal coming from local hero Gabriel Agbonlahor. With both sides stuck deep in the Championship though, the game went largely ignored.
Who knows when we’ll see the Second City Derby in the Premier League again?
#5 Tyne-Wear Derby
Another of the most heated rivalries in England, the Tyne-Wear derby is contested between Newcastle United and Sunderland. The cities of Sunderland and Newcastle lie just twelve miles apart, and French midfielder Yann M’Vila – who featured for Sunderland in two games in 2015/16 – has described the game as being bigger than even the Milan derby!
Surprisingly enough, as of writing in July 2017, the honours are even between the two sides in derby games. Both Newcastle and Sunderland have 53 wins, with the sides drawing on 49 occasions. Perhaps it could be argued that the advantage lies with Sunderland though, as one of those draws led to a penalty shootout won by the Black Cats.
Certainly, it cannot be argued that recent results have favoured Sunderland. Despite Newcastle having more success than their rivals in the Premier League era – they challenged for the title and made the Champions League on multiple occasions in the 1990’s – Sunderland are unbeaten in the past nine Tyne-Wear derbies. The most recent game – in April 2016 – finished in a 1-1 draw, but the Black Cats had the last laugh that season too as they escaped relegation while the Magpies were condemned to the Championship.
2017/18 won’t see any Tyne-Wear derby games as Newcastle have been promoted back to the Premier League again while Sunderland were relegated to the Championship in 2016/17, but the odds on 2018/19 seeing the derby again seem pretty good – Sunderland have been promoted to the Premier League four times since its beginning, while Newcastle have been relegated twice, so surely a meeting seems likely. Whether the Magpies can break their barren streak there though remains to be seen.
#6 Sheffield Derby
It seems fit to end by looking at the Sheffield derby, as Sheffield was, of course, the city where the idea of the local derby began. Today’s Steel City rivalry, however, takes place between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, two of the larger clubs outside of the Premier League.
The two sides have met competitively on 127 occasions, with United leading the way with 45 wins to Wednesday’s 42, and 40 draws between the two. To find a Sheffield derby taking place in the confines of the Premier League, you’ve got to go back to 1993/94 – just the second season in the league’s history. That year saw a 1-1 draw at Bramall Lane before Wednesday picked up a 3-1 home win at Hillsborough.
The season also saw United relegated, and while they’ve been back to the Premier League since, despite finishing 7th in 1993/94 Wednesday were relegated in 1999/00 and haven’t been back since.
With both sides in the Championship for the bulk of the 2000’s, there have been plenty of Sheffield derbies since. In the years spanning 2000 to 2010, United picked up five wins to Wednesday’s four, but both sides did the double on occasion – United in 2005/06 and Wednesday in 2008/09.
With Wednesday currently one of the best sides in the Championship and United winning League One in 2016/17 and gaining promotion to the same league, 2017/18 will see the first Sheffield derbies since 2011/12. Perhaps in the future, we’ll see a Steel City derby in the Premier League again, but only time will tell.
