Feyenoord vs Sparta Rotterdam
Rotterdam's derby: the people's club against the city's oldest.
Feyenoord and Sparta Rotterdam contest the Rotterdam derby, the city's local rivalry, which also takes in Excelsior; Rotterdam is the only Dutch city with three professional clubs. Feyenoord, from the Feijenoord district in the south, is the best known and one of the Netherlands' big three, while Sparta, founded in 1888 in Spangen, is the country's oldest professional club.
Quick Facts
- Name
- Rotterdam derby (Rotterdamse derby)
- Clubs
- Feyenoord, Sparta Rotterdam (also Excelsior)
- Sparta founded
- 1888, Spangen
- Titles
- Feyenoord 16, Sparta 6
Reader's Guide
According to the club article the feeling is stronger on the Sparta side. It dates from the 1910s and 1920s, when Sparta was seen as a club for the elite and Feyenoord as the workers' club, and some Sparta fans have refused to set foot in De Kuip even for KNVB Cup finals played there. It peaked in the 1950s around Tinus Bosselaar, who moved from Sparta to Feyenoord in 1954 before Sparta signed him back despite Feyenoord going to court. Rotterdam clubs have 22 national titles between them, 16 for Feyenoord and six for Sparta.
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