What makes a derby a derby?
The rivalries behind Coventry’s biggest sporting clashes.
No one likes a draw in sport, but when it happens between two local rivals on derby day, there can be even more frustration.
That was the case on Saturday when Coventry United and Rugby Borough played out a 4-4 draw in the Northern Premier League. But what is it that makes a game a derby, and why do these fixtures mean so much to players and supporters?
A football derby is a match between two rival teams that are geographically close - usually from the same city, town, or region. In a derby, it’s the local’s pride, identities, and ultimately the bragging rights that matter just as much as, or more than, league points.
But it’s so much more than a sporting contest between teams from the same city or neighbouring areas. It’s the local connections, rivalries and, perhaps most importantly, bragging rights all play their part.
Dave Stringer is the manager of the Rugby Borough Football Club. He told us about what it means for a club to engage in a local derby with an ongoing rival.
"I think any derby, any local derby that's geographically close adds a little bit of spice because a lot of the lads are local and they do know each other and they probably have played for both clubs, which is the case here.
When you play somebody again geographically, from a further distance in our league, the lads don't know anything about them.
So, yeah, when you know who you're playing against, it, yeah, it becomes a bit of a rivalry and you want to get one up on your mate.
If you're asking a player, yes, it's a little bit more important a derby to get three points. Bragging rights, as I say.”
Bragging is exactly what makes derby’s the most competitive game in any sport.
It was a prestigious horse race in 1780 that was founded by the 12th Earl of Derby which led to the name and ‘Derby’. After re-using the name for other local sporting matches - until the name expanded into a completely new meaning of its own.
Coventry has plenty of derby encounters of its own across different sports.
In football, Coventry City's rivalry with Leicester City is known as the M69 Derby, while matches against Aston Villa and Birmingham City also carry plenty of history and competitive tension.
On the ice, Coventry Blaze's rivalry with the Nottingham Panthers creates another iconic fixture. Meanwhile, cricket fans see an expansion outside of just Coventry, as the West Midlands Derby between Warwickshire County Cricket Club and Leicestershire County Cricket Club.
Although the sports, supporters, and rivalries differ, the key-ingredients remain the exact same: local pride, familiarity and the desire to come out on top.
Ultimately, a derby might be played under the same rules as any other match, but it rarely feels like one.
Whether it ends in victory or a frustrating 4-4 draw, the pride of wearing your local team’s scarf when walking up to get a coffee in town, is exactly what make a derby day the most special.