Humber Derby

The Humber derby is an association football rivalry between Grimsby Town, Hull City and Scunthorpe United. It is a geographical rivalry as all three clubs are based on the banks of the Humber Estuary, England. Hull is situated on the northern bank in the East Riding of Yorkshire, whilst Grimsby and Scunthorpe are both situated on the southern bank in Lincolnshire. Between 1 April 1974 and 31 March 1996, this entire area was a ceremonial county in its own right, known as Humberside.

The derby was first contested in a competitive fixture on 16 December 1905 when Hull City hosted Grimsby Town in the league, with the match ending 1–0 to Grimsby. As of the 2024–25 season, Hull compete in the EFL Championship, Grimsby compete in EFL League Two and Scunthorpe compete in the National League North.

History

Foundations

Out of the three clubs, Grimsby were founded first in 1878 under the name 'Grimsby Pelham Football Club'. A year later, they dropped the Pelham name and became 'Grimsby Town'. They moved into their current stadium, Blundell Park, in 1898. The following year, Scunthorpe United were formed and began play at the Old Show Ground as a semi-professional side. In 1904, Hull City were founded and played at several home grounds before moving into their first permanent home, Anlaby Road, upon its opening in 1906.

It was whilst Hull were playing at temporary grounds that the first Humber derby was contested. On 16 December 1905, the Tigers hosted Grimsby in the Second Division and lost 1–0. By this time, Grimsby had been playing in the Football League since 1892. In their short history, the Mariners had been quite a successful team, winning the Second Division in 1901 and enjoying two consecutive seasons in the First Division before relegation. Hull had only just been admitted to the Football League, having joined at the start of the 1905–06 season. Scunthorpe were still a semi-professional club at this point. The Iron would soon merge with local rivals North Lindsey United in 1910 to become 'Scunthorpe & Lindsey United'. They eventually turned professional in 1912 when they joined the Midland League, which acted as a feeder division for the Football League.

Inter-war period

For the next 30 years, Grimsby–Hull would be a semi-regular fixture in the Second Division, whilst Scunthorpe continued to remain outside the Football League. Hull were the dominant side before the First World War but Grimsby won the majority of fixtures in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Scunthorpe's first Humber derby came on 27 November 1937, when they travelled to Hull in the first round of the FA Cup. The visitors would succumb to a heavy defeat and lose 4–0. After their eventual admission to the Football League in 1950, Scunthorpe's first derby against Grimsby was on 25 December 1951 in the Third Division North. They lost 3–2 at Blundell Park. Uniquely, the reverse fixture was played the following day at the Old Show Ground, but again Scunthorpe lost, this time 3–1.

By the 1950s, all three sides had endured success to some extent. Grimsby had been the most successful, being crowned champions of the Second Division twice and champions of the Third Division North once. The Mariners also managed to reach the FA Cup semi-finals in both 1936 and 1939, but lost to Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively. Hull had been champions of the Third Division North in 1933 and 1949 but were still yet to reach the top flight. However, the Tigers did reach the FA Cup semi-finals in 1930, but coincidentally lost to Arsenal, much like Grimsby would six years later. Additionally, Hull had now moved into their second permanent home, Boothferry Park, doing so in 1946. Considering that Scunthorpe had only played in non-league up to this point, it is unsurprising that their biggest achievements at this time were their title winning seasons of 1926–27 and 1938–39 in the Midland League.

1950s–1970s

There were no Grimsby–Hull games from 1951 until 1960 due to the two sides fluctuating between the second and third tier, always managing to avoid each other when doing so. Instead, Grimsby–Scunthorpe games and Hull–Scunthorpe games were much more frequent. Scunthorpe won five consecutive fixtures against Grimsby between 1953 and 1956, including a 4–1 win away at Blundell Park on 24 August 1954. The Iron also prevailed more often than not against Hull, winning three times and drawing twice out of the six games the fixture was played in the 1950s. Scunthorpe were not only successful against their rivals during this time as they won the Third Division North in the 1957–58 season. Following promotion, the club decided to drop the '& Lindsey' from its name and returned to being called 'Scunthorpe United'.

The 1960s was when the Humber derby was most frequent between all three sides. Between 1960 and 1966, Grimsby–Hull was played eight times, all in the Third Division. Grimsby won five of these fixtures whilst Hull won just once as the Mariners continued to get the better of the Tigers in the derby. Grimsby–Scunthorpe was a similar story in the 1960s too. Between 1962 and 1969, there were 16 fixtures. Grimsby won eight compared to Scunthorpe's three. The highlight of this period for the Mariners came on 7 September 1966, when they thrashed the Iron 7–1 at Blundell Park. This remains the largest ever victory in the Humber derby. Hull–Scunthorpe was only played four times in the 1960s, with Hull's 3–2 victory at Boothferry Park on 21 August 1965 starting a seven-game unbeaten streak against the Iron which ran until 1984.

