Who are your true rivals??

[Ban Fat Stan]

Honest truth is Barnet don't have any rivals.

We had a little bit of fun with Carlisle and also Bristol Rovers after winning the title but its short lived.

Unfortunately there is no other team apart from Enfield which is dead n buried.

There was a spell when we would tickle Northampton Towns tummies at their place every season which was a pleasure.

So answer is no, which is a shame

 

[Youpies]

Traditional rivals were Forest but it's been so long since our proper competitive derbys that we now basically play an annual friendly. Premier league clubs do this for money and TV but it does kill a derby, not quite the same.... I don't even really see them as rivals like a lot of old guard do. But being from the same city, it was always gonna happen

In recent years we have played stags a lot but it's more like going round to your cousin that you don't really like. He's really annoying, has ADHD, breaks your toys, has no appreciation for history and always beats you at the computer game you thought you were good at. Not really a rival, not really your mate. Just an inconvenience

 

[mowgli]

Haven't had a rivalry with another team since our Conference days in the early 1990's when it was Slough Town who are 10 miles from High Wycombe,we also had a spat with Colchester at the same time but that seems to have died out now. Some of our younger fans try and create a rivalry with Oxford but they mean nothing to most Wycombe or Oxford fans although our local rag calls it The M40 derby but they're over 20 miles away.

 

[Alan Partridge]

Inverness Caley Thistle.

Wankers!

 

[Casey]

When I started we had a rivalry with Hastings! That swapped to Dover (still mentioned in a song) with occasional side steps to Chelmsford and Fisher Athletic (wow! We've led the high life) but we're a bit out on our own now.

We've tried to get a couple of rivalries going but, let's be honest, nobody cares about us. Just a vague wish that we would go away.

Casey

 

[oakroader]

Dunstable town and Hitchin town....we always outnumber the home fans....

 

[Kenneth E End]

Well Barnet certainly don't come close on our radar...

 

[redjed]

Gotta be the pox, then the 2 Bristol clubs and then for us old uns. Gillingham, used to be a fixture that was looked forward to back in the 70s

 

[Luke Imp]

Agree with the Cods. Our rivalry is a relatively recent one because they generally played above us in the football pyramid and of course it depends on what local sides you play quite a lot whilst you're growing up. I grew up watching us play Scunthorpe and Boston a lot.

 

[Lambourn Red]

Cheltenham.

Massive derby [emoji1]

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[TrinidadsNumberOne]

I'm from the generation of Crewe fans who see Stoke as the enemy and my hatred for them is unrivalled. I wish relegation upon them every season and will still never forgive Andrew Barrowman for missing an open goal winner at the Shitannia in 2003.

Vale was my first ever away game (2002-03) and it certainly wasn't filled with any hatred. I liked them in fairness cos we signed Brammer from them and I knew Sagi Burton, Micky Cummins and later Hector Sam on a personal basis. The Shaun Miller penalty in 2009-10 brought a fair bit of disorder and violence to the fixture and that's where the recent hatred started. I always want to beat Vale but I'll never hate them like I hate Stoke.

I'm too young to remember the Chester and Wrexham rivalries but Stockport were traditional rivals too back in the day where we used to take good followings to each other and we took turns in relegating each other too in more recent times.

I'll never see Tranmere, Shrewsbury and Macclesfield as rivals. My Merseyside connections mean I'll always have a lot of respect for Tranmere despite playing them more times than any other league club, I'm very indifferent about Shrewsbury cos they made a fortune selling us their best players (of which most were duds) and until recently we hardly played them. I used to work with a few of their deluded fans who've only followed them since the new ground opened so I revelled in us virtually sending them down in 2014. Macc are a good honest non league club but beating us meant a lot to them and they always raised their game for us whenever we played them.

My old man remembers Walsall hating us for a short while because of Tony Naylor destroying them in the playoffs once too. In more recent times, we clashed with Wigan in the 2002-03 promotion season thanks to shite refs gifting Wigan decisions and Cardiff always caused trouble whenever they came to Crewe but again, I wouldn't class that as a rivalry at all.

