Various English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

clubs located in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

vie for being the Pride of Anglia, an unofficial title celebrated by fans of the clubs involved. These clubs include

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

, Ipswich Town,

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

and Peterborough United—although by modern geographical reckoning,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

is not considered part of East Anglia. Currently, fans of both Ipswich and Norwich can claim their club to be the Pride of Anglia under the two most widely-regarded methods for deciding the accolade, most recent league position, and most recent result in the

East Anglian derby The East Anglian derby is a term used to describe football matches held between Norwich City and Ipswich Town, the only fully professional football clubs in the neighbouring East Anglian counties of Norfolk and Suffolk respectively. In recent ...

, respectively.

Description

Professional

teams from the ceremonial counties that make up

(i.e. the counties of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

and

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

in England) compete for this unofficial title. No actual official trophy or reward is awarded. Winning the most recent

and finishing as the highest Anglian team in the league pyramid are the two main measures employed by fans/pundits etc. that decide who can claim this title. The main two football clubs vying for the title are Ipswich Town from Suffolk and

from Norfolk. Both teams currently regularly compete in the top two tiers in the English football league and often find themselves in the same division, meaning at least two derby matches will be played during the season as league games, in addition to any cup / play-off games where the two teams may be drawn against each other. Other league clubs from the region include

, Peterborough United and

. These teams occasionally find themselves in the same league as Norwich and Ipswich and thus have the opportunity to claim the title for finishing highest in the league. In 2007, Colchester United finished in the highest league position in East Anglia and the club were (uniquely) awarded a special trophy by Anglia Television to mark the occasion.U's gain Anglia acclaim
Colchester United FC, 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2013-05-23.

East Anglian derby

When Norwich and Ipswich meet, the match is known as the '

', first played in 1902. The most recent encounter played on 6 April 2024 at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

ended in a 1-0 victory to Norwich. As of April 2024, Norwich have not been beaten by Ipswich in a competitive derby match for 15 years, dating back to April 2009. In recent years, the fixture has sometimes been humorously called the 'Old Farm derby', a reference to the

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

derby played between rival

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

clubs

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and Rangers, and to the prominence of agriculture in East Anglia. The derby has been described as one of the best derbies in the UK.

League position

Another commonly employed measure for "Pride of Anglia", and one that encompasses all of the East Anglian teams, is the side finishing as the highest-placed East Anglian team in the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

. In the 2023–24 season, Ipswich finished in the highest league position of all East Anglian clubs for the first time in some years. and will by default be the best in Anglia on league position until at least the end of the 2024-2025 season for being the only club from the region in the highest tier of English football. Norwich City defeated Ipswich Town during the 2023-2024 season, meaning they also can lay claim to the Pride of Anglia title.

Current Games

References

{{Norwich City F.C. Association football terminology Colchester United F.C. Ipswich Town F.C. Norwich City F.C. Football derbies in England

Description

East Anglian derby

League position

Current Games

See also

References