2) East Midlands derby (Nottingham Forest v Derby County)
With just over 15 miles separating the two cities people may think that this derby is purely due to the location of the two clubs but it stems much deeper than that. Both of these clubs were managed by the great Brian Clough and taken from the bottom of the 2nd division to the top of the 1st. Clough first managed the feat with Derby in 1972 and then replicated the success with Forest in 1978 in turn this meant that both sets of fans love Clough but hate each other. Again both stadiums are 32,000+ grounds which results in a cracking atmosphere when they play each other. Forest lead the head to head record 37 to 34 but in their most recent match Derby ran out 5-0 winners in a memorable thumping at Pride Park in front of a sell-out crowd. There’s not many bigger, more passionate derbies than this in English football and ask a fan from either side and they’ll explain it’s more than just a football game.
