BLOG – Rivalries in Football – Gas2Ignition – 22/02/2018 – Filip Mac.
Rivalries in Football
Rivalries in football are one of the many reasons why football is the most popular sport around the world. Especially in football, rivalries often encourage players to give that extra incentive and perform even better both individually and as a unit on that specific match day, this is usually because players are prone to being dragged into a rivalry fever which pumps them up by the atmosphere created by the fans in the build up to the game and then in the stadium. A positive result in a game against a rival can turn a season around for a team and completely change the dressing room atmosphere for better leading to a better remainder of the season. However we have to acknowledge the facts there are also downsides to rivalries. Big rivalries often result in a very aggressive game with a lot of encounters which can be very difficult of officiate. There is also a downside when it comes to how the teams approach those games because teams that only focus on beating their rivals can forget about the process of how to get there. Overall Rivalries are important for competition, but if taken too far they can be detrimental. The biggest football rivalries in football are mostly found in European competitions.
El Clásico
Arguably the Biggest Rivalry in the world of football is El Clásico. Played between Real Madrid and Barcelona this rivalry is more than just a rivalry on the pitch. Although for foreign fans it’s a match packed full of World Class players on both teams so they watch it purely for the quality and their favourite football players , it is also a huge rivalry on political grounds especially for people who are Spanish or have a Spanish background. Real Madrid has always been seen as a symbol of Spanish pride and nationalism. Most ‘Madridistas’ in Spain are Castilians who share relatively conservative political and social views. Most Real Madrid fans in Spain are loyal to the monarchy and continue to value monarchical traditions. Whereas Barcelona followers are very much opposite in political and social viewpoints. Catalans prefer democracy to any kind of monarchical rule. They have more liberal political and social views; they see Catalonia as an unrecognized country. When these two teams that represent differing social and political viewpoints collide, Spain is divided and El Clásico becomes more than a derby.
Old Firm Derby
The only comparable rivalry that takes place in UK is the ‘Old Firm Derby’ played between Celtic and Rangers. Although this rivalry isn’t as recognised around a world it’s widely recognised as one of the biggest if not the biggest rivalry in UK. This derby was originally a fierce rivalry on religious grounds, Celtic being the Catholic club and Rangers being the Protestant. Although nowadays the hatred based on religious beliefs isn’t as clear and followed the common hate for each other has remained purely for competitive reasons. Celtic and Rangers are the most successful teams in the UK judging by domestic titles. This rivalry creates sort of an Auora around Scottish Premier League which is not present in any other game in that league. For years, this encounter was somewhat the only reason the league was interesting and provided some kind of surprise as to who was going to win the title. The financial bankruptcy problems which saw Rangers relegated to the fourth tier of Scottish football league system created a problem for the Scottish Premier league as it was effectively bound to be dominated by Celtic and is still dominated by Celtic to this day.
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