The derbies, the rivalries, the stadiums you need to experience, the games you need to see before you die: FourFourTwo presents football's biggest fixtures...
Overview
Football is a competitive game. We measure our progress against others, in leagues and cups, and the general idea is to win. But some wins are better than others.
There’s no feeling quite like a victory in a derby match against your nearest and most-hated opponents. Sometimes it can help to win a league or cup, on other occasions it might seal your promotion or their relegation, but there’s no such thing as a meaningless derby.
These are the games that decide who laughs last and loudest in the office, classroom, shop-floor and forum. These are the games you love to win and hate to lose. They can make or break your season – longer, if you’re in different divisions.
A quick note on inclusion rules. We've stuck to club teams, deciding to deal with international rivalries in a separate feature. We haven’t chosen any team twice: no matter how many foes you despise (or how widely hated you are), you’re only allowed one mortal enemy. The vast majority of these derby rivals are geographically close – the same city or the one just up the road – but there are some exceptions (you can probably name one or two immediately). Oh, and for each fixture we've listed the teams in alphabetical order: no, we don't think they're a bigger team than you.
The list will be revealed over the course of the week, with plenty of other features to keep you going – including dozens of new uploads from our much-loved More Than A Game features, in which we get onto the terrace and under the skin of a crunch fixture. All that and more will be revealed as we go along so feel free to have your say on #FFTderbies via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The list
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Gary Parkinson is a freelance writer, editor, trainer, muso, singer, actor and coach. He spent 14 years at FourFourTwo as the Global Digital Editor and continues to regularly contribute to the magazine and website, including major features on Euro 96, Subbuteo, Robert Maxwell and the inside story of Liverpool's 1990 title win. He is also a Bolton Wanderers fan.
