The Derby Game

A History of Local Rivalries

Ian Collis

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing
• eBook ISBN:
  9781801505260
• Year: 2023

Today, high-profile derby games trigger a febrile atmosphere and the odd brawl. But Derby Shrovetide Football was truly wild. One mob pitted its wits and muscle against the other. Players broke down walls, dived into freezing rivers and crawled through sewers. Thousands of fans filled the streets and civilised behaviour was suspended. But why did this game achieve national notoriety and then disappear in 1846? The Derby Game charts the century-long struggle to kill a tradition and the fanatical resistance of players and supporters. It is a fascinating tale of mobs and magistrates, bobbies and brickbats, dragoons and defiance. The book then explores the rise of the local derby, as football fever grips the UK. It covers the early clashes of local rivals in the Victorian football hotspots, tracing the roots of some time-honoured rivalries and separating the friendly derbies from the hostile. Discover how the derby became part of a global language as Britain exported football to the world.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1. The Game
• 2. Get the Bladder and Blow
• 3. Folklore, Fact and Fiction
• 4. Legends of the Game
• 5. Mayhem and Misrule
• 6. A Town in Turmoil
• 7. A Town Transformed
• 8. Opposing Forces
• 9. Attempts to Ban
• 10. The ‘Final’ Game
• 11. Aftermath
• 12. Hell for Leather
• 13. Naming Rights
• 14. Promised Fury
• 15. Trouble and Strife
• 16. The Friendly Derby
• 17. Part of Football Esperanto
• Afterword
• Acknowledgements
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• Photos