1 West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers
2 Ipswich Town and Norwich City
3 Liverpool and Manchester United
4 Portsmouth and Southampton
5 Cardiff City and Swansea City
6 Aston Villa and Birmingham City
7 Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday
8 Bristol City and Bristol Rovers
9 Newcastle United and Sunderland
10 Brighton and Crystal Palace
11 Derby County and Nottingham Forest
12 Blackpool and Preston North End
13 Darlington and Hartlepool United
14 Luton Town and Watford
15 Blackburn Rovers and Burnley
16 Port Vale and Stoke City
17 Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur
18 Grimsby Town and S****horpe United
19 Everton and Liverpool
20 Leeds United and Manchester United
21 Chester City and Wrexham
22 Chesterfield and Mansfield Town
23 Northampton T and Peterborough United
24 Bury and Rochdale
25 Manchester City and Manchester United
26 Coventry City and Leicester City
27 Millwall and West Ham United
28 Accrington Stanley and Morecambe
29 Colchester United and Southend United
30 Macclesfield Town and Stockport

Courtesy of http://www.footballpools.com/football-f ... eague.html

I didn't realise that you and Darlo had such a bad rivalry. I knew you were rivals, but c'mon bigger than Arsenal V Spurs?

The rivalry between Pools and Darlo is as intense as anything else in British football - seriously. The only argument I would have with that table is how they define 'biggest'. If its in terms of intensity then we're up there with Celtic/Rangers or Newcastle/Sunderland. If its on numbers then we wouldn't register.

This is one thing, perhaps the only thing, that us and them down the road would agree on.

edit: we'd agree that Cyril Knowles was a great manager too. Can't thing of anything else.

I wanna know where the 12 before us came from....

On that site it came from it says that it's based on how nearby they are, how many times they've met, a survey etc. But I agree, it's pretty silly as I don't see Scunny's rivalry with Grimsby being bigger than the Merseyside derby. Also i I don't agree with #1 as I think that should be Man U V Liverpool. Also each club will define their rivalry as bigger than another club's rivalry

I'd have said, from speaking to supporters of the sides concerned, that the most intense rivalries (fook knows what *biggest* means) in league football are (in no particular order) West Brom/Wolves, Mags/Macks, Pools/Darlo, Cardiff/Bristol C., Notts Co./Mansfield (whoops! no longer in the league), Luton/Watford, Chester/Wrexham (whoops again), ... and that's about it. I'm not including Scun/Grim because in recent history they've hardly ever played each other. I think the rest of the pairs in the list are made up.
I mean can you really imagine Posh and Northampton getting into a serious hate relationship??

The merseyside one is a misnomer; they both have the other as their second team and reserve their hatred for Man U / Leeds.

Yep, and it's Derby/Leicester, not so much Forest, and Mansfield/Chesterfield, from someone who used to live in the area.

Oh aye, and Worksop/Gainsborough.

Write up from the site:

13. Darlington and Hartlepool United
Based on the fans' survey alone, you could argue this is a bigger rivalry than Newcastle United and Sunderland up the road, as 95 per cent of supporters across both clubs named each other as their bitterest rivals, while fans of the Premiership rivals could muster a relatively lacklustre 90 per cent.

Given that these two clubs have spent the majority of their existence in the bottom two divisions of the Football League, it's no surprise they've met on 147 occasions since 1921.

And over those 80-odd years, the argument over who's biggest - and who's best - has d on. On the basis of the derby games, it would be impossible to choose between the two. Hartlepool edge it overall, with 60 wins to Darlo's 57, but Darlington have scored more goals. Hardly settles the argument either way.

Hartlepool's promotion to League One at the end of last season means there are no derby clashes this season - only the fifth time in the past 20 seasons that the Teesside rivals won't have met.

The last encounter was at the Darlington Arena last March in front of more than 10,000 fans. Hartlepool arrived with a record-equalling run of 21 games unbeaten, while the Quakers were undefeated in 12, so something had to give. In the end, Hartlepool ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, thanks in no small part to two-goal hero Eifion Williams.

The win over their local rivals helped extend Pool's position at the top to five points, and despite late-season jitters - during which time Walsall took over top spot - they still achieved automatic promotion.

It was a painful result for the Darlington faithful, who have only seen their side beat Hartlepool in a League game once since 1999.

I guess it's because even though we were 2 divisions above them last season, we still sang the 'we 8 codheads' and 'if I had the wings of a sparrow' songs. I remember the last game of the 03/04 season when we were losing 1-0 at home to Darlo and it was a glum season. We finished 22nd but when our fans heard that Grimsby got relegated we sang 'the codheads are coming down.' Codheads being our nickname for Grimsby.

On your made up rivalries I agree for the most part, since when were Accrington and Morecambe rivals? But you missed out Bury and Rochdale. That's a biggish rivalry I think.

for it to be a real intense rivalry, it has to be a two-way thing.
For instance Colchester's most hated team is Ipswich, but Ipswich's most hated team is Norwich.

Pools/Darlo is EASILY one of the fiercest rivalries in football. If you've ever been to a Pools/ Darlo match you won't need anybody to tell you what it's like - you'll see it and feel it.

Another factor is that inter-town/city derbies are far more fierce because generally speaking, the fans don't mix or see each other in their every day lives - therefore it's "easier" to hate the opposition more than it is for a same-city match , let's say the Sheffield derby, where the rivals might work with each other day in day out.

maybe Man U don't hate Leeds as much as Leeds hate them. ManU will hate Liverpool more

Unrequited hatred.

It'll be marked down on distance.

Thanks for that, it was a well written, knowledgable piece. I liked the bit where you said that it would have been terrible if you were born 20 miles to the west.

I could be wrong, but I would imagine the hatred of Hull is greater to Grimsby fans, than the hatred of Scunthorpe to Grimsby fans?
I know Scunthorpe's and Lincoln's most hated team is Grimsby, yet Grimsby's most hated rivals don't seem to be either, despite being in the same county.
Hull/Grimsby seems to me to be the most intense rivalry round your parts historically

The last encounter was at the Darlington Arena last March in front of more than 10,000 fans. Hartlepool arrived with a record-equalling run of 21 games unbeaten,


10,000 fans

Na, the Grimsby fans regard us as their main rivals. There was some survey on team's rivals a few years ago. And the Grimsby fans regarded us as their main rivals. But the Humber derby is still big to both clubs. Hull will be there's and is our 2nd biggest rivalry.

I have looked on Hull, Grimsby and Scunny boards and there's no real 'hatred' between Hull and Grimsby. In fact Grimsby fans were wishing them best of luck this season. However Grimsby and Scunny fans constantly plague each other's boards with 'your going down by Christmas' etc.

I found that survey. Here are Grimsby's main rivals;

Club Grimsby Town
Main Rival Scunthorpe
Second Rival Hull City
Third Rival Sheff Wed

How can you be rivals with a team from a different division?

Manchester United are there to be hated, not to hate!

Anyone on here who has a facebook account might want to make their hatred official.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6572123709

If Liverpoool are more up your street, try this; hating them seems to be only half as popular as hating Unoiyted so perhaps you can help them catch up.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7778215987

I would consider the other 23 teams in div 4 as darlo's rivals.

You were always the aggressive type, Sarf...

I do get a nosebleed whilst on this forum

My rivals are Arsenal, no one else

Moi

I'm a pussycat

Sorry to go on but here's more proof Scunny's Grimsby's most hated rival

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-14568340.html

I don't know how Lincoln are their 2nd rival though.

cant see why leeds manure and millwall west ham are below us