List of sports rivalries

A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees.

One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and the Greens, and the minor teams of the Reds and Whites, each of which were chariot racing clubs competing at the Hippodrome in Constantinople. The rivalry took on political tones as well, coming close to deposing the Roman Emperor Justinian in 532 CE in a riot and the suppression of the riot killed tens of thousands of people.

Owners have been known to encourage rivalries as they tend to improve game attendance and television ratings for rivalry matches. Clubs can reduce fan aggression surrounding rivalry games by acknowledging rather than downplaying the conflict because the rivalry is an integral part of fan identity.

Games between two rivals that are based in areas of close geographical proximity are often known as a local derby, or simply just a derby (UK: /ˈdɑːrbi/ DAR-bee, US: /ˈdɜːrbi/ DUR-bee); a sporting event between two teams from the same town, city or region. In modern usage the term is usually connected with association football and the media and supporters will often refer to this fixture as "Derby Day". However, and unsurprisingly, the first recorded use of the term was to refer to major provincial horse races from a time when the Epsom Derby, was not only England’s major sporting event but also a huge social occasion.

For example, the Western Times, 2 June 1860, refers to a race meeting at Haldon, Exeter, as their "local Derby Day." The Hull Packet, 31 May 1861, calls the Beverley, Hull and East Riding Races "our local Derby." It would appear that the term was already in use elsewhere in the world - The Ballarat Star (Victoria, Australia), 6 December 1860 edition, mentions that races in Dowling Forest were "the local Derby day."

The metaphor evidently seeped into common usage, as non-racing events also earned the epithet. An athletic club fete in Croydon (Norwood News, 22 May 1869), a rowing regatta at Bathgate, Scotland (Lothian Courier, 26 September 1874) and even a hotly-contested local government election (Croydon Advertiser, 27 February 1875) were all described as a local Derby.

As club football (Rugby and Association codes) gained popularity in the 1870s and 1880s the phrase migrated to that pastime. The Preston Herald of 14 March 1883 said of a fixture between Low Moor and Clitheroe that "when it becomes known that the clubs are likely to meet, popular feeling runs high - so high, in fact, that the occasional is recognised as the local Derby day".

The Epsom Derby being an annual event, early usage tended to refer only to the biggest occasion of the year in a certain location - the Widnes Weekly News (16 March 1889) was moved to describe a match between Widnes FC and the touring New Zealand Native touring rugby team as "the great day of the season at Widnes - the local Derby." However, in football terms, the emphasis in the phrase had already shifted from the Derby aspect (a red letter day in the sporting or social calendar) to the local element - any football match involving nearby clubs, no matter how relatively unimportant the fixture might otherwise be. Hence the Burnley Express (15 December 1888) felt able to report that "for three weeks in succession the Langroyd team will be engaged in local "Derbies." First of all, Union Star; then Nelson, at Seed Hill; and afterwards Brierfield at Colne."

In rugby football, an early example of the term for that code appears in the Wigan Observer of 11 December 1885 which noted that "the local "Derby" in the football circles of Pemberton was brought off on Saturday last, when Highfield and Pemberton met."

Since at least as early as 1840 'derby' has been used as a noun in English to denote any kind of sporting contest. Other names for derbies include Clásicos in certain parts of the world and crosstown rivalries in the United States.

The intensity of the rivalry can range anywhere from a light hearted banter to serious violence. A rivalry that gets out of control can lead to fighting, hooliganism, rioting and some instances with career-ending and even fatal consequences. In the "Football War", along with other factors, it was suggested to have been the tipping point in leading to military conflicts.

Rivalries do not always stem from the sharing of an area. Hostilities can occur for different reasons, such as in the case of El Clásico with tensions between fans with a background of political differences. Frequent meetings in important games between teams can also lead to unpleasantries.