Top 3 Biggest Derbies In English Football Featuring West Ham And Millwall

English Football is never short of derbies! Tackles fly in, fingers are raised, heads are pressed together and cries ring out, but most of all, the intensity never ever wavers a bit and remains the same throughout the match. Countless number of Derbies are played in England but today, we’re going to take you on a journey explaining the top 3 biggest derbies of English Football!

1) Swansea City vs Cardiff City

This South Wales derby is often regarded as one of the most fiercest derbies. The first match between the clubs was played 3 years and a century back in 1912, where the match ended 1-1 in the Southern Football League Division 2. Since then, the clubs came into the picture fighting to get into the national league and several times they met in the Welsh Cup or in the league itself.

Although in recent years the hooligan violence has come down largely, any fixture involving these two can still witness the trouble. The sides don’t meet often now because Cardiff is languishing in the championship with another season to come while their derby rivals Swansea, on the other hand have stayed up successfully in the Premier League and they wish to have another good campaign in the top flight.

I’ve said it as a fact that this is indeed one of the fiercest derbies ever and let me give you an instance of why it is so. In the first derby of 2009/2010 season, The Liberty Stadium witnessed a 3-2 victory over their bitter foes and then after the game, over a 100 of Swansea fans waited for the Cardiff supporters to depart and this was a huge sign of trouble with public chaos involved and it led to 15 arrests on that particular day! Cardiff fans on the other hand vandalized the North Stand of the Liberty Stadium with Seats and toilets being damaged, pipe work ripped apart and the doors bashed down completely!

The very last derby played between these two was during the first game of ex-Swansea manager Gary Monk where the men in white triumphed comfortable over the foes with a 3-0 scoreline.

England wouldn’t like to see this Derby lose it’s name and hence I seriously hope these two clubs meet soon.

2) Sunderland vs Newcastle United

The Tyne-Wear derby, also known as the North East derby emerged even before the
turn of the 20^th century and this is one such derby that goes beyond the game of Football. The first match between the sides was played in 1883 and now in the recent fixtures, Sunderland have dominated Newcastle by going on a seven match unbeaten streak, but little of that matters altogether statistically because both the sides have had 53 wins in the derby so far and have shared 49 draws!

There have been many notable events linked with the clubs and their history, but the one that really catches my eye and highlights the importance of the match is seen in the event of 1999 when Alan Shearer and Duncan Ferguson were dropped to the Newcastle bench by Gullit ahead of the Tyne-Wear derby and Sunderland defeated Newcastle 1-2 but the outrage from the Newcastle fans was so much that Gullit resigned as coach before the next game of Newcastle!

The Wear–Tyne derby has experienced incidents of Football Hooliganism. In 1990, as Sunderland led the playoff semi final 2–0, some Newcastle fans entered the pitch, in the hope of getting the match abandoned. There were 160 arrests in connection with a game in 2001. In 2008, after Sunderland beat Newcastle at home for the first time in 28 years, there was a small pitch invasion by Sunderland fans, and missiles were thrown at Newcastle midfielder Barton although manager Roy Keane played down the seriousness of the incident. On 16 January 2011 in the FA Premier League  clash at the Stadium of Light, a 17-year-old Sunderland fan ran onto the pitch and pushed over Newcastle goalkeeper Haper, and was among 24 people who were arrested in connection with a string of hooligan incidents at the game. However, incidents of violence are not as common as sometimes suggested – for example, Sunderland were awarded the best behaved fans’ award for the 2010–11 season, despite the derby day arrests.

On 14 April 2013, some Newcastle United fans rioted in the streets of Newcastle-upon Tyne- following the 3–0 defeat by Sunderland at St. James’ Park, with one fan’s attack on a police horse gaining international media attention. Four police officers were injured and 29 arrests made. Confrontation between fans of the rival teams at Newcastle’s Central Station was shown in the series All Aboard: East Coast Trains in an episode entitled Derby Day.

Both the North East clubs are struggling in the league now and are fighting in the bottom 3 to avoid the drop and hence it only adds up to the spice if one goes down and the other bitter foe stays up!

3) West Ham vs Millwall

With the clubs being just 3 miles apart during the initial years, this is another rivalry and derby that found it’s intensity not only due to footballing reasons, but it specifically caught fire due to the labour developments near the River Thames in the East London of England.

They first played against each other in the  of the 1889-1900 FA CUP. In 2010 Millwall moved south of the River Thames and the teams were no longer East London neighbors. Even so, the derbies retained their passion and both sets of supporters still consider the other club their main rival. Before the First World War the teams met 60 times in just 16 years, mostly in  Southern and Western Football Leagues. The teams have usually competed in different divisions since, spending only 12 seasons in the same tier of the Football League. They have played a total of 39 times in league and cup competitions since 1916.

Violence has occurred sporadically between the fans, once resulting in the death of a Millwall supporter in 1976. Most recently in the 2009  Upton Park riot widespread disorder between supporters in and around West Ham’s Boleyn ground led to numerous injuries and a Millwall fan being stabbed before the match began.

In the last two games between the sides in the 2011-2012, the Metropolitan Police implemented London-wide operations to ensure the games are trouble-free. As of the 2015-2016 season, West Ham play in the Premier League and Millwall play in the Football League 1 tier,  two tiers below.