After the 1965–66 season, Hull did not play a Humber derby game again until 25 March 1980 when they faced Grimsby at Boothferry Park, drawing 2–2. This was due to them being at least one division, and occasionally two divisions, above both Grimsby and Scunthorpe throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. The league title win at the end of the 1965–66 season would be Hull's last league title for another 55 years, until they eventually won one again in 2021. Meanwhile, Grimsby would have the upper hand over Scunthorpe in the 1970s, recording six straight wins against them between 1970 and 1972. However, Scunthorpe would win back-to-back 2–1 victories in 1978, either side of two low-scoring draws.

1980s–2000s

All three teams started the 1980s well. Grimsby won the Football League Trophy in 1982 and climbed into the Second Division alongside Hull. Elsewhere, Scunthorpe achieved promotion to the Third Division in 1983. This was about as good as it got for the Humberside clubs in the 1980s. Scunthorpe were immediately relegated and settled for mid-table mediocrity in the Fourth Division for the rest of the decade, whilst Grimsby suffered consecutive relegations back to the fourth tier in 1988. As for Hull, the Tigers stagnated in the Second Division until their eventual relegation in 1991. Scunthorpe also moved into Glanford Park upon its opening in 1988, leaving behind the Old Show Ground after 89 years.

The 1990s were much better for Grimsby who returned to the second tier on two occasions and won the Football League Trophy in 1998. Scunthorpe maintained their place in the Fourth Division until their promotion via the play-offs in 1999. That same year, Hull narrowly avoided relegation from the Football League in dramatic fashion having seen a steady decline since the start of the decade. There were almost no Humber derby matches contested throughout the decade, with a single Grimsby–Scunthorpe fixture in 1990 and seven further Hull–Scunthorpe fixtures between 1993 and 1999. None of these games were particularly noteworthy, except Scunthorpe did win more derbies than Hull during this period.

Hull left Boothferry Park for the new KC Stadium in the middle of the 2002–03 season, setting in motion one of the quickest rises to the top flight from the fourth tier in English football history. Back-to-back promotions in 2003–04 and 2004–05 saw the Tigers in the second tier for the first time since 1991. Hull achieved promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history via the play-offs at the end of the 2007–08 season. Hull played 11 Humber derby games in the 2000s. All of them came against Scunthorpe, with the Tigers winning six to the Iron's four. This was the first decade where the three sides spent the majority of the ten years apart. As Hull were ascending the pyramid, Grimsby started in League One before being relegated to League Two whilst Scunthorpe did the opposite. Only the 2004–05 season saw Grimsby face Scunthorpe whilst the two sides were sat in the fourth tier. Scunthorpe won the home fixture 2–0 before the teams played out a goalless draw at Blundell Park. The Iron did eventually reach the Championship after winning League One in 2006–07, their first league title since 1958.

Present day

In recent years the Humber derby has not been anywhere near as frequent as it used to be. Hull have exceeded their traditional habits of being stuck in the lower divisions by playing in the Premier League for five seasons across three separate periods since their initial promotion in 2008. They have only spent one season back in the third tier since then, the 2020–21 season. Following their relegation the year before, the Tigers won League One, ending their 55-year title drought. They have since competed in the Championship. They did also manage to reach the FA Cup final in 2014 but lost to Arsenal. This achievement meant that Hull then had a foray into European football, but they failed to qualify for the Europa League group stages after losing to Belgian side K.S.C. Lokeren on the away goals rule. The Tigers last competed in the Premier League in the 2016–17 season.

Scunthorpe flitted between the second and third tier for a few seasons but soon found themselves in the latter. They had a slow demise beginning in the 2018–19 season where they were relegated to League Two, before finally succumbing to non-league football after a disastrous 2021–22 campaign. In the National League they were faced with administration, and despite avoiding that they were relegated to the National League North at the end of the 2022–23 season. Grimsby spent the 2010s in and out of the Football League. They most recently won promotion back to League Two via the play-offs at the end of the 2021–22 season. The Mariners are currently still in the fourth tier. The most recent Humber derby to be contested was on 23 January 2021 when Scunthorpe hosted and thrashed Grimsby 3–0 at Glanford Park.

Overall table

All-time results

Grimsby Town v Hull City

;Overall statistics

Grimsby Town v Scunthorpe United

;Overall statistics

Hull City v Scunthorpe United

;Overall statistics

See also

* Lincolnshire derby
* List of association football rivalries in the United Kingdom

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humber Derby
Football derbies in England
Football in the East Riding of Yorkshire
Football in Lincolnshire
Grimsby Town F.C.
Hull City A.F.C.
Scunthorpe United F.C.