Football has seen some pretty fierce rivalries over the years. Here’s a look at some of the top ones.
Being a football fan often means engaging in a fierce rivalry with another team. Even people looking at international soccer knows that there are some extreme tensions between certain teams which dominate the leagues.
Looking at some of the most historic rivalries is always entertaining, and in football you do tend to get some players and clubs crop up more than others. Let’s take a look at some of the best of the best.
Manchester United and Manchester City
Manchester has two clubs, which war for the top slot, which is rare in itself because most only have one. However, Man United and Man City are often locked in a fierce debate for which is better and when the two clash it is always an interesting thing to stop and watch.
In the past, United always held the top slot and performed better overall from a competitive standpoint, but City have had their own incredible moments which cause them to shine very brightly and it is easy to see why the two clash.
Liverpool and Man United
Ah, here’s two clubs that have a well-known rivalry. Once upon a time they were two of the best possible teams to play on. With Wayne Rooney on one and Steven Gerrard on the other, these were two powerhouses who clashed frequently.
When the boards put up Liverpool vs Manchester United it was always interesting, and the wins and losses seemed to stack up on both sides. Sadly, both clubs have seen better days at the moment, as the new talent that stepped up over the last few years isn’t quite on the same level as their aforementioned star players, both of whom moved onto other teams or projects as they got on in age.
Arsenal and Manchester United
Being one of the premier teams in the UK, it only made sense for Manchester United to have rivalries with teams all across the country. However, there were few that were as heated as their competitions with Arsenal.
The two teams were about as polar opposites as you could get in the world of football, and the fans of both hated their counterparts with zest. This wasn’t a friendly rivalry or even one built on mutual respect – this is a good old fashioned dislike of teams thanks to their stunning encounters on the pitch. You know that these two would always make waves whenever they locked horns, and the end results were always interesting to watch. While United did well for many years, Arsenal kept equalising just long enough to remind their rivals that they were always there in the background.
Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur
This rivalry was interesting because the two fan bases did not like each other at all. It was one which was mired in constantly battling for the spaces not occupied by the powerhouse teams, and the fans and players themselves often got quite aggressive from a verbal perspective. What’s interesting here is that even though the two sets of teams weren’t always on the pitch together, it wasn’t uncommon to see fans of both mocking the other and causing a ruckus. It’s a funny old game.
So overall, these were teams who didn’t like each other. It’s amusing to think that people can get so worked up about a game but it was quite common. Rivalries like this weren’t the most physically violent but there were a lot of arguments and it was bound to split the dinner table up during a Sunday roast. Watching these powerhouses clash was always interesting because you never knew who would win – it was an embarrassment for one and bragging rights for the other. Of course, there were other rivalries, but these were well-known teams – they frequently found themselves talked about and debated. Sometimes the clubs themselves had to ask for peace among the fans, but for the most part these rivalries were accepted good-naturedly as being part of the game and the culture of football itself.