LILYWHITES & TANGERINES
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There is a long tradition at Blackpool FC and Preston North End of upholding all that is good in the game, writes Michael Hodkinson, who has penned a book on the historic rivalry between the two clubs
ootball is famous, some would say infamous, for matches between local rivals. In the cities, it can be Celtic and Rangers, Arsenal versus Tottenham Hotspur, Everton against Liverpool or City v United in Manchester. In slightly less populated areas, it can be between neighbouring towns and football’s longest running rivalry worldwide is between Blackburn Rovers and Burnley. These games became so significant that the Daily Express, in 1914, first coined the words which are now part of folklore: ‘There is a local derby between Everton and Liverpool today.’ The word ‘derby’ stems from the horse race instituted by the Earl of Derby in 1780, the Epsom Derby. Gradually the word came into the English language to mean a sporting contest and when the word ‘local’ was added, these football matches became red hot – the most anticipated, the headline grabbers of the season. The west of Lancashire has its own derby which historically can be feisty, closely contested and sometimes downright hostile. What goes on in and around the grounds, whether at Bloomfield Road or Deepdale, can often fill both the front and
back pages of a newspaper. At the onset of the Football League in 1888, one club dominated the nation’s conversation. It was Preston North End, the Great Invincibles. Blackpool FC was in its infancy, playing in the Lancashire League, and although there was the occasional derby game pre-1925, the Seasiders were never victorious. Then in the mid-thirties, the battle for ‘bragging rights’ between the two clubs began. For many years it was purely banter, mickey-taking amongst the fans as Blackpool joined Preston at the summit of the English game.
THE WEST OF LANCASHIRE HAS ITS OWN DERBY WHICH HISTORICALLY CAN BE FEISTY, CLOSELY CONTESTED AND SOMETIMES DOWNRIGHT HOSTILE Without a shadow of doubt, Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney were two of the very best footballers in the world. They plied their trade locally and working out who was superior became a hair-splitting exercise for the neutrals or depended on the colour of shirt – tangerine or lilywhite. But listening to those who watched them in the 50s, the impression gained was one of great respect for them both. Football violence reared its ugly head in the seventies, a considerable minority beginning to attend matches to fight. Fortunately for this area, it coincided with a 13-year gap in Football League derby
