UK's Top local derbies

[Saint Without a Halo]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/24/the-knowledge-crystal-palace-brighton-closest-derby#img-1

 

I am sure this must have been posted before however the report produced in Sept 2014 above by the Guardian shows Saints have the highest success factor amongst the UK's top derbies with obviously the converse being Poopey having by far the worst success factor

 

I knew we were well ahead of them in first class league and cup matches but didn't realise no other team involved in top UK derbies has a success factor comparable to ours!

 

Will we ever play them again? I guess the cups are the only likely source of fixtures for some time to come!

[Griffo]

Poopey. Brilliant :lol:

[Pamplemousse]

If only there was a thread to discuss all matters about our fishy friends...

[david in sweden]

Of course, the close proximity has something to do with this but in truth in almost 100 years, we've rarely been in the same League.

 

60-odd years ago ; Pompey were a Div.1 side (read Prem.) who'd won both League title and a pre-war FA Cup.

 

In the late 1940's Saints had failed (several times) to get out of Div.2 and would soon go down the Div.3 South.

Afterwards, when we started back up, Pompey were on the way down, and so it has been since (with rare exception). Hence the low instance of meetings. (only 28 times was it)?

 

The "animosity" between the sets of fans seems to have come sometime after the 1950's (?)..but my late father, (a Saints fan in the pre/post WW2 era) said that some fans weren't against the idea of travelling down to Fratton Park to watch a match, on those occasions that Saints played "long distance" away games.

[VectisSaint]

The "animosity" between the sets of fans seems to have come sometime after the 1950's (?)

More like the early 70s David. No animosity that I recall in the 60s when I first started going. Many people still went to Saints and Pompey games on alternate weeks in those days. I went to quite a few Pompey games in the mid 70s, though to be fair I did usually go in the away end. The animosity then was reserved much more for Spurs - my dislike of them remains to this day.

[david in sweden]

More like the early 70s David. No animosity that I recall in the 60s when I first started going.

Many people still went to Saints and Pompey games on alternate weeks in those days. I went to quite a few Pompey games in the mid 70s, though to be fair I did usually go in the away end. The animosity then was reserved much more for Spurs - my dislike of them remains to this day.

 

Hard to recall myself exactly Vectis, but I think the "battles " between Terry Paine and Pompey's Roy Lunnis in the early 60's did a lot to fuel that particular fire.

As I recall Lunnis was a 6'4" ex-Marine, who would have done well in any Vinnie Jones team, but it didn't stop Terry from giving as good as he got when they clashed.

 

there was also the incident when, after Jimmie Dickinson's immaculate career was over, his aspiring young replacement..Vince Radcliffe? made an very ill-timed tackle on Cliff Huxford in a derby game....and was stretchered off with a double leg break. That didn't go down well with Pompey fans, although it was a complete accident.

Huxford, a very pleasant man off the field, was one of the toughest players I ever saw play for Saints, didn't even flinch from the lad's poor challenge.

 

I'm also "dislike " Spurs (my - aren't we being polite) ....although ironically... I found myself willing them to get the 3 points at Anfield yesterday.

I'm dreading the thought that they might win the title ahead of Leicester because, even in Stockholm, I'll probably meet a Spurs fan who crept out of the woodwork.

Edited 3 April, 2016 by david in sweden