 

[Randolph Haggerty]

I remember the days when we used to cheer when they read the local results and crewe had won and my old man used to take me the Alex when vale were away.
I've only ever met three crewe fans and all were sound and the lads on here seem a good bunch.
In saying that I do enjoy the crewe games they've usually got a bit of spice.
It's only stoke, and in honesty I don't hate them as much anymore, maybe age has mellowed me.

 

[lordofthepies]

I'm from the generation of Crewe fans who see Stoke as the enemy and my hatred for them is unrivalled. I wish relegation upon them every season and will still never forgive Andrew Barrowman for missing an open goal winner at the Shitannia in 2003.

It wasn't an open goal, he had the keeper to beat. Was helluva good chance though.

Wrexham were our main rivals when I was growing up, but the hatred of Stoke always lurked. I've always quite liked Vale and I've got a few friends who are Vale fans but the way a minority of their fans have behaved at some of our recent games has been awful. It's put me off going to games because I've got no interest in seeing that sort of thing.

 

[kieran_vale]

I remember the days when we used to cheer when they read the local results and crewe had won and my old man used to take me the Alex when vale were away.
I've only ever met three crewe fans and all were sound and the lads on here seem a good bunch.
In saying that I do enjoy the crewe games they've usually got a bit of spice.
It's only stoke, and in honesty I don't hate them as much anymore, maybe age has mellowed me.

Pretty much that. Never been that bothered about Crewe either way though one or two of their fans (and in reality that was all it was) did irritate with the way they were jumping for joy at the time we went into admin. Perfectly happy if they are successful so long as its not at Vales expense.

Even with Stoke it's been so long have just given up hoping to see that glorious day when they go back down from the Premier. If there was a season where them and West Brom (purely out of bitterness for that playoff final) dropped at the same time that would make me incredibly happy though.

 

[Indian Dan]

Gotta be the pox, then the 2 Bristol clubs and then for us old uns. Gillingham, used to be a fixture that was looked forward to back in the 70s

Did you go on the 'Saga' trip to Gillingham a few years back?

 

[North_Cheshire_Alex]

With the Alex it's a strange one, we are usually a local teams 2nd despised team, Vale hate Stoke then us, Wrexham & Chester hate each other then us, then there are your Tranmere's, Shrewsbury's, Wigan etc who are not far away and certainly have no love for us. The obvious rival for us is Stockport, they don't have a main rival (well guess they have several in their non league world) and neither do we, North Cheshire v South Cheshire, and I think it was the biggie back in the 60's from what people much older than me have told me.

As mentioned elsewhere Cardiff used to be a bit of a needle match, obviously not a derby but their fans and clubs were utter shite, they used to cause a fair bit of trouble but didn't always have it their own way.

Also, I guess age comes into it, fans aged 20-35 will have grown up with a serious dislike of Stoke, 35- 50 year olds will dislike the Vale, Chester, Wrexham, Stockport etc.

Me personally,

Well I do enjoy the derbies with the Potteries clubs, we all make out we are not bothered by each other, bollocks, we are bothered when it comes down to it, but I always disliked Wrexham the most, always hope Vale, Stoke, Chester, Shrewsbury beat them, hope everybody beats them, it';s not just because they are Welsh (I have a lot of respect for Newport and Swansea) but because they are wankers,both on and off the pitch, and they set off a bizarre nationalist frenzy in the normally placid folk of South Cheshire, some of the away followings we have took to Wrexham have been pure evil back in the 80's and early 90's, lads with no interest in football would tag along, and the same lads would would be at the home game.

 

[Laker]

Gotta be the pox, then the 2 Bristol clubs and then for us old uns. Gillingham, used to be a fixture that was looked forward to back in the 70s

Can you explain the Swindon/Gillingham thing to me? Seems like an unlikely rivalry.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Can you explain the Swindon/Gillingham thing to me? Seems like an unlikely rivalry.

Apparently it dates back from the 1986/87 play-off final between the two.

 

[Lambourn Red]

Gotta be the pox, then the 2 Bristol clubs and then for us old uns. Gillingham, used to be a fixture that was looked forward to back in the 70s

Depends what side of Swindon you live I hate reading far more than both brizzle teams although none compare to the yellow p1ss stained filth

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[AdamStag]

Can you explain the Swindon/Gillingham thing to me? Seems like an unlikely rivalry.

