Which Is The Biggest Derby In World Football?
Derby contests in sport are rich in histories that are often central to deeper political roots from times gone by. Specifically, derby matches in football are some of the most anticipated fixtures of the season. In the strictest terms, a derby match is a sporting contest between local rivals of close geographical proximity, but in modern-day football this isn’t always a pre-requisite. All the same, for fans, players and coaches alike, these are the games that you love to win and hate to lose. They can make or break a team’s season and often play a significant role within the psyche of a club. Here at TSZ, we will take a look at the world’s biggest football derbies and compare the history of these contests and identify which one is the biggest of them all.
Some teams have more than one derby rival of course, but for the purposes of this article we have only selected one derby per team.
Derbies
The North-West derby is played between England’s two most successful clubs both domestically and in European competitions – Manchester United and Liverpool. As a high profile match, players, fans and the media alike often consider games between the two clubs to be their biggest rivalry, above even their own local derby fixtures with Manchester City and Everton respectively. As two of England’s major cities, geographically they are just 35 miles apart. Their club cultures represent an industrial past with significant periods of dominance making them two of the richest and most supported clubs globally.
The Black Country derby involves two of the founding members of the English Football League - Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion. Although the 'Black Country derby' is also termed for matches played against Walsall for either of these two teams, due to Walsall’s lower league level this fixture is rare and not as valued by all involved.
The North London derby is one of the English capital’s biggest games, and is contested between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Geographically, just five miles separate the two clubs’ stadiums, which for London is just a stroll down the road.
The Tyne-Wear derby, also recognised as the North East derby and the Wear-Tyne derby, is a local fixture between Sunderland and Newcastle United. With the two cities just twelve miles apart, the modern day rivalry is an extension of the conflict between the two cities that dates back to the English Civil War.
The Second City derby is the local fixture between the two main clubs in the city of Birmingham – Aston Villa and Birmingham City. It is identified as the Second City derby based on Birmingham being the second largest city in the United Kingdom.
The Dockers derby is one of the fieriest rivalries in football and is contested between Millwall and West Ham United. Both teams originated from the East End of London with their supporters being primarily dockers at shipyards on either side of the River Thames. As a result, each set of fans worked for opposing firms who were competing for the same business, naturally deepening the conflict between the teams. Even though Millwall moved south of the River Thames in 1910, both sets of supporters still consider the other club as their main rivals.
The Revierderby is the contest in German football between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04. Named after the location of both clubs - the Ruhr region - Schalke 04 were Germany’s most successful team during the early 1900s resulting in Dortmund’s enhanced desire to topple their nearest club.
El Clásico – perhaps the most famous match in world football – is contested between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. As the two largest cities in Spain, their rivalry and history branches back to opposing political views, with Barcelona’s Catalan identity compared to Madrid’s centralising Spanish nationalism. The contest is televised globally and is one of the most viewed sporting events in the world.
The Derby della Madonnina is contested between A.C. Milan and Internazionale (Inter Milan) of Italy and is named in honour of one of the main sights in the city of Milan, the statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of the Duomo. Apart from being local rivalries of the same city, both clubs call the San Siro home, playing their matches in the same stadium.
The Derby della Capitale is the local derby in Italy’s capital city between Roma and Lazio. In the early years, Lazio were the only major team in the region to refuse to unify with Roma and other teams to create one greater club to challenge the Northern giants, thus the intense rivalry began.
The Old Firm derby is contested between Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers who are both based in Glasgow. As two of the 11 original members of the Scottish Football League, the rivalry has become rooted in Scottish values and has contributed to the political, social and religious separation in Scotland and also beyond.
The De Klassieker derby (The Classic) is the chief football fixture in the Netherlands between Ajax of Amsterdam and Feyenoord of Rotterdam. The rivalry routes back from the struggles between the two cities and their citizen’s differences between cultures and philosophies. The clash within is seen as the artists of Amsterdam and the workers of Rotterdam.
The Intercontinental derby is Turkey’s main contest between Fenerbahce and Galatasaray where the divide between the Asian and European parts of Istanbul forms the deeper local rivalry. The bitterness between the opposing fans has resulted in many acts of hooliganism in and around the city and is regarded as one of the most hostile fixtures in the world.
The Paulista derby is a match between traditional São Paulo football clubs Corinthians and Palmeiras. When Palmeiras football club was formed, many of the Corinthians fans swapped teams and were branded ‘the betrayers’, forming the basis of the intense local derby.
The Fla–Flu derby is a contest between cross-town rivals Flamengo and Fluminense in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The world record club football match attendance between the two clubs was 194,603 people in 1963 and this is still one of the most supported derbies in world football.
The Derby of the eternal adversaries is contested between Greece’s two most successful clubs - Olympiakos and Panathinaikos. Held in the capital, Athens, the rivalry routes from the clubs’ location within the city with Panathinaikos supported by the upper class and Olympiakos the lower classes originally. Although the class divide has since equalled, the contest is as fierce as ever.
The Cairo Derby, also known as the Egyptian Clasico, is contested between Al Ahly SC and Zamalek SC. Both teams originate from Greater Cairo and were the first and second African clubs named by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), making the fixture an important spectacle across Egypt and Africa as a whole.
