Top 10 Most Dangerous Rivalries for Soccer Fans

There are rivalries, and then there are rivalries. There are legendary, historic rivalries that are always entertaining to watch. The passion is real, the results are talked about until the next time they meet, and sometimes for years, even generations after. Duke and North Carolina in basketball is one of these rivalries. Michigan and Ohio State in football is another. The Yankees and Red Sox in baseball is still another.

These rivalries don't usually result in outright violence, however. That is something to be proud of, that a rivalry can be wholesome and the fans more or less civilized enough to not kill each other over a game. There are exceptions to this sometimes, as there is always a bad apple in the bunch who makes everyone else look bad by doing something ridiculous.

An important distinction to make in the coming slides is that fans for particular teams are not being generalized, it's just simply that there are particular sects of fans that commit heinous acts of violence or other criminal behavior before, during, or after rivalry games.

Onward, rivalry lovers.

River Plate and Boca Juniors

The two soccer giants from Buenos Aires trace their rivalry back over a hundred years, with the the original source of animosity between them tracing to class tension, as Boca Juniors is identified as a working class team and River Plate is known as a more affluent team. Both of these labels are only there because of their stadium locations, as there isn't really a distinction between the fan groups as far as class goes. Rich and poor support both teams.

Regardless of whether or not the labels are accurate, the hatred is there, and violent beatings are common. The worst incident occurred in 1968 when 71 fans died in a stamped crushing them as they tried to exit the stadium while fires were breaking out in the stands. Police were blamed, River fans were blamed, Boca fans were blamed, but there's still not an official explanation for why it happened.

West Ham and Millwall

One of the most famous soccer rivalries is West Ham United and Millwall F.C., with the two teams finding their origins in East London. Set practically within spitting distance of each other, and owing the foundations of their rivalries to dockworkers who worked for different companies.

It's difficult to point at the single worst event event in the rivalry's history, as there are so many bad ones. The most recent however, is of note: The game in 2009 featured three field invasions, dozens of injured people, victims of stabbing and police officers being assaulted while they tried to break up the violence before, during and after the game. 

Not every meeting is quite this explosive, which is certainly a good thing, but there's almost always violence of some sort between the organized sets of fans who take things too seriously.

Rangers and Celtic

Another storied soccer rivalry, this one from Glasgow, Scotland. The Old Firm finds the base of its hatred in the Catholic and Protestant roots of their various supporters, some of whom simply use that as an excuse to act like common criminals. 

You know a rivalry is intense when police on horseback have to charge into the fray to try to break it up.

USA and Mexico... in Mexico City

While it is surely a heated rivalry with plenty of pushing, shoving and arguing between the players, there hasn't been many reports of actual violent behavior taking place between fans. However, the potential of it is always there during World Cup Qualifiers when the U.S. travels to Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, one of the most intimidating sports venues in the world, where Mexico carried a four-decade long unbeaten streak until just a couple of years ago.

Current and former American players have complained of having bags of urine thrown on them, batteries pelting them from the stands and various other forms of abuse, but fortunately, fans haven't generally had the same experiences.

This is very fortunate, but despite the lack of physical action, the verbal abuse that Americans have taken in recent years warrants this rivalry being included in the list. After the Sept. 11 attacks, it became a particularly popular method of psychological warfare in the Azteca, as some fans lovingly chant the name of Osama bin Laden whenever the Americans come to visit. There are vile things chanted at games around the world, but few as disgusting and provoking as this. We'll get to Manchester United and Liverpool soon.

Maybe it's premature to have this rivalry on the list, but every year it seems to get more and more possible that violence is going to break out. Here's hoping it doesn't.

Manchester United and Liverpool

For this particular rivalry, it was impossible to select a video to encapsulate the disgraceful actions of groups of supporters from both teams. 

The rivalry stems from the industrial revolution as the two competing cities tried to outdo one another, and eventually that turned to the soccer field. Two of the most successful and popular teams in the world to this day, they also both have tragic events in their history. In 1989 at a game between Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday, the Hillsborough Disaster occurred, where almost a hundred fans died and over 700 were injured in a stadium crush. Exclusively Liverpool fans, the tragedy is a sore point to this day as no blame has been laid out for the horrendous mismanagement at the stadium that allowed the crush to happen.

For Manchester United, their day of tragedy came in 1958 when United's plane crashed during takeoff from West Germany, killing 23 people, including eight players. 

Certain elements of fans for these two teams now use these events as ammunition, chanting and singing about the disasters to provoke the other side.

Zrinjski and Velez

These two teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina have a deep dislike of one another that sometimes translates to away fans being disallowed from attending games. 

The source of the rivalry dates to the Bosnian War when the two teams, both in Mostar, were on opposite sides of the battle lines as the city was divided between opposing forces.

The animosity has continued, and frankly, it's a really good idea to not allow away fans at games.

Wisla Krakow and Cracovia

The two teams from Krakow, Poland have fans who really don't like each other. They are, however, unique in calling the rivalry The Holy War. It's pretty serious stuff, and it is fairly common for there to be hundreds of riot police in the stadium to keep the opposing fans apart. 

There have been dozens of deaths among fans, and it certainly doesn't help that the stadiums for the two teams are less than a quarter mile from each other. 

Olympiakos and Panathinaikos

These are two of the biggest teams in Greece, so obviously they don't like each other. Nor do their fans. Whether the violence is intended or accidental, caused by the careless use of fireworks and flares, there are often injuries when these two clash. 

Of the intentional violence, one of the most famous cases came prior to the game when the two teams' organized hooligan groups met at a women's volleyball match to have their royal rumble without police interference. 

Glentoran and Linfield

The two biggest teams in North Ireland, both of them from Belfast, have a hatred for each other that is somewhat unique. It isn't based on religion, politics or class warfare. It's about the game, and which team is better.

Frankly, they both lose when events like this take place.

Honduras and El Salvador

Every other rivalry in the sporting world pales in comparison when it comes to these two teams in 1969. Other teams have fans that fight in the stadium or nearby, and there is despicable behavior for sure. But none of them have caused their countries to go to war with each other.

The so called Football War is a bit of a misnomer as hostility had been breeding for awhile on a number of issues unrelated to soccer, but it just so happened that war officially broke out between the two nations after a World Cup Qualifier that saw some fans acting rather crazy.

The war lasted for nine days, before a successful cease fire was negotiated.