FOOTBALL,BLOOD AND WAR: SOME OF THE FIERCEST FOOTBALL DERBIES

Every league in the world has its derby matches, those entrenched local, political or social rivalries which give added fervour to the average game. Some of these derbies, however, spill over into frequent violence, hatred and all-out warfare between the fans of the respective clubs.
In this article I list some of the most vociferous and aggressive derbies in world football and look into the violence which has made them so notorious the world over.

• Cracovia v Wisla Krakow- “The Holy War”
Although the Krakow derby may not be one of the most high-profile derbies in football, clashes between these two Polish giants in the rather dramatically entitled “Holy War” are always an intense and brutal occasion. Tragically “The Holy War” has claimed a number of lives of the years. In a city defined by such a strong rivalry simply saying or wearing the wrong thing in the wrong part of town can lead to deadly consequences. Indeed, between 2004 and 2006 eight fans lost their lives as a direct result of football violence in what has become known amongst football firms as “The City of Knives”.

One of the most notorious episodes in the history of the Krakow derby came in 1990 when, during clashes with Cracovia fans, the Polish police responded with unduly harsh and brutal treatment of the scrapping supporters. The Cracovia fans reacted by counter-attacking the police and were joined in their struggle by Wisla fans who also rounded on the police, action which resulted in an all-out battle between both sets of fans and the authorities. A group of fans then marched into the centre of Krakow, ransacking the Soviet embassy where a number of police officers had taken refuge. This incident further gave rise to the fearsome reputation of the derby and established its notoriety around Europe.

• Fenerbahce v Galatasaray -“The Istanbul Derby”

Clashes between Turkey’s two biggest clubs are always intensely competitive and provoke a volatile atmosphere whenever they are played. With both club’s being based in Istanbul local passions and political tensions run high, the working-class Fenerbahce taking on the traditionally wealthy elites of Galatasaray. Over the course of its history the derby has spilled over into violence, the ultras of both clubs instigating fierce clashes between these two sets of highly passionate fans.

Like the Krakow derby, confrontations between “Fener” and “Gala” have also claimed lives amongst the countless acts of violence and rioting that are constant scourge to this most restless of encounters. Indeed, such are the extent of the social and political cleavages that surround this fixture and its history, the Istanbul derby will continue to divide Turkey’s largest city along class lines for generations to come.

• Rangers v Celtic - “The Old Firm”

Comfortably Britain’s most tempestuous rivalry, the Old Firm derby is known throughout football as one of the game’s most politically-charged encounters. Infused with the history of centuries of religious conflict between the Protestant (Rangers) and Catholic (Celtic) factions of Glasgow, the Old Firm derby has always been a hotbed of civic and sectarian discontent.

Clashes between Scotland’s two most successful clubs have a history of violence which has made the fixture notorious the world over. Heavily invested with Northern Irish politics, partisan chanting and confrontations between the loyalist supporters of Rangers and the republicans of Celtic are a regular feature of this particular rivalry. Indeed, such is the extent of the sectarian nature of the Old Firm derby Rangers, up until relatively recently, has been accused of deliberately not employing any player who was openly Catholic.

• River Plate v Boca Juniors -“Superclasico”

Argentina’s most potent rivalry and a derby which is known the world over, the Superclasico between River Plate and Boca Juniors is also one of the most vociferous occasions on the global sporting calendar. As Argentina’s most popular teams go head to head, violence often arises between the two sets of supporters as passions run particularly high in Buenos Aires. The majorities of clashes between the two clubs is marred by post-match fighting between rival supporters and have given this fixture a fearsome reputation.

Like so many of the derbies on this list, the Superclasico has endured its share of tragedy over the years. The worst incident in the fixture’s history came in the summer of 1968 when 71 fans were killed and 150 injured in a crushing stampede in the away end of River’s El Monumental stadium. Although no-one was ever found guilty for the incident, some reports from the time claim that Boca fans had dropped burning River Plate flags from the upper-tiers of the stadium which had landed amongst their own supporters and caused the crush. Others have laid the blame at the door of the police, saying that the authorities had kept pushing Boca fans back into the enclosure despite overcrowding and a lack of available exits from the stand. Whatever the cause for the “Puerta 12” tragedy, the incident has scarred the Superclasico ever since and has given it an added significance.

The Superclasico continues to be Argentina’s most intense derby and an event which ruptures the great city of Buenos Aires along its social and political fault lines every time it is played. To get a feel for the strength of passion Argentines have for the game, you need only watch these two clubs go head to head to realise just what it means to the people of Buenos Aires and the country as a whole.

• A.S Roma vs S.S Lazio- “The Rome Derby”

The Derby della Capitale also known as Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone, as well as The Rome Derby in English, is the football local derby in Rome, Italy, between the two major teams of the city, Roma and Lazio. The derby has been historically marked by massive crowds, sexual conduct in the stands, violence, and more recently, racist banners in the crowd.

In 1979, Lazio fan Vincenzo Paparelli was hit in the eye and killed by a flare fired by a Roma fan from the opposite end of the stadium, becoming the first fatality in Italian football due to violence.

The derby on 21 March 2004 was abandoned, four minutes into the second half, with the score tied at 0–0, when a riot broke out in the stands and the president of the Italian Football League, Adriano Galliani, ordered referee Roberto Rosetti to suspend the match. The riots began with the spreading of a rumour that a boy had been killed by a police car just outside the stadium. In fact, from last row of the stadium, some fans noticed in the square below a body covered with a white sheet. Later, medics put the sheet explained that the boy had difficulty breathing, dangerously exacerbated by the air full of tear gas, and then the sheet was used as a filter. The denial by the police, spread through the speakers of the stadium, was not able to remove all doubt. Roma’s captain Totti then asked for the match to be called off, at which point Adriano Galliani was reached by the referee by mobile phone — from the pitch — and ordered the game postponed. After the match was postponed a prolonged battle between fans and police, with streets near the stadium being set on fire, eventually resulting in 13 arrests and over 170 injured among the police alone.

• Partizan Belgrade v Red Star Belgrade-“Belgrade derby”

Out of the ashes of the Second World War, two teams were created in Belgrade. FK Partizan became the central club of the Yugoslav Army and Red Star were the civil adversary. Both can lay claim to being the supreme team in the country – it has largely been a duopoly since their inception – although Red Star’s European Cup title in 1991 sets them apart. However in a country were the game is rife with corruption allegations, this once great on-field battle has left its better days in the past.

Today, the hooligans of Belgrade may not be as powerful as they were during the Balkan wars, but they remain among the most violent and racist in world football. The violence is not restricted to football: Partizan and Red Star have affiliated clubs in other sports, such as basketball and handball, which are infected by hooliganism. Sometimes rival fans unite to disrupt public events, as they did when they smashed up Serbia’s one and only attempt at a gay pride festival in 2001.