I pretty much agree with what has been said as far as the bigger derby games, but I'm also thinking... Southend v. Colchester Norwich v. Ipswich Swansea v. Cardiff Bristol City v. Bristol Rovers or Cardiff Heart of Midlothian v. Hibernian Portsmouth v. Southampton West Brom v. Wolves Swindon v. Oxford Sheffield Wednesday v. Sheffield United ...but to name a few. I would say it really depends on a persons view of what "biggest" means. Is it in terms of crowd size, violence, location, history, etc.?
The Old Firm, maybe then Liverpool/United, then Arsenal/Tottenham, or Newcastle/Sunderland. I think though "biggest" is simply the ones between the biggest clubs, which thus has the greatest media exposure. Luton Town vs. Watford has as much hate/animosity as Arsenal vs. Tottenham, but the media don't give a crap for obvious reasons, as Luton and Watford are very small clubs.
I think there's more to a derby being considered the 'biggest', than simply how much both sets of fans dislike each other. After all, don't all supporters dislike their local derby rivals? Other factors come into it too. The stature of the clubs involved, how fiercely contested the rivalry is, both in terms of head-to-head and both clubs importance within their country. For instance, regardless as to how much supporters dislike each offer, if a rivalry is heavily one-sided, or one club had numerous titles and the other makes up the numbers, then can it genuinely be considered a big derby game?
I've been very forunate in that I've been to the Merseyside derby , Derby Italia, Rome derby & the Old firm . The Merseyside derby means more to me being from the City so maybe I'm biased but the atmosphere is always incredible. But , i grew up at a time when it was the friendly derby . Reds sitting with Blues , no hassle . Then it changed after Heysel and particularly in the early 90's. I miss the days of the friendly derby to be honest. The Rome Derby and the old firm are two matches that I've actually felt fear in the ground. It was palpable. Being a pasty white boy i don't think i was ever in any danger in Rome as im fairly sure they knew i wasnt one of them but it was very tense and always on the point of boiling over. The Old firm is the best experience of my football going life. Again , the ground is just filed with utter hatred . And i cant empahsise that enough . Fair enough some people dont agree with the religious aspect and all that but it certainly adds to the experience.
I'd agree with this. While Liverpool vs Everton would be my choice, Newcastle vs Sunderland without a doubt is right up there in terms of fiercest rivalries. I went to grad school at Newcastle Uni, lived next door to SJP. One of the first things a local told us int'l students was to never, ever wear a Sunderland jersey anywhere near Newcastle City Center. Even if we didn't care about football, it was for our own safety. Indeed, Stuart Holden, the ex Sunderland player who got his jaw broken in Newcastle city center could attest to that. I've no doubt the same warning would be issued to uni students in Sunderland as well about wearing a NUFC jersey. THAT sort of tribalism is what underscores a true derby to me. However, while much of the conversation has been about European rivalries, it's important to note Turkey's Galatasaray - Fenerbahce rivalry and Argentina's Boca vs River Plate. You can't get much more intense than those.
The old Firm derby is as fierce as it gets in the U.K, also a lot of people overlook lower league teams too, like Millwall vs West Ham, they've always had the most well known football firms in the U.K, but they don't come along as often as the others (which probably makes it more fierce). Premier League biggest derbys are Spurs v Arsenal, Liverpool v Everton, Manchester United v Manchester City
Before the Premier League began in 1992, which was basically the renaming and new trophy of the English top flight. Without doubt, the biggest derby was Everton v Liverpool. 1991/92 season (last time champion) Liverpool (1990) & Everton (1987) = 27 league titles between them. Arsenal (1991) & Tottenham (1961) = 12 league titles Manchester Utd (1967) & Manchester City (1968) = 9 league titles But that was a long time ago. Now there is no particular derby that is "the biggest".
Liverpool/Man U is the biggest derby. both see each other as their main enemy, especially since they're bigger/more successful than City and Everton.