North London Derby is English football’s fiercest rivalry

It’s no secret football fans are usually keen to discuss which English football fixture is the fiercest. The Merseyside derby, Manchester derby and East Midlands derby are among those most debated.`

However, analysis from building works supplier Actavo Direct reveals Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur is the most costly game in English football to police, with the ‘North London Derby’ – Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur –  costing the Metropolitan Police £158,449.07 to manage.

Actavo Direct analysed freedom of information (FOI) data from the local police forces for 24* top-tier football clubs to reveal which games cost the most to police.

Interestingly, the second most expensive fixture features the same two teams, held at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium, which cost £138,355.75.

This comes as no surprise, given the local rivalry dates back over 100 years, to 1913, when Arsenal moved stadiums to North London. The fixture at the Emirates stadium in 2018 saw seven arrests, with tensions evidently as high as ever between the teams.

London derbies feature heavily in the top 10 most costly fixtures, with Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur (4^th), West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur (5^th) and Queens Park Rangers v Millwall (8^th) also appearing alongside the two North London Derby fixtures.

Crystal Palace v Brighton & Hove Albion – often referred to as the ‘A23 derby’ or the ‘M23 derby’ – was the third most expensive game to police.

Despite the clubs’ stadiums being 42 miles apart, they share a rivalry which stems back to the 1970s. Hostility between the two clubs’ fans is still common today and the policing costs show local forces are unwilling to take any chances on match days.

Three Championship fixtures feature in the top 10 costly matches, with the rest being Premier League matches. London club Millwall feature in all three Championship fixtures, against Leeds United (6^th), Stoke City (7^th) and Queens Park Rangers (8^th).

Millwall recently topped the chart for the highest number of arrests of football clubs in England’s top 5 divisions. A reported 56 Millwall supporters were arrested between August 2014 and May 2018 for football-related offences.

So, it’s no surprise the club topped the list for the most common costly opponents, featuring 5 times, joint top with Leeds United and Manchester United. This tallies how often each club features as an away opponent in a club’s ‘most costly’ game.

With Manchester United and Leeds United clocking up 37 and 27 arrests respectively between 2014-2018, these three clubs are among those often seen with more police officers deployed on match day.