The Group Chat Decides on the Biggest Football Rivalry in the UK

A topic that is frequently debated amongst football fans is what is the biggest rivalry in the UK?

Here, the Group Chat via Betfair have their say on and decide upon what they believe is the biggest derby in the UK, with some interesting suggestions being made by the likes of Will Perry, Alan McInally and Sam Rosbottom.

The conversation starts with Perry humorously admitting that this conversation will upset a few fans, due to the passion that each fan has for their own club, and suggests a few derby matches to discuss such as Manchester City versus Manchester United, stating his strong feelings having grown up in the city.

On top of this, Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur, Birmingham versus Aston Villa, Liverpool against Manchester United, the Merseyside derby and Old Firm fixtures are brought up for discussion by Perry.

When asked what derby game should be left off the podium, McInally jokingly suggests Ayr United against Kilmarnock, known as the Ayrshire derby, stating that he played in it when he was just 17 years old and recalls around 20,000 fans going to the fixture at Somerset Park and Rugby Park, describing it as unbelievable.

Surprisingly, Liverpool against Manchester United is ruled out fairly quickly, as McInally prefers a derby match to be in the same city, stating that this was usually a rivalry to be the best and most prestigious side in the Premier League - the Scot says that he prefers City against United as far as derby matches go.

The 59-year-old, however, does admit he is a fan of games such as Ipswich Town against Norwich City, and described the Second City Derby between Villa and Birmingham as “tasty” as an ex-Villain himself.

He then goes on to give a tremendous insight of the Old Firm rivalry, having played for Celtic between 1984 and 1987, recalling a goal he scored in a 1-1 draw with Rangers for the Hoops back in 1985. McInally also goes on to talk of the religious divides between Protestants and Catholics in Glasgow which further increased the intensity of the match ever since it began.

Rosbottom weighs in by saying that even if you’re not at the match, you can see the passion and intensity of the game, as well as how much the result means to the supporters at the end of the day - he believes that this is the best derby game, as does McInally.

Interestingly, Sam goes on to mention a different derby in the shape of Wrexham against Chester, the Cross-border derby. Stating that it perhaps is a little forgotten about due to their positions in the English football pyramid.

McInally likes the idea and briefly mentions that they hadn’t touched on the Edinburgh derby of Hibernian against Hearts. Meanwhile, Will puts his love for the Manchester derby aside and believes that the Old Firm is the biggest rivalry in the UK.

Take a look at our poll on Twitter as to what fans believe is the biggest derby match out of the Old Firm rivalry, Manchester derby, North London derby and the Merseyside derby.