The results are out
By Nathan Jackson
January 22 2004
The results of the football fans census is out with some suprising results. Over 2,800 people took part and here are the results which reveal Macclesfield consider us their 3rd biggest rival.
INTRODUCTION
The survey was conducted online at www.footballfanscensus.com in December 2003 and contains the views of over 2,800 football fans
• Headline statistics include:
Less than half (44) of the 92 league clubs were involved in a two-way rivalry (i.e. both sides
agree about being each other’s main rival)
A table of clubs that have the most rivals is topped by Manchester United (the only club to
be considered the main rival by 5 other clubs) followed by Burnley, Leeds, Chelsea and
Sheffield Wednesday
Gillingham, Macclesfield, Torquay and York had the least number of other fans seeing
them as their rivals
45% of fans see history / tradition as the reason why their main rivals are so – for 35% it’s
because they’re the closest club geographically
22% of fans say their current main rival is not the same as their ‘traditional’ rival. This is
particularly prevalent at the top of the Premiership where Liverpool and Arsenal have
‘dumped’ their traditional rivals – Everton and Spurs respectively – for Manchester Utd.
Chelsea have done the same - replacing Spurs and Fulham with Arsenal
Fans think the Celtic / Rangers is the fiercest rivalry in the UK and that Everton / Liverpool
is the most amicable
Although 37% of fans feel that rivalry plays a significant part in leading to football violence, 71% feel on the whole the positives of rivalry outweigh the negatives
71% would support the opposition if their main rivals were playing in Europe but 59% of
fans would miss their rivals if they weren’t there.
Divison 3 rivals (2002-3 teams - Boston)
| TEAM |
WHO THEY CONSIDER THEIR MAIN RIVALS |
| Bournemouth |
Reading |
| Bristol Rovers |
Bristol City |
| Bury |
Bolton |
| Cambridge United |
Peterborough |
| Carlisle United |
Middlesborough |
| Cheltenham |
Gloucester |
| Darlington |
Hartlepool |
| Exeter |
Plymouth |
| Hartlepool |
Darlington |
| Hull |
Leeds |
| Kidderminster |
Cheltenham |
| Leyton Orient |
Southend |
| Lincoln |
Scunthorpe |
| Macclesfield |
Altrincham |
| Oxford United |
Swindon |
| Rochdale |
Bury |
| Rushden |
Northampton |
| Scunny |
Hull |
| Shrewsbury |
Telford |
| Southend |
Colchester |
| Swansea |
Cardiff |
| Torquay |
Exeter |
| Wrexham |
Chester |
| York |
Hull |
TEAMS WITH THE LEAST RIVALS
9 clubs had hardly any other fans seeing them as their rivals: Gillingham, York, Leyton Orient, Macclesfield, Bournemouth, Walsall
Torquay, Coventry, Yeovil,
• 40% of fans don’t have a second team and 43% wouldn’t follow another club if their own one
ceased to exist
• Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd are the most popular second teams
• Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea would be the most popular choices if a fan’s own club didn’t exist
BOTH MAJOR RIVALS?
Many people think that just because you consider a team a major rival, that they in turn will consider you as their most major rival, however, as you can see below, that is not always the case. Here are the division 3 (2003-4 examples) results. Worded example : Lincoln see Scunthorpe as their main rivals but Scunny see Hull as theirs.
| Initial fans |
Think their main rivals are |
But those fans think this team are their main rivals |
| Lincoln |
Scunthorpe |
Hull |
| Scunny, York |
Hull |
Leeds |
| Rochdale |
Bury |
Bolton |
| Hull |
Leeds |
Man Utd |
| Orient |
Southend |
Colchester |
| Kidderminster |
Cheltenham |
Gloucester |
| Northampton |
Peterborough |
Cambridge |
| Torquay |
Exeter |
Plymouth |
NICKNAMES
Here are the nicknames some fans have given to their local rivals in D3.
| NICKNAME |
GIVEN TO |
BY |
WHY |
| SQUATTERS |
BRISTOL ROVERS |
BRISTOL CITY |
DUE TO AT ONE POINT, NOT OWNING THEIR OWN GROUND |
| BUCKETSHAKERS |
BURY |
ROCHDALE |
WHEN BURY ALMOST WENT BUST AND ROCHDALE USED THE NICKNAME "SHAKERS" |
| OXTHUG |
OXFORD |
EVERYONE |
OXFORD PLAYED WERE ROUGH TACTICS |
| GIMPS |
LINCOLN |
HULL |
WORDPLAY OF THE NICKNAME "IMPS" |
| SCUNTS |
SCUNTHORPE |
LINCOLN |
WORDPLAY |
1ST, 2ND AND 3RD
You think you know who hates you, think again, there are some suprising results, for example, Lincoln fans would never think Macclesfield consider them a major rival because they are miles away.
| TEAM |
MAIN RIVALS |
SECONDARY RIVALS |
3RD RIVALS |
| BRISTOL ROVERS |
BRISTOL CITY |
CARDIFF CITY |
SWINDON TOWN |
| BURY |
BOLTON |
ROCHDALE |
OLDHAM, SHEFF UTD, MAN UTD, BURNLEY |
| CAMBRIDGE |
PETERBOROUGH |
NORTHAMPTON |
COLCHESTER |
| CARLISLE |
MIDDLESBOROUGH |
CHESTERFIELD |
HARTLEPOOL |
| CHELTENHAM |
GLOUCESTER |
KIDDERMINSTER |
RUSHDEN |
| DARLINGTON |
HARTLEPOOL |
CARLISLE |
CHESTER |
| DONCASTER ROVERS |
ROTHERHAM |
SCUNNY |
BARNSLEY, CHESTER |
| HUDDERSFIELD |
BRADFORD |
LEEDS |
BARNSLEY |
| HULL |
LEEDS |
SCUNNY |
GRIMSBY |
| KIDDERMINSTER |
CHELTENHAM |
SHREWSBURY |
RUSHDEN |
| LEYTON ORIENT |
SOUTHEND |
WEST HAM |
BRIGHTON |
| LINCOLN |
SCUNNY |
BOSTON |
HULL |
| MACCLESFIELD |
ALTRINCHAM |
ROCHDALE |
LINCOLN CITY (????) |
| MANSFIELD |
CHESTERFIELD |
NOTTS COUNTY |
DONCASTER |
| NORTHAMPTON |
PETERBOROUGH |
RUSHDEN |
LUTON |
| OXFORD |
SWINDON |
READING |
WYCOMBE |
| ROCHDALE |
BURY |
BURNLEY |
OLDHAM |
| SCUNNY |
HULL |
GRIMSBY |
LINCOLN |
| SOUTHEND |
COLCHESTER |
CANVEY ISLAND |
LEYTON ORIENT |
| SWANSEA |
CARDIFF |
BRISTOL CITY |
BRISTOL ROVERS |
| TORQUAY |
EXETER |
PLYMOUTH |
YEOVIL |
| YEOVIL |
HEREFORD |
WEYMOUTH |
BATH |
| YORK |
HULL |
SCARBOROUGH |
DONNY |
