Local derbies in France

In many countries the term local derby, or simply just derby (pronounced 'dar-bee' after the English town) means a sporting fixture between two (generally local) rivals, particularly in Association Football. In North America, crosstown rivalry is a more common term.

Although there are no strict rules, derby games in France are commonly divided into three categories - derbies, local derbies and classicos (originally a Spanish expression, incorrectly spelled with two s in French).

A derby is a game involving two teams from the same city, a local derby would involve two teams from two neighbouring cities and a classico involves two teams from two cities quite far apart geographically which have developed a great rivalry along the years - such as PSG and Marseille in football for example.

Proper derbies are extremely rare in France, due mainly to political reasons. On the other hand local derbies, also called regional derbies, are very common all over the country. Classicos are a bit different as there usually is only one in each sport.

Derbies

Proper derbies are extremely rare in France, especially in football. There are two main reasons for this.

Before WW2 derbies were quite common but they disappeared when new national leagues were artificially created - by the Vichy regime - involving only one team from each region. This fateful decision caused a lot of clubs to merge or temporarily disappear and even though some clubs were relaunched after the war the damage had already been done. The other reason is purely financial. Because clubs in France rely heavily on public subsidies from local and regional councils, they have to share these monies with other clubs from the same region or town. As a result of this, it is usually more economically sensible for two clubs from the same area to merge rather than to compete against each other in the same league.

Football

The last proper derby in French top-flight football took place during the Ligue 1 1989-90 season between Paris Saint-Germain and Racing Paris.

Prior to this, derby games were more common, particularly in the 1930s. For example, Lille was the home of SC Fives and Olympique Lillois (both merged in 1944 and became Lille OSC). Another example was Roubaix, home of Excelsior and RC Roubaix who even met in the 1933 final of the Coupe de France, Excelsior being the winner (both merged with Tourcoing in 1945, RCR unmerged in 1963 and Excelsior in 1970).

Clubs from a same city but playing in different leagues can meet in the Coupe de France however, even if this rarely happens. The last occurrence of this was a Marseille derby in the 1990s. Taking into account all the clubs playing at national level - i.e. Ligue 1, Ligue 2, National, CFA and CFA2 - the following derbies could occur:

*Ajaccio - AC Ajaccio (L2) vs GFCO Ajaccio (CFA).
*Bastia - SC Bastia (L2) vs CA Bastia (CFA) or EF Bastia (CFA2)
*Bordeaux - Girondins Bordeaux (L1) vs Stade Bordelais (CFA).†
*Lyon - Olympique Lyonnais (L1) vs AS Lyon-Duchère (CFA2).
*Marseille - Olympique de Marseille (L1) vs Endoume Marseille (CFA) or Consolat Marseille (CFA2).
*Paris (intra muros) - Paris Saint-Germain (L1) vs Paris FC (N).‡
*Reims - Stade de Reims (L2) vs Reims Sainte-Anne (CFA2).
*Strasbourg - RC Strasbourg (L2) vs Vauban Strasbourg (CFA2).
*Toulouse - Toulouse FC (L1) vs Toulouse Fontaines (CFA2).

† The reserve team of Girondins Bordeaux and the first team of Stade Bordelais play in the same pool of the CFA league. As of 2007, it's the only proper derby game at, or above, this (4th) level in France.

‡ Originally both founded in Paris, Racing and Red Star have moved out to the suburbs since then. However, back in the 1990s Racing did share PSG's parisian stadium during their brief spell in Ligue 1.

Local derbies

Whereas proper derbies are quite rare in France, local derbies on the other hand are very common. And because French people usually identify primarily with their town or region (see Esprit de clocher), these local derbies do attract a lot of attention.

Football

The atmosphere surrounding local derbies can be electric, while remaining relatively good humoured most of the time. On a national level some derbies are considered more important than others - games between Saint-Étienne and Lyon or Lille and Lens are eagerly awaited affairs, whereas a game between Auxerre and Troyes for example, wouldn't get so much national cover.

Notable local derbies include:
*Derby de la N77 - AJ Auxerre vs Troyes AC.
*Derby de la Garonne - Toulouse FC vs FC Girondins de Bordeaux.
*Derby lorrain - FC Metz vs AS Nancy Lorraine.
*Derby du Nord - RC Lens vs Lille OSC.
*Derby corse - SC Bastia vs AC Ajaccio.
*Derby du Rhône-Alpes - Olympique Lyonnais vs AS Saint-Étienne.
*Derby Breton - Stade Rennais vs FC Nantes.
*Derby provencal - Olympique de Marseille vs Sporting Toulon Var.
*Derby du Languedoc - Montpellier HSC vs Nîmes Olympique.
*Derby des Ardennes - CS Sedan Ardennes vs Troyes AC.
*Derby de la Côte d'Azur - AS Monaco FC vs OGC Nice.
*Derby des Alpes-Maritimes - OGC Nice vs AS Cannes.
*Derby normand - FC Rouen vs Le Havre AC.
*Derby de l'Est - FC Metz vs RC Strasbourg.

Classico

Football

While the attribution of the classico moniker can be pretty straight forward in countries such as Spain, things are not as clear cut in France. There are two schools of thoughts as to which game qualifies as the French classico.

Olympique de Marseille vs Paris Saint-Germain

Most people would consider OM vs PSG to be the French classico. However, some might argue that this is only a geopolitical choice as Paris and Marseille are respectively the 1st and 2nd most populated cities in France and the rivalry between both cities originally had nothing to do with football. Other would argue that because PSG and OM usually have the two biggest budgets in French football the game between the two deserved to be labelled the French classico.

Olympique de Marseille vs AS Saint-Étienne

Because Paris Saint-Germain have only won two Ligue 1 titles, which is less than 10 other French clubs have won, most purists think the classico shouldn't be the game between the two teams with the biggest budget but rather the game between the two teams with the most titles. This, without a doubt, would be Marseille vs Saint-Étienne. Both teams have dominated French football in the 1960s and 1970s and, even though they have had different fortunes since then, the rivalry between the two is still going strong.

Mini classicos

Along the years some clubs have developed deep rivalry with others but because they're quite distant geographically speaking, these matches are not considered derbies, however they are sometimes referred to as "mini classicos" in the French media. Whether the terminology will stay or not remains to be seen.

Football

*FC Girondins de Bordeaux vs FC Nantes Atlantique
*FC Girondins de Bordeaux vs Olympique de Marseille
*Olympique Lyonnais vs Lille OSC