You wouldn’t normally associated any sort of rivalry between London and Birmingham, unless you consider the argument over whether the latter is really the ‘Second City’ or should be the capital because of its central location. In some ways, that is a near summary of the ‘rivalry’ that exists between Chelsea and Aston Villa, which … Read more
There are quite a few clubs in London, which means that local derbies are commonplace in the capital. That being said, there is an extent to which familiarity can breed contempt, which is how things often seem to be between Chelsea and Arsenal supporters. The match certainly doesn’t have the level of enmity that Arsenal … Read more
It isn’t exactly outrageous to suggest that, in modern terms at least, Chelsea have been significantly more successful than Burnley on a trophy-winning front. Since the moment that Roman Abramovich bought the Stamford Bridge side, they were able to invest literal billions in the strengthening of the first team and the drive for success. Burnley, … Read more
When you consider the modern history of both Chelsea and Leeds United, you would be forgiven for expressing a degree of surprise at the fact that the Yorkshire club began the rivalry with back-to-back wins against the West Londoners. You would likely be even more surprised to learn that they won the very first game … Read more
The North-South divide rarely takes the Midlands into account, which is probably why teams like Wolverhampton Wanderers have much more vociferous rivalries against the likes of Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion than they do against Chelsea. The days that Wolves enjoyed success were well before Chelsea were challenging for the major trophies, buoyed as … Read more
There are definitely other London derbies with more anger and vitriol involved in them than the one between Chelsea and West Ham United, but let’s not suggest that that means that this one has always been sunshine and lollipops. That is in spite of the fact that the sides played out a dour 0-0 draw … Read more
There is a funny thing about the London-based football clubs, which is that there are loads of them. As a result, when they play one another there is a distinct lack of any sort of bitterness or enmity between the supporters in the same way that there might be if you were looking at the … Read more
Brentford may be new to the big time, having first made it to the Premier League as recently as 2021/22, and having last played in the top flight before that way back in 1947. However, they are not short on history, and, founded in 1889, are fully 16 years older than the Blues. Given how … Read more
Fulham are hardly known for the passion of their fans, and they are not often thought of as a particularly violent or troublesome group. As such, despite the extreme proximity between these two clubs, there is not much in the way of a rivalry. Historically, they have often found themselves in different divisions, with Fulham … Read more
In some regards, Chelsea were the blueprint on which Manchester City’s success has been based. New owners, in Chelsea’s case Roman Abramovich, in City’s, essentially the Abu Dhabi Royal Family, came in and invested huge sums to turn around the fortunes of an underachieving club. Chelsea enjoyed great success but City’s achievements are on another … Read more