Is Plymouth v Portsmouth the biggest game in League 2?

[navylad]

Although I'm a Man City fan, I've spent a lot of my life living in Plymouth and now Portsmouth as well. So naturally I follow this league quite a bit, nearly as much as the Premier League and much more than the Championship and League 1.

I was wondering what the general feeling was about which game people thought was the biggest in the league... For me the obvious choice would be Plymouth-Portsmouth but that may be more due to the fact that there's a big rivalry within the navy between Plymouth and Portsmouth. However I do follow argyle quite a bit and for me although argyle fans hate Exeter fans more, Plymouth v Portsmouth just feels like a much bigger occasion. But what do other fans think about which game is the biggest? And is the 'Dockyard Derby' actually a thing or is it just the clubs media trying to attract more attention to the game? I do think though that the longer these two clubs stay in the same league and continue to be around the same position in the table this could develop into much more than what it is now as I think they are natural rivals due to the Naval history and the fact that they are very similar sized cities with a working class population.

 

[shoddycollins]

No

 

[ProfessorGreen]

Plymouth vs Portsmouth isn't a derby and it's a tad embarrassing when it gets labelled as such to be honest. The 'dockyard derby' thing is purely media inspired and I think any 'rivalry' that may have been there years back originating from the military aspects of the cities, is not really there anymore.

I think both clubs try to bill it as a 'derby' whilst we are in this shitpot league to stir up a bit of atmosphere and excitement amongst fans as Pompey are going a long while without playing South Coast rival teams due to being in different divisions and Exeter's following to Plymouth is normally fairly embarrassing. Added to this the fact that when we play Exeter the stigma of us 'being expected to win as we are a bigger club' has become very tiring as we've been in the same division for years now for a reason. I for one do not look forward to the Exeter games every year for exactly this reason, we can never exceed expectation in this fixture and only fail it seems. So maybe this is why the club try and stir up Portsmouth as a derby also, so that we can have a 'derby' where there is no clear favourite or even we go somewhere as slight underdogs.

I guess its the biggest game in the league in terms of club size/fanbase size but I wouldn't call it a derby.

 

[Urban]

I for one am glad that Bristol Rovers have exited this division as Southern England would be shut down for their matches with Luton. Millions of fans flooding the M4 twice yearly made things very difficult. I've heard the army were close to being called in on more than one occasion for crowd control.

 

[northstandexile]

The Mansfield to Nottingham trains have never been so packed when Stags visit Meadow Lane.

Last season the away following for this match was the highest in the league for an evening game and I think second largest for the whole division.

 

[hellogregory]

*Sits and waits for the Luton fans to arrive*

 

[shoddycollins]

I for one am glad that Bristol Rovers have exited this division as Southern England would be shut down for their matches with Luton. Millions of fans flooding the M4 twice yearly made things very difficult. I've heard the army were close to being called in on more than one occasion for crowd control.

They would never even have needed to build the M4 had Bristol Rovers not been around.

 

[E10rifle]

Notts County vs. Grimsby, I think.

 

[Youpies]

Notts County vs. Grimsby, I think.

Lol

Surprised at the result of that Survey, but the Staggies love travelling to the big city, so it does go someway to explain it.

Think we only took about 1200 there last season, such was the appetite from Notts fans

 

[ProfessorGreen]

I think that survey is somewhat off altogether to be honest.

 

[BelizeHatter]

exiled Luton fan arrives. Laughs - as usual at Urban - and states there is no match involving Luton that makes Top 10 let alone 5.

 

[GTFCfish]

Surely the biggest rivalry is E10rifle v Eric Read........?

 

[GTFCfish]

I for one am glad that Bristol Rovers have exited this division as Southern England would be shut down for their matches with Luton. Millions of fans flooding the M4 twice yearly made things very difficult. I've heard the army were close to being called in on more than one occasion for crowd control.

I'm not taking the piss here i genuinely don't know, but what is your problem with Bristol Rovers fans?

 

[BeesKnees]

I'm not taking the piss here i genuinely don't know, but what is your problem with Bristol Rovers fans?

Problem?
How can you generalise when there are so many of them?

 

[Richard Cranium]

Who does Urban hate more? Brovers or Luton?

 

[shoddycollins]

Who does Urban hate more? Brovers or Luton?

