Passing Rivalries

Having managed to take another huge step towards the championship trapdoor over the weekend, there now appears to be a very real possibility that Ipswich Town will not be playing Norwich City next season, irrespective of our own fortunes over the remainder of the season. But how much do we really want to see Norwich relegated? How long will it be before the ignominity gives way to a feeling that something is missing?

Every club needs a rival, somebody to compete against and to attempt to better.

Its natural to want to be seen to be competing ahead of your rivals.

But inevitably, thats all it is. A yardstick.

Because once one team passes so far ahead of another that its irrelevant to compete against them, then its hard to retain that rivalry. And once that happens, a new rivalry is created against a team who have more relevance.

Wherever traditional rivals are separated by divisions, they take on new rivals. The new rivals are never the same as the traditional rivals, but they are required as that yardstick to compete against. Until such time as the traditional rivals return to compete.

Its been this way at many other clubs when separated over the years. Colchester fans would have you believe that they have enjoyed a part-time rivalry with Southend over the past 40-odd years whilst waiting to be re-acqainted with Ipswich. Manchester City took up a rivalry against Stockport for the years when they were separated from United.

At Ipswich, we enjoyed a rivalry with West Ham for a couple of Premiership years, when it seemed Norwich were further away from us than ever. Prior to that, with Norwich failing to compete at the top end of the table, Bolton and Sheffield United shared the honours year by year.

If the teams are in the same division, the opportunity to close the gap on their rivals, or prevent them from getting too far away is something that has been shared by both Norwich and Ipswich even when they havent exactly been neck and neck in the division.

So, as Norwich edge ever closer to relegation, it has been amusing for most Ipswich fans, this writer included. However, now that it is starting to become evident that it might actually happen, it has to be considered that they might become completely irrelevant to Ipswich Town for a few years. If we have an average season next season, we might end up missing the one game which is guaranteed to bring a full house to Portman Road and an atmosphere of the sort most fans wish could be present every week.

However, the other scenario is that we compete at the very top of the division, striking up that rivalry with someone managed by Neil Warnock (shame he wont be around, of course). Then we probably couldnt care less about where Norwich are.