6 of the best grudge matches in English football

Traditionally, football rivalries are based on proximity.

For example, just four miles separates the respective homes of Manchester United and Manchester City, while the venues of the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton are just 0.8 miles apart across Stanley Park.

However, not all rivalries are built on local bragging rights. Whether due to a bizarre one-off incident, significant periods of shared domestic dominance, or even the demise of a club, these are the six biggest non-local rivalries in English football today.

6

Liverpool v Manchester City

The rivalry between Manchester City and Liverpool is a relatively new one, having only come to fruition in the mid-2010s as the two clubs, under the respective guidance of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp – who briefly held a rivalry in Germany with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund – began to dominate English football.

Since 2017/18, one of the two teams has won every Premier League title, three out of seven FA Cups and six out of seven EFL Cups, while between them, they’ve also set six of the eight highest top-flight points totals since 1995.

There have been some feisty moments between them, including when Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez and Guardiola got into a war of words after a hard-fought 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium last year, but more than anything, this rivalry is known for its sheer quality.

“Liverpool versus Manchester City has become the greatest, most intense and highest-quality rivalry in English football history,” former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said back in 2022. “There is a uniqueness to it. This is the first time the two best teams in England are the two best teams in the world, led by the two greatest coaches of their generation.”

Ahead of Guardiola and Klopp’s final meeting in the Premier League last season, the Spanish coach said of his German counterpart: “Jurgen, as a manager, has been the biggest rival I’ve ever had in my career.

“I will remember my period here, when I’m retired watching and playing golf, I’ll remember my biggest rival was Liverpool, for sure.”

5

Leeds United v Manchester United

The Red Devils’ rivalry with Leeds United predates even their rivalry with Liverpool. In fact, to get to its roots, you’d have to go back over 500 years to the War of the Roses – a series of conflicts in a long-lasting civil war between the House of York and the House of Lancaster, which ended with the extinction of both and the birth of the Tudor dynasty.

Once that was done, the rivalry between the cities of Manchester and Leeds continued through the Industrial Revolution, as both competed for trade.

On the football pitch, however, things didn’t really start to get personal between United and Leeds until the 1965 FA Cup semi-final, which ended in a punch-up between United’s Denis Law and Leeds’ Jack Charlton. Though Leeds ended up winning the tie, United went on to clinch the First Division title by beating Leeds on goal average.

On the 78 occasions the two sides and their supporters have met since then, they’ve fought in a similarly bitter fashion.

4

Brighton v Crystal Palace

The London borough of Croydon, home to Crystal Palace, and the city of Brighton are some 41 miles apart, but that distance hasn’t stopped the two sides from disliking each other.

The rivalry began in the 1970s when Palace and Brighton began to play one another regularly, but reached a flashpoint in 1976 following a dramatic FA Cup tie, which was played at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, due to the first two games being drawn.

Palace won the game 1-0 after Brighton missed a penalty in the dying moments, and tensions boiled over at the final whistle when a Palace fan allegedly threw some tea at Brighton boss Alan Mullery. In response, Mullery infamously threw some coins at the ground in the direction of the fan and shouted: “That’s all Crystal Palace are worth!”

Since then, the two teams have met 46 more times – most recently in February 2024, when seven fans were arrested before the game, which Brighton won 4-1.

3

AFC Wimbledon v Milton Keynes Dons

The rivalry between AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons dates back to 2001, when Wimbledon’s board of directors made the controversial decision to relocate the club 56 miles away to Milton Keynes.

As a result, a number of disgruntled Dons fans formed a new club, AFC Wimbledon, in 2002. Wimbledon continued to play under the same name in Milton Keynes until 2003, when, shortly after going into administration, they were renamed MK Dons and given a new crest and kit.

The newly formed MK Dons initially claimed Wimbledon’s history, silverware and nickname, leading to further anger from AFC fans.

The silverware has since been returned to the London Borough of Merton, but the bitter rivalry between the two clubs, who both now play in League Two, remains.

Over the years, tempers have flared between both players and fans on numerous occasions, most recently in April of this year, when a mass brawl erupted at the final whistle. In the same game, Wimbledon midfielder Harry Pell kept also kicking balls at the MK Dons fans during the warm-up, which led to him being fined and banned by the FA.

2

Arsenal v Manchester United

Do Manchester United hate everyone? Or does everyone else hate Manchester United? Regardless, another of United’s non-local rivals are Arsenal, with whom they have endured (or enjoyed, depending on how you look at it) some fierce clashes over the years.

Between 1995/96 and 2003/04, United and Arsenal shared all nine Premier League titles on offer – United winning six, Arsenal three. They also finished behind one another in five of those years.

During that period, games between the two were often filled with heated exchanges, late challenges and plenty of drama, most notably in September 2003 at the “Battle of Old Trafford”, which saw the two sets of players involved in multiple mass melees, most notably at the final whistle when a posse of Arsenal players ran over to confront United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who earlier in the game was involved in the controversial sending-off of Patrick Vieira and had missed a last-minute penalty.

Arsenal and their players were later charged with improper conduct by the FA, who slapped the club with a record £175,000 fine.

The following meeting at Old Trafford wasn’t much smoother, with the Gunners’ unbeaten run coming to an end, controversial decisions made by referee Mike Riley and an infamous slice of pizza being thrown at Alex Ferguson in the tunnel post-match. This was – and is – a rivalry filled with genuine hatred.

1

Liverpool v Manchester United

Manchester City might be Manchester United’s closest rival, but Liverpool are no doubt their biggest.

The rivalry between United and Liverpool can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution and the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894, which was built so that Manchester could avoid importing raw materials through the port of Liverpool and the hefty costs that came with it.

That initial commercial competition extended onto the football pitch that same year, with the two sides meeting 243 times since.

The rivalry between the two clubs really began to hot up in the 1960s when Bill Shankly and Sir Matt Busby’s sides traded league titles in four successive seasons, though it was Liverpool who went on to dominate the 70s and 80s, winning 11 league titles in 20 years as United faded.

However, come the era of the Premier League and the arrival of Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, the tables turned, with United entering a golden age and Liverpool falling from grace. To date, United have 20 league titles to Liverpool’s 19. In terms of the weight of history, this match-up has to top the lot.