Clubs with no real rivals

[accies1874]

I know a lot of Motherwell fans and none of them give a flying f**k about Hamilton Accies. They view it more as a convenient away game than an actual rivalry.
Airdrie have ceased to be a thing that anyone ever bothers about, Albion Rovers won't cut it. Not much for Motherwell to bother about really.

The two young teams seem to like the Lanarkshire Derby which gives it a bit of... something, but I don't really have any reason to dislike Motherwell.

I'd say Dundee have become our main rivals but United are obviously theirs.

Playing teams three/four/five times a season really hampers "rivalries" though.

[Derry Alli]

So far we've had two St Johnstone fans claiming Dundee fans would turn up, one indeed said we "slaver" over them. Yet here they sit, cold and lonely. 

A Dundee United fan claim Aberdeen (and 'New Firm' mintertastic line) were their biggest rivals. 

A Hamilton fan even wants to be our rival. 

[thekorean]

West Ham. We are too shite to be considered rivals to other London clubs. Except Palace but we don’t care about them. And we never play Millwall anymore.

[mizfit]

Yeovil Town?

Not sure of any other side surrounding them.

[senorsoupe]

3 hours ago, mizfit said:

Yeovil Town?

Not sure of any other side surrounding them.

They used to have a rivalry with Weymouth when they were both in the same division, Yeovil have moved so much up and down the divisions that they don't have much in the way of steady rivals in their area

Edited November 3, 2019 by senorsoupe

[Herman Hessian]

13 hours ago, senorsoupe said:

They used to have a rivalry with Weymouth when they were both in the same division, Yeovil have moved so much up and down the divisions that they don't have much in the way of steady rivals in their area

that's very much second to Dorchester Town from the Weymouth perspective, though - those two were the regular Bank Holiday derby participants and used to tip up in the Southern League in front of crowds of several thousand; there's nothing more pathetic in football than a 'rivalry' which isn't as deeply-felt on both sides - Rovers are probably the best (worst ?) example, as they've got Barnsley, Rotherham and Scunthorpe all close at hand, and all of whom would list other clubs as bigger rivals; the Rovers lot cannot even decide which one of those three they dislike the most...

[Jacksgranda]

What about Tranmere Rovers, who would be their rivals?

[BFTD]

8 minutes ago, Jacksgranda said:

What about Tranmere Rovers, who would be their rivals?

I mind someone in the '90s telling me it was all about Everton for them.

No doubt the Toffees are mightily impatient for them to break into the Premier League and renew one of Europe's great rivalries.

[Jacksgranda]

7 minutes ago, BigFatTabbyDave said:

I mind someone in the '90s telling me it was all about Everton for them.

No doubt the Toffees are mightily impatient for them to break into the Premier League and renew one of Europe's great rivalries.

Maybe Everton will oblige them by going in the opposite direction...

[Adamski]

I started going to Queens games in the late 1980s. Kilmarnock were probably the team that Queens fans viewed as their biggest rivals, although that probably wasn't mutual, and the two teams have rarely played each other since then.

In the 1990s it was definitely Stranraer - a high point for them on the field coinciding with bleak times for Queens, with some real pantomime villains in the Stranraer team: McAnespie, Barney Duffy and the like. It definitely had edge to it, and I've met some Stranraer fans that properly hated Queens in a way that probably wasn't reciprocated. There's a Stranraer fan I've seen at Scotland games who has 'I hate Dumfries' tattooed on him. Again, games against Stranraer have been a rarity since about 2002, and I'd be surprised if many people on either side remain that bothered.

Then came Gretna - I'm not sure if I saw them as much rivals as a direct threat to Queens' existence. If I'd grown up in Kilmarnock or Stranraer I'd have probably ended up supporting them - I'd say most people who end up following a Scottish team probably 'get' each others motivations, etc. But this lot were different - I viewed the fans as total glory hunters, was completely frustrated by the way the press constantly fawned over them and hyped Rowan Alexander up as a tactical genius, and was I happy to see them go. The games were tastier than any other I've experienced as a Queens fan though - proper needle, and beating them 3-0 at Raydale,  and Rowan Alexander subsequently getting put on gardening leave was a 'get it right up you' moment like no other. I'd say more than any other that was the day the wheels started coming off the who 'living the dream' nonsense.

Now though - for rivals? Really not sure.

Edited November 4, 2019 by Adamski

[BFTD]

1 minute ago, Jacksgranda said:

Maybe Everton will oblige them by going in the opposite direction...

This came up during the brief period where Tranmere were flirting with the Premiership promotion play-offs and Everton were threatening to pass them on the way down. Clubs don't really come any more boring than Everton. The Coventry City of the 21st Century, only without the trophy.

Unrelated, but I spent some time in Cheshire in the late '90s. No matter how many league titles or Champions Leagues they win, there'll always be a part of England where the mention of Manchester Citeh will always bring the response, "Macclesfield, eh? Stockport too tough for you? Had to switch to playing Macclesfield."

"Macclesfield."

[Herman Hessian]

27 minutes ago, Jacksgranda said:

What about Tranmere Rovers, who would be their rivals?

they're pretty grounded as to who they get worked up - no idiot pretensions of rivalries with Everton or Liverpool; it's Wrexham, Chester and Southport, in that order - but Wrexham and Chester have got their own far more intense rivalry going on; of current EFL clubs, when Tranmere were on the up back in the early 90's, they had a few tasty games against Bolton (play off final), and I would guess that that's the game they have circled for the current season...

