Cardiff fans, despite their constant claims that we are no longer their rivals due to their status as a 'big' club voted us as their man Rivals - one of only 22 instances in the report where the rivalry was two-way (i.e. both sets of fans voting for the opposite club) However, the club most hated in the UK is again unsurprisingly Man Utd, who have been voted the number one Rivals of no less than four clubs - Arsenal, Bolton Wanderers, Leeds and Man City. In turn, fans of Man Utd see their main rivals as Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal in that order.
In choosing their rivals, 45% of fans see history/tradition as the main reason on who their rivals are and 35% believe it is down to the fact that they are the closest club geographically. Of local derbies, Celtic v Rangers is believed to be the fiercest whilst Merseyside derbies between the blue and red halves of Liverpool are the friendliest. Interestingly, 71% of fans would support the opposition if their main rivals were playing in Europe (reading Mr Hamman?) but 59% of us would miss our Rivals if they weren't there.
Most of the 22 instances where there was two-way Rivalry sees locality at the main reason with the exception being Wimbledon and AFC Wimbledon for reasons quite obvious!
In terms of second and third rivals, Swans fans voted for Bristols Rovers and City in that order whilst the Blue lot went for Bristol City and then a tie between Stoke and Newport. Fans were also asked to provide details of what they referred to their rivals as and whilst many were unprintable (!) Swansea fans got an honourable mention for their reference to Cardiff City as dwarves. Sheff Wed fans refer to United fans as Piggies whilst Blades fans refer to the Owls as Pigs (great imagination in the steel city don't you think!)
As well as ourselves, Cardiff get a mention as within the top three Rivals for both Bristol Clubs, Stoke and Wrexham. Also from the report, 40% of fans claim that they do not have a second club and 43% wouldn't follow a new team if their existing club failed to exist. Of the most popular second clubs no surprise to learn that Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd were the most popular whilst fans who would choose a new team following extinction are more likely to follow Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea. Not that the word glory hunters springs to mind in any way, shape or form!
Some clubs fans say that their Rivals have changed in recent years compared to their traditional rival (e.g. Arsenal fans voted for Man Utd as their rivals whereas tradition says it should be Spurs) There are a number of reasons for this with the main two being that the traditional rival is no longer in the same division or that they are seen to not challenging each other for the same honours.
The full results of the survey can be found on the football fans census web site by clicking here
BUY YOUR RETRO SWANS SHIRTS FROM
| 
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.