Probably Brovers... Barnet have a thing of developing rivalries with whoever goes up via the playoffs when they go up as champions. Usually though it ends well for the play-off winners.

 

[shoddycollins]

I think that survey is somewhat off altogether to be honest.

6128 fans is a pretty shit response size for the football league.

 

[Aber gas]

Who does Urban hate more? Brovers or Luton?

If Urban says Rovers I will be inconsolable. He loves us really...

 

[Urban]

Always nice to encourage some thoughtful debate on a forum I feel!

Who does Urban hate more? Brovers or Luton?

Who do I hate more? I love them both for the 6 points they gave us at the Hive last season...

No, they're an alright bunch on here for the most part (Abergas on the other hand I despise with the heat of a thousand suns). Just not really come across two clubs with such a prevalent knobhead section of fans than those two. I really did lose a lot of respect for Luton as a whole with how a large part of their contingent reacted to the John Nurse/Jon Smith incident.

Rovers on the other hand just think they're bigger than they were! (Although getting back there)

 

[Aber gas]

Wow.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Cambridge United v Luton Town - definitely not eagerly anticipated!

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

We've played each other so often over recent seasons I struggle to believe it's ine of the most anticipated fixtures! They say familiarity breeds contempt but I don't think it has really, from our end in any case. Maybe because our record has been quite good

Coming to think of it, I don't really know if we have any "highly anticipated" fixtures this season really.

 

[Kenneth E End]

We've got Leyton Orient (H) on Good Friday - if both teams are competing for top spot, that could be a very intriguing match looking forward.

 

[Casey]

Accy v Crawley. No doubt about it.

Tuesday night in Accrington. What passion, what atmosphere, what sacrilege to suggest anything else.

Casey

 

[GTFCfish]

No, they're an alright bunch on here for the most part (Abergas on the other hand I despise with the heat of a thousand suns).

Aber is one of my favourite posters!
I'm guessing you 2 have had a bit of a spat at some point whilst i was languishing on the non league forum.
What's gone on then?

 

[Urban]

Aber is one of my favourite posters!
I'm guessing you 2 have had a bit of a spat at some point whilst i was languishing on the non league forum.
What's gone on then?

He smells really bad.

No seriously, he reeks. It's all love though, abers a decent lad

 

[GTFCfish]

He smells really bad.

No seriously, he reeks. It's all love though, abers a decent lad

Ahh i see, it's that sort of 'gas' eh.........!

 

[Conker]

Lol

Surprised at the result of that Survey, but the Staggies love travelling to the big city, so it does go someway to explain it.

Think we only took about 1200 there last season, such was the appetite from Notts fans

Sure you sold out pal.

 

[FrazerLloyd]

And is the 'Dockyard Derby' actually a thing or is it just the clubs media trying to attract more attention to the game?

The 'Dockyard Derby' was certainly a thing in years gone by.

However, over the last 10 - 20 years (plus!) the dockyard in Plymouth has been dwindling in size due to many a cut back. Partially as a result of this, and because people move from town to town a lot more now, there are less local lads working in the dockyard than there previously was. I believe that the same can also be said of Portsmouth, although please don't quote me on that.

Couple that with Pompey and Argyle rarely playing each other, and the rivalry has all but died out. Youngsters, myself included (mid-twenties) have no association with the dockyard, and therefore no association with the rivalry that once was.

As always with football, 'size' is hard to determine but many of the clubs in the league simply cannot match Argyle or Portsmouth. Pompey are by far and away the largest club in this division in my opinion and Argyle are probably number two. Taking a look at home and travelling attendances usually gives you a good idea and when you consider that Argyle and Carlisle often swap places for the furthest distances travelled in the country, it shows you a lot.

For these reasons, I'd say that Argyle v Pompey is probably the game with the biggest clubs in it but unfortunately given the circumstances, it isn't always met with much anticipation. It's certainly not held in the same regard as Argyle v Exeter from our point of view.

With that being said, if you can get yourself along to an Argyle v. Pompey game as someone in the navy you'll probably enjoy it. They usually mark the occasion with a military element, like a brass band for example. It may be boring if you're used to that sort of thing, but it's certainly a lot better than the amateur pre-match 'entertainment' the crowd are usually subjected to.

 

[AdamStag]

Sure you sold out pal.

I think there was only 1200 at half time, and about 500 come 60 minutes.

They're old and get confused.