[Witton]

As a Villa fan, the first game I looked for when the fixtures were released was the games against the clowns from Sty Andrews. My hatred of B*rmingham C*ty has festered for all 29 years of my life & after attending both last years games (and working in Brum) I was gutted. Whats your derby & does it mean everything to you or do you try and rise above it and aim for higher things?

[655321]

As an American, it's means little more than a fixture that will normally produce an exciting hour and a half. I don't have any Everton fans at work to laugh at or take jokes from, I never grew up having to explain "blue or red". I have no territorial reasons to hate Everton, but I love the matches b/c they're always fast paced and gut wrenching.

[billyireland]

I'm not from Manchester, so it's not AS important to me as it is to them, but beating City twice is always high up my wishlist for the season (we unfortunately only drew with them at Old Trafford and lost to them at Maine Road... guess we'll take our title and walk away i nshame )

[giggs88]

i was near manchester for two years. i am sure cite weren't in the prem? you wouldn't notice. but they were so MASSIVE last year.

[owian]

Like others on here I live 6,000 miles from Anfield. But having been to liverpool and knowing people from Liverpool (and having everton fans at the pub where I watch matches) the Merseyside Derby is huge. I look forward to that match even when Everton are battaling to stay up. (and now that they are a respectable team makes it that much more intense)

[655321]

Originally posted by owian
Like others on here I live 6,000 miles from Anfield. But having been to liverpool and knowing people from Liverpool (and having everton fans at the pub where I watch matches) the Merseyside Derby is huge. I look forward to that match even when Everton are battaling to stay up. (and now that they are a respectable team makes it that much more intense)

And with out start to this season, this Saturday means even more than normal. To say the least.

[rymannryan]

Originally posted by 655321
As an American, it's means little more than a fixture that will normally produce an exciting hour and a half. I don't have any Everton fans at work to laugh at or take jokes from, I never grew up having to explain "blue or red". I have no territorial reasons to hate Everton, but I love the matches b/c they're always fast paced and gut wrenching.

Exactly the same here. I dislike the Metrostars more than I dislike Liverpool. I don't actually hate Liverpool, but I do grin after seeing how they've done so far. Bring on the derby, hope its a great game, with Rooney clinching the winner in the last minute.

[The Double]

I have an uncle in North London. I went to a derby game, sat in The Shelf, and for some reason I wanted to knock out everyone that was wearing red that day. So yeah, it matters to me. Going to my 4th one this year, sitting in The Shelf, and doing it all over again.

[Clan]

Well, for some strange reason most of the people i have talked to on these boards have the impression that Chels have it big for the Arse and the Yids.Which is true to some extent i suppose with the recent success of the team.It was certainly true of the yids when i was a nipper going to the games in the late 70's.

However, Chelseas real rivals are, believe it or not QPHaha.
My first real "derby" that i can recall with any clarity was the FA Cup game at Stamford Bridge against them in the winter of '74.I was almost 10 at the time and had pestered the old man for some time to take me.He was very reluctant as he was sure there was going to be loads of aggro--he was right--and didn't want me near it.
After several days of whinging i got my way.We went into the shed end though as he wouldn't go near the North stand where he usually was because of the away section.
The game ended in a draw and the trouble outside the ground was fierce.
From that day on i detested anything and everything QPR.
I wasn't allowed to go to the replay no matter how much whinging i did.
Bastards won that game and knocked us out of the cup.

[rymannryan]

Originally posted by Clanblue
Well, for some strange reason most of the people i have talked to on these boards have the impression that Chels have it big for the Arse and the Yids.Which is true to some extent i suppose with the recent success of the team.It was certainly true of the yids when i was a nipper going to the games in the late 70's.

However, Chelseas real rivals are, believe it or not QPHaha.
My first real "derby" that i can recall with any clarity was the FA Cup game at Stamford Bridge against them in the winter of '74.I was almost 10 at the time and had pestered the old man for some time to take me.He was very reluctant as he was sure there was going to be loads of aggro--he was right--and didn't want me near it.
After several days of whinging i got my way.We went into the shed end though as he wouldn't go near the North stand where he usually was because of the away section.
The game ended in a draw and the trouble outside the ground was fierce.
From that day on i detested anything and everything QPR.
I wasn't allowed to go to the replay no matter how much whinging i did.
Bastards won that game and knocked us out of the cup.

What about Fulham? If this is a dumb question, sorry, but I don't know where the clubs are located within London and I always understood or thought that Fulham was a rival of Chelsea. All I know is the Arsenal and Tottenham are north London, Chelsea are west London.