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Local derby

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In many countries the term local derby, or simply just derby (pronounced 'dar-bee' in UK English, and 'durr-bee' by most Americans) is used to mean a sporting fixture between two (generally local) rivals, particularly in (Association) Football. In North America, crosstown rivalry is a more common term. To name an example, the "North London Derby" is Arsenal versus Tottenham Hotspur. The term is sometimes also used to describe major rivalries in which both clubs have substantial regional or national followings.

The phrase may have originated from an all-in football game contested annually between the two halves of the English town of Ashbourne, Derbyshire. This match has been and still is played on Shrove Tuesday. Another theory is that it originated from The Derby, the name of a horse race in England, founded by the twelfth Earl of Derby in 1780.

Derbies usually have a much more heated atmosphere between the fans and often the players of the two clubs. For some derbies, an added source of tension between the two clubs can be political or sectarian rivalry.

An example of political rivalry is the derby between FC Barcelona and Espanyol in Barcelona in Spain. FC Barcelona represents the population loyal to Catalan nationalism and Espanyol represents the population of Barcelona loyal to a united Spain (the name Espanyol means "Spanish" in Catalan), especially those who migrated to Catalunya from other parts of Spain in the Francisco Franco era. Furthermore, Barcelona's fixtures against Real Madrid can be classed as derbies, again for political reasons: Real was the club of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, whereas Barcelona were adopted by the opposition and the left because they represented the identity of the Catalan nation, who were naturally opposed to Franco's Spanish nationalistic ideals.

An example of sectarian rivalry is in the Old Firm derby between the two leading clubs of Glasgow in Scotland. In the matches between Celtic and Rangers, Celtic represents the Catholic population, and Rangers the Protestant population of Glasgow.

'Derby' is commonly used to signify matches between teams in the same town or region, however historical national rivalries, such as Ajax Amsterdam v Feyenoord and Internazionale v Juventus F.C., are sometimes also considered derbies as well as major football rivalries.

Contents

Albania

Argentina

Australia

Australian Ethnic Derbies

Austria

Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Brazil

Bulgaria

Canada

Chile

China

Costa Rica

Croatia

Czech Republic

Cyprus

Denmark

Ecuador

Egypt

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Guatemala

Honduras

Hungary

Iran

Ireland

NB: Various Dublin derby's are present. Anyone Dublin team playing another is regarded as a Dublin derby but the derbies mentioned above are usually the keenest.

Israel

Italy

Japan

  • Amman's Derby - Faisali v El-Wihdat - Football
  • Irbid's Derby - Hussien v Ramtha - Football

Korea

Malta

Mexico

Netherlands

Norway

Paraguay

Peru

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Bucharest

Cluj-Napoca

Ploieşti

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Serbia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

United Kingdom

England and Wales

Scotland

Northern Ireland

United States

N.B. It should be noted that intracity rivalries in American sports are not always as intense as derbies in other countries. The Giants and Jets only play each other in the regular season once every four years, and regular-season Cubs-White Sox and Yankees-Mets games have only been played since 1997. However, there are many strong crosstown rivalries in high school and college sports. See Sports rivalry for more details

Uruguay

Venezuela

See also

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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