East Lancashire derby

The East Lancashire derby, also known as the Cotton Mills derby is an association football rivalry between Blackburn Rovers and Burnley. The rivalry nickname originates from the fact that both Blackburn and Burnley are former mill towns and close geographic rivals as the two Lancashire towns only lie 11 miles (18 km) apart.

Following the founding of Turton F.C. in Edgworth in 1871, several further football clubs were formed in East Lancashire over the next decade including Blackburn Rovers in 1875, Accrington in 1876 and Burnley in 1882. Rovers and Burnley played each other for the first time in September 1884 in a friendly match, with Blackburn winning 4–2. Between 1884 and 1888, the clubs met thirteen times, with Burnley winning seven matches and Rovers four. The first competitive league game between these two founder members of the Football League and former English football champions, took place at Turf Moor in November 1888, with Blackburn winning 7–1, their biggest win in the derby. Burnley's largest derby victory is a 6–0 win recorded in April 1896.

Due to the clubs routinely being in different divisions the rivalry has had periods of dormancy. After initially seeing each other on a regular basis between 1880 and 1940, the clubs subsequently met only sporadically outside the 60's, 70's until the 2010's when both sides more consistently shared a division. The clubs in total have since met over 100 times in all senior competitions, with over 170 meetings total when including historic or minor competitions. Burnley hold the better head-to-head record, as the side have won 45 games to Blackburn's 41 in major competitions, while Burnley have won 71 games to Blackburn's 65 when including matches played in regional competitions such as the Lancashire Cup.

Fans and local press have dubbed the game in recent years the "El Lanclasico".