It’s time to take a look at one of the more odd rivalries in English football between Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Usually when it comes to bitter rivalries, you tend to associate them with being local. Every major clash in England tends to be that way, so the Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion clash is a bit of an anomaly in that sense.
Having started back in the 1950s, this war also known as the M23 derby really kicked in during the 1970s when both sides rose up into the top flight from the third tier. Despite being nearly 50 miles apart, they credit each other as being bitter rivals regardless of distance.
It certainly breaks the trend of traditional showdowns in derby games, but it does not make it any less interesting. The battles these two sides had back in the 70s are famous for really driving home this hatred, and one game in particular is also considered to be the birth of Brighton’s ‘Seagulls’ nickname as they sung it in response to Palace’s Eagle chants.
General view of Selhurst Park
The hungry nature of the managers and teams served only to intensify the situation, and this sleeping giant of a derby was brought back to the surface in recent times due to both team’s push for the Premier League.
In the 2013 Championship play-off semi-finals Palace won 2-0 on aggregate to send themselves to Wembley, in a series of games that highlighted just what this clash means to both sets of supporters.
Some people may never truly understand how you can hate a club so far away from your own, but maybe the knowledge that they are leering in the distance spurs them on to best their rivals in every possible way.
General view of The Amex Community Stadium before the game
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