Each year when the fixtures for the forthcoming league campaign are announced, fans skim through searching for the date when they are to meet their most fierce rivals. These football derbies are the most anticipated and often controversial clashes of the season and regularly see tempers boil over, both on the pitch and in the stands. University College Falmouth graduate, Chris Matthews, picks the best of the bunch.
Can an international game make a good derby? The 2004 Euro final between Portugal and Greece in the Estadio de Luz in Lisbon. Image by: Scott Liddell
Derbies exist because of a number of factors. Geographical rivalries are the most frequent reason for a derby, what better feeling is their than going into work on a Monday morning having seen your side secure local bragging rights that weekend and subsequently rubbing salt into the wounds of your rival-supporting work-mates.
As much as pundits like to distance football and politics, the two often go hand in hand and create some of the most intriguing derbies in the world today. With a mutual difference already established in the views of both the club and the fans, differences soon spill into hatred when these teams clash.
Success can also be a major catalyst for hatred in the derby world. If two teams compete for the same title year-in, year-out, then surely that is a good a reason as any to despise a rival team?
I have taken good look at the most explosive clashes in Europe and will kick-off my Top 20 with an Eastern European classic.
No.20 CSKA Sofia v Levski Sofia.
The battle of the Bulgarian capital sees the countries two most successful sides go head-to-head. CSKA were originally the team of the Bulgarian army and were often viewed favourably by the Communist authorities. Levski, on the other hand, historically draw most of their support from the working class. These fanatical guidelines are no longer particularly accurate, however the hatred and animosity hasn’t altered.
Clashes between these two often spill into violence, with the 1985 cup final between the two sides ending in a mass brawl, because of which many players received lengthy bans.
The violence hasn’t always ended on the pitch however; in 2001 a fan was left dead after clashes between the two sets of supporters.