Football HistoryBy Tochukwu Mesigo

The Oldest Football Rivalries Still Played Today

Some rivalries predate most countries. These are the oldest football rivalries in the world — fixtures that were being played before the modern game even had rules.

Rivalries are football's oldest tradition. Long before leagues, cups or television, two teams were meeting over and over again because they lived on the same street and refused to lose to each other. Some of those fixtures are still played today, making them the oldest continuously existing rivalries in the sport.

The Rules Derby: Sheffield FC vs Hallam FC

The oldest football rivalry in the world is between the two oldest clubs in the world. Sheffield FC, founded in 1857, and Hallam FC, founded in 1860, first met on 26 December 1860 in the world's very first inter-club football match. Sheffield won 2-0 at Sandygate — which is still the world's oldest football ground.

For more than 160 years the pair have kept meeting, and the fixture — now nicknamed the Rules Derby — still takes place in Sheffield's lower leagues today. In January 2025 they even played a competitive match again for the first time in years, a meeting of the two founding fathers of world football.

The Old Firm: Celtic vs Rangers

Scotland's Old Firm began on 28 May 1888, when Celtic — in their very first match as a club — beat Rangers 5-2 in a friendly. From that first meeting, the rivalry grew into the defining fixture of Scottish football. The 'Old Firm' label was coined around 1904, and the two clubs have contested the Scottish title between them for over a century, making it one of the oldest and most played rivalries in the history of the sport.

The Steel City Derby

England's oldest professional league rivalry is the Steel City Derby between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday. The two clubs first met in the 1890s, and their fixture is routinely listed as the oldest derby in the English Football League — older than the Merseyside or Manchester derbies. Sheffield's unique place in football history — home to both the oldest clubs and the first football association — makes the city the cradle of the sport's rivalries as well.

How Old Are the Other Great Derbies?

The biggest international derbies are centuries-fresh compared with the Sheffield rivals, but still older than many national leagues:

What Keeps a Rivalry Alive for a Century?

Football historians point to three ingredients that turn a fixture into a rivalry that outlasts generations:

• Geography — clubs that share a city or region meet constantly, so the results keep stacking up.
• Identity — rivals usually stand for something different: class, district, religion or politics.
• Stakes — when the two clubs compete for the same trophies, every meeting matters.

For the modern rivalries that draw the biggest global crowds, see the most famous football derbies in the world.

Last updated: August 2026 | By Tochukwu Mesigo | Category: Football History