London derbies
Encyclopedia
The term London Derbies refers to the various football local derbies
between the teams in London
, England
. It specifically refers to individual matches between the teams, but can also be used to describe the general ongoing rivalry between the clubs and fans.
that play in the Greater London
area, as follows:
Former Football League clubs based in London include Thames
and Wimbledon
.
Local derby
In many countries the term local derby, or simply just derby means a sporting fixture between two, generally local, rivals, particularly in association football...
between the teams in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It specifically refers to individual matches between the teams, but can also be used to describe the general ongoing rivalry between the clubs and fans.
Teams in London
As of 2011–12, fourteen clubs in the Premier League and Football LeagueThe Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
that play in the Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
area, as follows:
| Division | Team(s) |
|---|---|
| Premier League | Arsenal Arsenal F.C. Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups... , Chelsea Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four... , Fulham Fulham F.C. Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season... , Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers F.C. Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years... , Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane.... |
| Football League Championship Football League Championship The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League... |
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace F.C. Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in... , Millwall Millwall F.C. Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the... , West Ham United West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current... |
| Football League One Football League One Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system.... |
Brentford Brentford F.C. Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One.... , Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic F.C. Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,... , Leyton Orient Leyton Orient F.C. Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63... |
| Football League Two Football League Two Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system.... |
AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is a professional English football club that traces its origins to Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. Based at Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, the club are members of Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football.... , Barnet Barnet F.C. Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet.... , Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club , informally known as Daggers, is an English association football club based in Dagenham, in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, East London. It was formed in 1992 after a merger between Redbridge Forest and Dagenham... |
Former Football League clubs based in London include Thames
Thames A.F.C.
Thames Association Football Club were an English football club from Custom House, east London , who briefly played in the Football League between 1930 and 1932.-Name:...
and Wimbledon
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...
.
Major London derbies
Some of the most heated rivalries are between clubs that are geographically close together, including:- Millwall vs. West Ham United – Also known as the East LondonEast LondonEast London is a city on the southeast coast of South Africa, situated at 32.97°S and 27.87°E in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River and the Nahoon River, and is the country's only river...
derby, between MillwallMillwall F.C.Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
and West Ham UnitedWest Ham United F.C.West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
; there have been relatively few encounters in recent years, as West Ham has remained in a higher division than Millwall for much of its history. The two however have a history of extreme violence between them, due to their physical proximity and shared history as clubs founded by rival sets of dockworkers. The rivalry is perhaps the bitterest of the London teams and there have even been films portraying it. West Ham's relegation to the ChampionshipFootball League ChampionshipThe Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
in 2011 means that the two teams are in the same league for the first time since 2005. Their most recent meeting was on 17 September 2011 ending in a 0–0 stalemate. This game passed relatively peacefully, mainly because of a significant police presence. The meeting between the two teams previous to this was in August 2009, with West Ham winning 3-1 at Upton Park2009 Upton Park riotsThe 2009 Upton Park riot occurred at and around West Ham United's Upton Park ground before, during and after a Football League Cup second round match between West Ham and Millwall on 25 August 2009....
in the Carling Cup, a match that resulted in considerable violence between fans of the clubs.
- North London derbyNorth London derbyThe North London derby is the name of the football local derby between the two major teams in North London – Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.-History:...
– between ArsenalArsenal F.C.Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
and Tottenham HotspurTottenham Hotspur F.C.Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
. A rivalry has existed since Arsenal's move to the HighburyHighbury- Early Highbury :The area now known as Islington was part of the larger manor of Tolentone, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Tolentone was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Road. The manor house was situated by what is now...
area of North London in 1913, and especially since Arsenal's promotion to the First DivisionFootball League First DivisionThe First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
in 1919. It is perhaps the most hotly contested of all London derbies.
- South London derbySouth London derbySouth London derby is the name given to a football derby contested by any two of Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Millwall and AFC Wimbledon, the four Football League clubs based in South London, England...
– between Charlton AthleticCharlton Athletic F.C.Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
, MillwallMillwall F.C.Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
, Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace F.C.Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
and AFC WimbledonAFC WimbledonAFC Wimbledon is a professional English football club that traces its origins to Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. Based at Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, the club are members of Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football....
, despite Millwall's fiercest rivalry being with West Ham United they also have a rivalry with their nearest neighbours Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace. AFC Wimbledon gained promotion to the Football League for the first time in 2011 and currently play a tier below Charlton, and two below Palace and Millwall.
- West London derbyWest London derbyThe West London Derby is the name given to a football derby played between any two of Brentford, Chelsea, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers.The West London derby is less prominent than other such derbies in English football, owing to the teams often being in separate divisions. Chelsea did not face...
– between BrentfordBrentford F.C.Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
, ChelseaChelsea F.C.Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
, FulhamFulham F.C.Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
and QPRQueens Park Rangers F.C.Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
. Since the 1960s QPR developed a heated rivalry with Chelsea but one not reciprocated by Chelsea fans. However, following relegation from the top flight in 1996, QPR were unable to rekindle the rivalry until 2011 when QPR gained promotion to the Premier League. The first encounter between the two teams was a heated affair with QPR winning at home 1-0 after Chelsea had two players sent off. This game was also the stage for the alleged racist abuse of Anton FerdinandAnton FerdinandAnton Julian Ferdinand is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers as a defender. He is the brother of Manchester United and England centre-back Rio Ferdinand and the cousin of former England striker Les Ferdinand and Southend United defender Kane Ferdinand. Like his brother, Anton...
by John TerryJohn TerryJohn George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...
. Although Fulham and Chelsea have not often played head-to-head due to Fulham's lower division status in the 1970s and 1980s, since Fulham's promotion to the Premier League in 2001 a rivalry between the two has resumed.
Other London derbies
More generally, any match between two London sides - particularly those that have regularly competed in the same division of football together for any length of time - can be described as a "London derby". An example is the Arsenal and Chelsea footballing rivalry, which has been focusing on Premier League and European achievements. Clubs close to the boundaries of London also have rivalries with neighbouring non-London clubs (e.g., Barnet and Stevenage). Other rivalries focus on promotion, such as Queens Park Rangers vs. Millwall in The Championship.External links
- All-time Premiership London derby league table from Sky SportsSky SportsSky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...