Pride of Anglia

The various football clubs located in East Anglia vie for being the Pride of Anglia, an unofficial title celebrated by fans of the clubs involved.

Description

League positions for the five professional association football clubs in East Anglia.

The title is claimed for winning the East Anglian derby and/or for finishing highest in the league. According to all definitions (see below) Norwich City are the undisputed Pride of Anglia, as they are the latest winners of an Anglian derby and were the highest placed Anglian team in the English football pyramid, finishing 3rd in the 2nd tier of English football and were promoted to the highest tier via the playoffs. Norwich were then the only team in the top tier from East Anglia, but they were relegated in the 2015/16 season. The latest competitive Ipswich/Norwich game played on the 21st August 2016 ended in a 1-1 draw,[1] however the last decisive derby result ended in complete victory for Norwich.

East Anglian derby

The main rivals are Ipswich Town and Norwich City. Other professional clubs in the region include Colchester United, Peterborough United and Cambridge United. Other emerging teams from the region include Luton Town, Braintree Town and Lowestoft Town.

When Norwich and Ipswich meet it is known as the 'East Anglian derby'.[2] Over the 142 matches played between Norwich and Ipswich since 1902, Ipswich boasts the better record, having won 42% of the matches to Norwich's 39%.[3] The most recent encounter ended in a 1-1 draw in the Championship on the 21st August 2016. Prior to this, the last decisive derby result was a 3-1 win for Norwich at Carrow Road in May 2015 in the 2nd leg of the Playoff semi-final (Norwich won 4-2 on aggregate). This fixture is sometimes referred to as the "Old Farm derby", a humorous reference to the "Old Firm derby" and the rural nature of East Anglia.

League position

Another commonly employed measure for "Pride of Anglia", and one that encompasses all of the East Anglian teams, is the side finishing as the highest placed East Anglian team in the English football league system.[4] Norwich have claimed this position since 2010–11 by finishing second in The Championship, and, by virtue of being the only East Anglian team in the Premier League (the top league of English football), did so from 2011 until the end of the 2013-14 season when they were relegated back the Championship. Norwich finished 3rd the following season and were promoted back to the Premier League, while Ipswich finished 6th. This means that Norwich will be the only team in the Premier League from East Anglia and will be, by default, always be the highest finishing East Anglian team. (unless another Anglian team is promoted to the Premier League and/or Norwich are relegated). Norwich were relegated back to the Championship at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 season, Ipswich will be the only other East Anglian team in the Championship, meaning it will be only Norwich and Ipswich competing to be the Pride of Anglia.

Previously in 2007, Colchester United finished in the highest league position of clubs in the region and were awarded a special trophy by Anglia Television to mark the event.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37075113
  2. ↑ Ronald Atkin (2006-11-19). "East Anglia derby: Grant ready with his shark riposte". The Independent. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  3. ↑ "East Anglian derby". Ipswich Town F.C. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  4. ↑ Chris Lakey (2007-04-01). "Cureton tells fans good times are coming". Norwich Evening News. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
  5. ↑ U's gain Anglia acclaim, Colchester United FC, 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
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