[Connor1874]

On 04/11/2019 at 09:51, Jacksgranda said:

What about Tranmere Rovers, who would be their rivals?

Don't know the history, but Tranmere fans seemed to be the only ones who took great joy in seeing Bury go under.

[Connor1874]

Gillingham. Sure I've read that in a survey, most of their fans claimed the team they hated most was Millwall, but no one really recalls a real reason why, and Millwall certainly don't care about them.

Can't imagine Cambridge or Colchester have much in the way of rivalry. Colchester vs Southend maybe as the only 2 professional Essex clubs, but they're still quite a bit away, and think Colchester are almost in Suffolk. Not sure about Peterborough United actually. Quite a few teams in that part of the world, but the only rivalry I would really know of is Ipswich vs Norwich.

Then there's the South coast. The bizarre rivalry of Brighton vs Palace is a thing, but aside from that, Brighton wouldn't really have a rival I don't think. And then there's Bournemouth, who try to latch on to Southampton, even though Saints fans don't care at all.

Imagine there's plenty big French clubs. Like Germany, most cities are one club cities, but they don't really have the same fan culture as Germany.

Germany itself, Hoffenheim as mentioned don't really have one due to being a relatively modern club in terms of where they are, while Leipzig probably can't lend their name to a real rivalry from their end. Although both clubs have no shortage of haters. What about Hertha Berlin too? Don't think a rivalry with Union has taken off yet. Sure Union will want to be the best in the city, but I don't think there's real organic rivalry. Union seem to have more interest in Dresden or Rostock. Whereas Hertha, I just can't recall being involved in any real rivalry clashes.

[LondonHMFC]

On ‎04‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 09:43, Herman Hessian said:

that's very much second to Dorchester Town from the Weymouth perspective, though - those two were the regular Bank Holiday derby participants and used to tip up in the Southern League in front of crowds of several thousand; there's nothing more pathetic in football than a 'rivalry' which isn't as deeply-felt on both sides 

Dorch V Weymouth started getting really heated in recent years. Was quite a serious brawl after a Boxing Day fixture a couple years back where a Weymouth fan was kicked unconscious. 

Always enjoyed this video, just for the lad taking a massive nose dive. 

[AyrTroopMajor]

10 minutes ago, Connor1874 said:

What about Hertha Berlin too? Don't think a rivalry with Union has taken off yet. Sure Union will want to be the best in the city, but I don't think there's real organic rivalry. Union seem to have more interest in Dresden or Rostock. Whereas Hertha, I just can't recall being involved in any real rivalry clashes.

The Berlin derby has potential if Union can retain Bundesliga status beyond this season. Certainly seemed to be a reasonable degree of animosity between both sets of fans on Saturday with Hertha fans launching a rocket into the Union dugout among other incidents. The 'friendly' relationship between the two seems to be eroding.

[Jacksgranda]

27 minutes ago, LondonHMFC said:

Dorch V Weymouth started getting really heated in recent years. Was quite a serious brawl after a Boxing Day fixture a couple years back where a Weymouth fan was kicked unconscious. 

 

Is that not a prerequisite of being a Weymouth fan?

[tree house tam]

I think you all need to look up what a rival is.

[Connor1874]

1 hour ago, AyrTroopMajor said:

The Berlin derby has potential if Union can retain Bundesliga status beyond this season. Certainly seemed to be a reasonable degree of animosity between both sets of fans on Saturday with Hertha fans launching a rocket into the Union dugout among other incidents. The 'friendly' relationship between the two seems to be eroding.

Yeah I guess if it comes to a point where there's a genuine conflict of interests then it will spiral into something. 

[atfccfc]

6 hours ago, Connor1874 said:

Gillingham. Sure I've read that in a survey, most of their fans claimed the team they hated most was Millwall, but no one really recalls a real reason why, and Millwall certainly don't care about them.

Can't imagine Cambridge or Colchester have much in the way of rivalry. Colchester vs Southend maybe as the only 2 professional Essex clubs, but they're still quite a bit away, and think Colchester are almost in Suffolk. Not sure about Peterborough United actually. Quite a few teams in that part of the world, but the only rivalry I would really know of is Ipswich vs Norwich.

Then there's the South coast. The bizarre rivalry of Brighton vs Palace is a thing, but aside from that, Brighton wouldn't really have a rival I don't think. And then there's Bournemouth, who try to latch on to Southampton, even though Saints fans don't care at all.

Imagine there's plenty big French clubs. Like Germany, most cities are one club cities, but they don't really have the same fan culture as Germany.

Germany itself, Hoffenheim as mentioned don't really have one due to being a relatively modern club in terms of where they are, while Leipzig probably can't lend their name to a real rivalry from their end. Although both clubs have no shortage of haters. What about Hertha Berlin too? Don't think a rivalry with Union has taken off yet. Sure Union will want to be the best in the city, but I don't think there's real organic rivalry. Union seem to have more interest in Dresden or Rostock. Whereas Hertha, I just can't recall being involved in any real rivalry clashes.

I'm sure Cambridge United and Peterborough united are/were rivals with each other.