Four Sporting Rivalries as Irrelevant as the Old Firm Derby
After Saturday's Old Firm derby ended in a predictably comfortable win for Celtic, our resident Scot, Matt Horsman, takes a look at four other sporting derbies where a lack of competitive edge has lead to it falling from relevance in its particular sport.
The Old Firm Derby.
To different people it means different things. To many the derby represents the biggest showdown in every Scottish footballing calendar; to others its roots remain firmly embedded in the religious differences between the sides and their respective areas of Glasgow and for those residents of Glasgow, at least three or four times a year, it is just about the most important ninety minutes in the world.
Yesterday, however, the game itself was a perfect representation of the chasm in quality between the two sides. Rangers were relatively competitive for fifty minutes but never threatened and there was never a sense that anything other than the inevitable outcome of a comfortable Celtic victory was on the cards.
For me, the Old Firm is a shadow of its former self. Yes, the derby is still incredibly important in terms of local bragging rights, which should not be underestimated, but in terms of its relevance in footballing terms, it has lost its appeal. The best rivalries involve two equal competitors doing battle with the spectators unsure of who will come out on top. Just like Nadal vs Federer and the great Arsenal vs United battles a decade ago, Old Firm matches were always momentous occasions - until Rangers’ liquidation and demotion of the new company to the third division in 2012.
Since then, there have only been seven matches between the sides in the past five seasons, with Celtic winning four and Rangers only one alongside a draw. This doesn’t quite tell the whole story. Celtic lead 20-6 on aggregate since Rangers went into liquidation and, in the one season that Rangers have been back in the Scottish top flight, the distance between the two teams at the end of the season was an amazing 39 points as Celtic claimed an unbeaten treble.
In a fixture that once had names such as Gennaro Gattuso, Paul Gascoigne and the Laudrup brothers line up against Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton and Stiliyan Petrov, the current reality is decidedly more bleak.
The Old Firm is not alone, however, in having lost much of its meaning. Below, we take a look at four other sporting rivalries that have gone the same way and lost their competitive relevance within their sport.
Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers
Unlike the Old Firm derby, the dwindling relevance of this former battle of the heavyweights is not down to one side diminishing in quality so drastically that there ceases to be a contest. In this match-up both sides are still struggling to replicate the dominance of the 1980s and even the late 2000s. The cyclical nature of the NBA draft system definitely plays a part in the rise and fall of its franchises, but whereas before Larry Bird’s Celtics faced off against Magic Johnson’s Lakers in the 80s three times in the NBA finals, neither side has played in basketball’s showpiece since the Lakers beat the Celtics to lift the 2010 title. However, with Kyrie Irving joining Gordon Hayward in Boston and the Lakers being at the centre of all huge trade rumours for the 2018 off-season including for superstars Lebron James, Paul George and Russell Westbrook teaming up with future superstar Lonzo Ball, a resurgence of this old rivalry could be just around the corner.
Scotland vs England (Rugby Union)
Gone are the days when Scotland and England would play out a Grand Slam Six Nations decider. The fixture is 178 years old and so this rivalry is one that quite literally transcends the generations, with England winning 75 times to Scotland’s 42 along with 18 draws. Despite these relatively one-sided results, the more recent picture is far more bleak for Scotland. Since their last Grand Slam in 1990, with a team that included Scottish legends like Gavin Hastings and David Sole, the Scots have defeated England three times in 29 attempts. This dismal record shows how uncompetitive the rivalry has become, and how far the fixture has fallen in on-field significance. Scotland’s most promising side in a generation descended on Twickenham in March of this year, 178 years and one day after the inaugural Calcutta Cup, determined that this would be the year that Scotland broke its Twickenham hoodoo and propelled itself into Grand Slam winning territory. England ran out 61-21 winners in the least competitive match-up of the decade.
Manchester United vs Leeds United
For some, this derby ranges all the way back to the War of the Roses in the fifteenth Century, as the houses of Lancaster and York went to war over the English throne. Fast forward 500 years and the picture wasn’t much different as footballing royalty in the shape of Matt Busby and Don Revie were going toe-to-toe over domestic and European silverware. This rivalry dominated the 60s and 70s but after Leeds United’s relegation in ’82, it took until the early 90s and the dawning of the Premier League era for the rivalry to be properly resurrected. Eric Cantona’s move from Leeds to Manchester not only came as a sickening blow to the Yorkshire club but galvanised the Red Devils as he became the catalyst of United’s domestic dominance that really only waned after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. In 2004, financial issues caught up with Leeds and they were eventually relegated from the Premier League. There have only been two games between the sides since with Leeds triumphing in the FA Cup in 2010 and Manchester United in the League Cup in 2011. With the contrasting fortunes and enormous financial gap between the two sides, it is hard to envision the rivalry ever reaching its competitive heights once again.
Australia vs New Zealand (Rugby Union)
This is a recent addition to the list, but if anything it is the most worrying. For so long Australia and New Zealand were the two best international sides playing the game, with their most recent high-profile clash coming in the 2015 Rugby World Cup final with New Zealand triumphing 34-17. Australian rugby has fallen off a proverbial cliff in recent times, a fact somewhat papered over by their appearance in the last World Cup final. Since the 2007 World Cup - in which both teams woefully underperformed - the two nations have met 32 times, with Australia only managing four wins and two draws. The recent transformation of the New Zealand side from the Carter and McCaw era to the current side should have been seen as a potential time of weakness in New Zealand rugby on which Australia could begin to close the gap. An aggregate score of 197-90 in favour of the Kiwis in the five games since shows no sign of this happening any time soon.
