As Leicester pop up the road to Coventry this weekend, Chris Whiting ponders the age-old question: if a rivalry is named after a strip of concrete, is it really a rivalry at all?
I promise, this is not a wind-up, and not an attempt to emulate Notts Forest fans. I want to state, in black and white, at the very top of this article that Leicester and Coventry are rivals. It’s funny actually, for a small sub-section of Hinckley-dwelling Leicester fans, Coventry are the rivals, but for everyone else, the ‘M69 Derby’ is kind of… meh.
Leicester and Coventry both find themselves in an unusual predicament. Both have drawn the geographical short straw that leaves both clubs without an inarguable requited rivalry. And, despite being neighbours along the M69 corridor, the rivalry between the two has never risen to become a real showpiece occasion for either club. But, why?
For Coventry, it’s fairly simple, the Sky Blues are simply somewhat isolated from the rest of their region, and vying for attention among the four wider Birmingham clubs largely falls on deaf ears. In fact, Villa, Birmingham, Wolves and West Brom would all place each other higher on their lists of nearest and not-so dearest ahead of Coventry.
In the intricate landscape of East Midlands football rivalries, Leicester sits at the apex of an isosceles triangle with Derby and Forest. And, as we’re so often reminded, the friendship between the latter two takes precedence for both Rams and Reds. Yet, Leicester fans, by and large, still see Forest as the enemy.
It seems obvious then that the M69 Derby would satisfy both club’s ‘need’ for a real rival, but no.
No contest
For me, a rivalry is only made worthwhile by its stakes. It’s what makes Derby and Nottingham our enemies and makes Northampton and Peterborough irrelevant – there’s something to fight for with the former two.
From Leicester’s perspective, the M69 Derby with Coventry simply lacks the stakes and historical significance found in clashes with Forest and Derby. You could easily hold a spirited debate about who is bigger and better out of Leicester, Forest and Derby but you can’t with Cov.
Coventry have won one trophy to our seven, have competed in twenty-plus fewer top-flight seasons than us, and have a smaller fanbase to boot. Coventry haven’t been in the Premier League since 2001, and famously failed to finish in the top six of any division for 45 years. Simply, that leaves Leicester with little to overcome.
Even the games themselves have been one-sided. Without wanting to tempt fate, Leicester have only lost three times to Coventry this century, and only once since 2001. Can it be a rivalry if the result is a foregone conclusion?
Can’t start thinking about you
We don’t even have territory to fight over – what are we competing for? An anonymous stretch of tarmac between Corley and Leicester Forest East? One that isn’t even one of the top 25 anonymous stretches of tarmac in the UK?
I’ve lived on the south side of Leicester my entire life, the part of the county that faces Coventry, yet I have never encountered a Coventry fan. I’ve known Forest and Derby fans but never a Sky Blue.
After digesting the post-match discussion when I leave King Power Stadium on a Saturday, I confess to checking to see if Forest have lost, and sometimes I check on Derby’s score. Coventry are in our league this season, and even now, I just don’t think about them.
If the fans can’t even hold the attention of fans like me, living in a region where we should be knocking elbows then the question arises – what is the point of the M69 Derby?
For some, this Saturday’s game will be ‘the big one’, but for many of us it’ll be just another chapter in a soulless rivalry of convenience.
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