Bit like Brighton and Palace, completely random on the face of it

 

[rudebwoyben]

It's a bit like Brighton and Palace hating one another, seems a bit bizarre.

We've got plenty of sides that come in and out of being rivals - Rotherham was always big when I was younger, Lincoln and Grimsby


Bit like Brighton and Palace, completely random on the face of it

Not really. There weren't any league clubs in between the two when that rivalry started in the 70s.

 

[AdamStag]

Not really. There weren't any league clubs in between the two when that rivalry started in the 70s.

So Crystal Palace, in the middle of London - didn't have another club in the same league within 50 miles?

 

[Vanni]

I think Rudeboy's right, as that's what a Palace fan once told me when I asked. I remember him telling me that everybody asks the same question when they meet a Palace or Brighton fan. But, in all fairness,this Palace fan was only around 25? years old so maybe he didn't know the truth either, and had heard the story from someone else.

IOW, they were the closest clubs in the same division.

ps or maybe not, as this article shows -https://www.theguardian.com/football/football-league-blog/2011/sep/27/brighton-crystal-palace-rivalry

 

[AdamStag]

I think Rudeboy's right, as that's what a Palace fan once told me when I asked. I remember him telling me that everybody asks the same question when they meet a Palace or Brighton fan. But, in all fairness,this Palace fan was only around 25? years old so maybe he didn't know the truth either, and had heard the story from someone else.

IOW, they were the closest clubs in the same division.

ps or maybe not, as this article shows -https://www.theguardian.com/football/football-league-blog/2011/sep/27/brighton-crystal-palace-rivalry

I don't doubt what Rudeboy put, just an odd situation, would expect it if you're somewhere irrelevant like Carlisle , but not down there.

 

[Si Robin]

Didn't the Palace v Brighton one start because of the promotion battle between the clubs at the end of the 70s?

 

[rudebwoyben]

Palace is hardly situated in the middle of London. Their catchment area, Croydon, is on the way from the centre of London to the sunny South coast on the A23 and M23 as well as on the railway line. Those sorts of things reinforce their neighbourly (sic) bond.

I think they also both got promoted to the top division in 78/79 as mentioned above.

 

[Vanni]

On that Guardian article there's this interesting bit -

Rachid Harkouk, whom that Monday's Guardian described as "part Moroccan, part Maltese" but who was born in Chelsea and went on to play for Algeria in the 1986 World Cup, came off the bench to score a remarkable equaliser for Palace.

Then this follows -

It was remarkable not only because of its quality — he dribbled past two men before scoring — but because it was his first appearance for the club and came days after the end of a two-month FA ban for being sent off twice in a single game for his Sunday league team, Pinner Gas.

 

[oakroader]

Venables managing palace and mullery managing Brighton had issues between them dating back to their spurs days ....infighting over the captaincy....was a fuse waiting to be lit when they eventually faced each other after goading each other's fans....to be fair its only about 40 miles between them ...I reckon Brighton fans and palace fans are probably separated by less than that distance in reality via the m23 corridor

 

[rudebwoyben]

On that Guardian article there's this interesting bit -

Rachid Harkouk, whom that Monday's Guardian described as "part Moroccan, part Maltese" but who was born in Chelsea and went on to play for Algeria in the 1986 World Cup, came off the bench to score a remarkable equaliser for Palace.

Then this follows -

It was remarkable not only because of its quality — he dribbled past two men before scoring — but because it was his first appearance for the club and came days after the end of a two-month FA ban for being sent off twice in a single game for his Sunday league team, Pinner Gas.

He was a bit of a colourful character..he played for Algeria in the 1986 World Cup Finals and in 2011 was sentenced to 28 months in prison for drug dealing.

 

[Vanni]

He was a bit of a colourful character..he played for Algeria in the 1986 World Cup Finals and in 2011 was sentenced to 28 months in prison for drug dealing.

Well he was certainly colourful. Four national teams he could've have played for!