The Eternal derby is the local derby in Belgrade, Serbia, between severe city rivals Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade. As sports societies, the rivalry branches across others sports including basketball and handball, making it one of the more diverse derbies in world sport.
The Superclásico derby is contested between rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate in Argentina. As the two most successful football clubs in the country, it is estimated that up to 70% of all Argentine football fans support one of the two teams. With this in mind, it is no wonder that this contest is regarded as one of the most important derbies in world football.
The oldest derby of the teams assessed is shared between Wolves and WBA and Rangers and Celtic, with both derbies seeing their first match in 1888. Of the 19 derbies assessed, 12 have over 100 years’ worth of fixtures, demonstrating their rich histories. Significantly, West Ham against Millwall dates back before 1932 but both clubs were recognised under different names and therefore their current history is shorter. Nevertheless, both Red Star v Partizan and Ahly v Zamalek have much shorter histories, with their first ever fixtures being played in 1947 and 1948 respectively.
Total number of games in all competitions highlights a derby's consistency within the respective top flight and the frequency by which both rivals reach the latter stages of cup competitions. Rangers and Celtic – unsurprisingly as the joint oldest derby – top the pile with a total of 404 contests, followed by Fenerbahce and Galatasaray (385). Notably, Newcastle v Sunderland and Villa v Birmingham have seen just 155 and 123 matches respectively. Taking into account they are the fourth and fifth oldest derbies, this demonstrates the difference in league tiers between these teams at various stages of their history. West Ham and Millwall have played each other the least amount with just 27 contests, which in turn signifies the ferociousness of the opposing fans and their genuine ill-feeling towards each other.
Total stadium capacity for each derby signifies the clubs’ domestic and global wealth as well as local fan base. Barcelona and Real Madrid comfortably lead the way here with a combined capacity of 180,398. The Milan (160,036) and Roma (145,395) derbies possess a slight advantage in that both teams play at the same stadiums, however this does demonstrate further rivalry as the teams are geographically as close as it gets. Notably, Greece’s main derby places lowest with 48,118 capacities – however, Panathinaikos in recent years have moved back to their old stadium after a number of years at the 71,000 seater Athens Olympic Stadium. Furthermore, West Ham’s recent move to the London Olympic Stadium with an 80,000 capacity (although not all of that is filled during football matched) has significantly boosted the figure in their featured derby.
A combination of total domestic league and cup competition trophies won demonstrates the calibre of clubs involved in a derby match and the significance the fixture could have on a season. Rangers and Celtic have won significantly more trophies than any other derby with 213, which is 77 more than second placed Al Ahly and Zamalek. The top eight derbies here are all, naturally, between the two teams in their respective countries who have dominated their domestic leagues and cups. However, in England, Germany and Italy the main rivalries are not necessarily between the most successful teams. Manchester United and Liverpool – England’s two most successful teams ever – have won just five more domestic cups than Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. This demonstrates the greater strength in-depth of the big clubs in these leagues.
Average number of goals per contest highlights spectator entertainment to both fans and neutrals alike, promoting the significance of such clashes. Ajax and Feyenoord lead the way on 3.6 goals scored per game, feasibly due to Ajax’s world famous playing philosophy of total football. Dortmund v Schalke and Barcelona v Madrid follow closely with 3.4 and 3.3 goals scored respectively, and these are teams that follow a similar entertaining and attacking style of play. Notably, Manchester United v Liverpool place 14th with just a 2.6 goal average and when taking into account both clubs' notorious style of attacking play, the number of goals is somewhat low compared to other major derbies. Please note that this specific data was not available for Al Ahly v Zamalek, Fluminense v Flamengo and Olympiakos v Panathinaikos.
Each contest has been ranked from 1 to 19 for each of the five categories assessed. The derby with the fewest total points tops our list. As a result, West Ham v Millwall unsurprisingly places last due to the minimal number of times the clubs have met and the difference in league tiers. Although Red Star Belgrade v FK Partizan is Serbia’s biggest derby, the fact that the first contest wasn’t until 1947 has resulted in a lower number of fixtures and thus less history compared to others. Additionally, Serbia’s domestic standard of football is still relatively low compared to Europe’s main league, resulting in a minimal following outside of the country.
World’s Biggest Derby – Rangers v Celtic
Collectively accumulating the statistics analysed highlights that the Old Firm Derby is the biggest in the world, at least in terms of our analyses. As the joint oldest derby dating back to 1888, the clubs have met 404 times, more than any other match on our list. Of those 404 games, Rangers have won 160 and Celtic have won 147, so the rivalry has always been a closely contested one. Although their stadium capacities are much lower than some of the world’s elite, they still surpass 110, 000, and with a leading total of 213 trophies between them, there have been just 19 occasions that neither team has won the Scottish Premier League since its introduction in 1890. Although Scottish football is not as strong within Europe as some of the other leagues, the significance of the derby is much deeper than just the football. The divide between the clubs is centred on religion (Catholic and Protestant), Northern Ireland-related politics (Loyalist and Republican), national identity (British or Irish Scots), and social ideology (Conservatism and Socialism), meaning not just any manager, coach or player can join the clubs; they must fit the profile first. Consequently, this derby highlights a powerful divide between many loyal generations and is much more than just a football match. It therefore seems likely that this rivalry will be just as fierce another 125 years from now.
