In the north, the most publicized derby
North London plays host to the most talked-about derby in the world, the North London Derby. It's both high-profile and historic, as Arsenal and Tottenham have been battling it out for the lead since... 1913. That's the date when Arsenal moved to the North and its mythical Highbury stadium, finally demolished in 2006 when the team moved to Emirates Stadium. The stadium can be visited, after saluting the statue of Thierry Henry on the forecourt, and is also home to the club's museum. As Highbury is located 6 km from White Hart Lane, Tottenham's stadium, it was this geographical proximity that created the antagonism between the two. Today, White Hart Lane has also been demolished, but rebuilt on the same site to become Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, opening in April 2019. One of the most modern stadiums in the world, it also offers guided tours, museums and even a vertiginous glass walkway at roof level. A true fan experience !
On the footballing front, the rivalry was strengthened after the First World War. In 1919, Arsenal won back a place in the top flight thanks to a vote to allocate vacant places, while Tottenham, who could also have claimed it, was relegated. Although Arsenal chairman Henry Norris was suspected of paying bribes, the alleged embezzlement was never proven... Unfortunately, Tottenham moved up the following year, and the rivalry with the Gunners resumed. The Gunners ("Cannoniers") are so nicknamed because the Arsenal club was founded by workers at the Royal Arsenal, an armaments and explosives factory. The cannon was later added to the club's logo. As for Tottenham, the nickname Spurs is derived from "hotspurs" ("spurs"), which completes their full name Tottenham Hotspurs. The origin of this name can be found in the works of... Shakespeare. In Henry IV, Part 1, the character of Henry Percy, also known as Henry Hotspur, embodies the values of London nobility and fighting spirit that the founders wanted to give their club. The logo, a fighting rooster wearing spurs, then adorned the shirts. The club is also often referred to as a "Jewish club", due to the Jewish communities that settled around White Hart Lane to escape persecution in Russia and Europe. Often the victims of anti-Semitic insults from their London rivals (notably Chelsea, West Ham and Millwall), many fans (Jewish and non-Jewish alike) proclaimed themselves the "Yid Army" to mock the racist "Yid" slur they heard in the stadiums.
By the end of the 2022-2023 season, 193 matches had been played between the two clubs, with Arsenal leading the way with 86 victories, 67 defeats and 54 draws. The most memorable derby was undoubtedly that of 2004, the year of Arsenal's "Invincibles" when, under Arsène Wenger, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pirès became Premier League champions without losing a match. To top it all off, they were crowned champions, just as they were in 1971, on the turf of White Hart Lane!
Naturally, this rich rivalry has been spiced up by a number of transfers between the two clubs. 18 of them dared to cross the rubicond. An offence resented by the fans, who didn't hesitate to nickname defender Sol Campbell "Judas" (at Tottenham from 1992 to 2001, then at Arsenal from 2001 to 2006 and in 2010).
In the west, nothing new
In the west of the city, too, the battle for dominance has been going on for almost a century and a half. Here, it's Chelsea, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers (QPR) and Brentford who do battle. The most striking rivalry between local clubs is certainly that between Fulham and QPR. Two clubs with average results (alternating between the First and Second Divisions) whose stadiums, Craven Cottage and Loftus Road respectively, are just 4 km apart. While they would surely have found a sporting interest in agreeing to a merger that would have allowed resources to be pooled, the option is impossible to envisage for the fans. QPR's fan base is made up of Londoners from Portobello Market and Notting Hill - in short, the "Cockneys" - while Fulham (which also has a Londoner base) welcomes wealthy immigrants who have settled in the Loftus Road area for its beautiful Victorian houses. A social antagonism has thus been superimposed on the geographical rivalry.
A geographical rivalry that also concerns Chelsea, whose Stamford Bridge stadium, which also offers classic tours and a museum, is located in Fulham, just 2 kilometers from Craven Cottage. Even if, from a sporting point of view, Chelsea fans put more emphasis on the duels with Arsenal and Tottenham.
In the east, football from below and hooligans..
While in the south of the English capital, Crystal Palace competes with Charlton and Wimbledon, it's in the east that the city's hottest derby between Millwall and West Ham is rooted in the same social fabric. The story goes back to the dockers of the late 19th century. Millwall was founded in 1885 by dockers from the Isle of Dogs shipyard and, ten years later, an ironmongery foreman created a new team on the other side of the Thames. With two teams vying for East End supremacy, derby temperatures were set to soar in the early summer of 1895. And to say the least, it lived up to its promise on the scale of detestation. In these poor, eternally gray neighborhoods, where unemployment and insecurity reign, the weekend match is a breath of fresh air for sailors and workers. Millwall may have moved south in 1910, but the East versus South derby has retained all its flavor. A century later, when dozens of migrant boats disembarked, the temperature rose even higher. Racism took hold in the stands of the Millwall lions, whose stadium was christened The Den, and the team quickly became the symbol of British hooliganism. With monkeys screaming in the stands and organized (or unorganized) fights before and after matches, Millwall was certainly the most hated and feared club in the city, if not the country. The warning issued by the club's directors in 1949 sums up the atmosphere. " Please do not throw your ashes, stones, bricks, bottles, cups, fireworks or other types of explosives [...] and do not molest, in any way, the players of the opposing team ". So much for the decor.
One thing's for sure: in London, soccer is a little more than just a round ball. Welcome to London !
