Westcountry Derby

A Westcountry Derby is an English association football match involving two teams from the Westcountry. Currently Plymouth Argyle F.C. and Bristol City F.C. are the highest ranked Westcountry teams, with both playing in the Coca-Cola Championship, the second tier of English football. Exeter City F.C., Yeovil Town F.C., Bristol Rovers F.C. and Swindon Town F.C. compete in the Coca-Cola League One, the third tier, while Torquay United F.C. are in the Coca-Cola League Two, the fourth tier, having been promoted fropm the Conference National in the 2008-09 season.
Biggest Derbies
Plymouth Argyle vs. Bristol City
Probably the most intense Westcountry derby at the time of writing, both of these clubs have been highly successful in the 21st century and as a result are both in the Championship. It is just over 100 miles from Bristol to Plymouth, but both clubs are in the South West region of England
At the start of the 2000s, Argyle were languishing in the lower reaches of Division Three, but two promotions in the 2001-02 and 2003-04 seasons gave them a place in the Championship. After a couple of mid-table finishes in the division, Argyle became play-off contenders, but after losing several key players they only just avoided relgation in the 2008-09 season.
City started the decade a division above Argyle, and were serious play-off contenders under the management of Danny Wilson. When they did make the play-offs, in 2003, they went out in the semi-final and lost the final the following year. Gary Johnson became their manager in 2005, and after a poor start City eventually finished as runners up in League One in the 2006-07, as a result earning promotion. They started the following season extremely well, going top of the Championship for most of it, but in the end only managed a play-off spot. In the play-off final they lost 1 - 0 to Hull City courtesy of a Dean Windass goal. In their last two seasons they have narrowly missed out on the play-offs.
Argyle defeated City 4-0 in the first round of the LDV Vans Trophy in the 2003-2004 season, making it the biggest derby win in a game between the sides in recent years. In the same competition in the 2000-01 season Argyle won 3 - 0 at home. When the clubs met again in the 2007-08 season, with both teams flying high in the Championship, a late own goal from Krisztian Timar gave City a 1-1 draw at Home Park. The return fixture saw a Rory Fallon brace give Argyle a 1-2 success at Ashton Gate, effectively ending the Robin's automatic promotion hopes. The following season, Argyle let two goal lead slip at Ashton Gate as the game finished 2-2. The Robins won the return fixture 0-2.
The last meeting between the sides saw a 3-1 home win for City courtesy of two late goals in October 2009.
Players who played for both clubs:
Ian Baird
Phil Barber (on loan at Plymouth)
Forbes Phillipson-Masters
Scott Paterson
David Burnside
Keith Fear
Len Birks
Torquay United vs. Exeter City
Only 18 miles separate Torquay and Exeter, both in Devon. Torquay see Exeter as their main rivals, although Exeter tend to see Plymouth as their main rivals, despite the fact that Argyle and Exeter have been playing in different divisions for a number of years. Nonetheless, there is still a big rivalry between The Gulls and The Grecians.
Torquay have traditionally been a club fighting for survival in the lower divisions, and have never played in the first or second tiers of English football. They started the 2000s by just avoiding relegation to the Conference National, but by 2004 they had been promoted to League One. However, they went straight back down again, and just two years later they became a Conference club after another relegation. They made the play-offs twice in their two-year spell in non-league football, and in the 2008-09 season they won it - beating Cambridge United 2-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium.
Exeter have also never played above the third tier, and up until recently they were a non-league side. Financial problems and on-pitch struggle during the 1990s and most of the 2000s ruined the club, and in fact they nearly went bust. They were relegated to the Conference in 2003, but performed well as a non-league side, consistently finishing in the top half. They lost the 2007 play-off final to Morecambe, but won it the following season, thereby being promoted to League Two. In the 2008-09 season they finished 3rd in their new division, earning promotion again.
Possibly the most notable meeting between the sides was in Exeter's 2007-08 promotion season in the Conference. The two sides met in the play-off semi-final, with Toquay being victorious in the first leg as Chris Zebroski scored a last-minute goal to make it 1-2 to The Gulls. The second leg at Plainmoor saw Kevin Hill give the hosts the lead, making it 3-1 on aggregate, but Exeter remarkably stormed back to take a 1-4 lead on the night, making it 3-5 on aggregate, and as a result made it to the final at Wembley Stadium. They beat Cambridge 1-0 in that game to earn promotion.
Players who played for both clubs:
Fred Binney
Russell Coughlin
Chris Curran
Plymouth Argyle vs. Exeter City
Traditionally, Argyle and Exeter see each other as their main rivals, but over the years the two clubs have been playing in different divisions. Thus, not many Argyle fans feel as much hatred towards Exeter as they may have once, although there is still a big rivalry between the clubs. It's approxiamately 35 miles from Plymouth to Exeter, but both cities are actually closer to Torquay than to each other. Although, the two clubs do tend to be more successful than Torquay, hence the reason for hating each other more than The Gulls.
The last time Argyle and Exeter played in the same division was in Division Three during Argyle's 2001-02 promotion season. The Pilgrims did the double over their rivals that season, winning 2-3 at St James Park and winning 3 - 0 at Home Park (the latter was the last time the clubs met in a competitive fixture).
Players who played for both clubs:
Glen Crowe (on loan at Exeter)
Kwame Ampadu (on loan at Plymouth)
Chris Curran
Forbes Phillipson-Masters (on loan at Exeter)
Craig Noone (on loan at Exeter from Plymouth)
Alan Banks
Stuart Elliott
Russell Coughlin
Steve Davey
John Fitchett
Fred Binney
Jamie Mackie
Gary Sawyer (on loan at Exeter from Plymouth)
Bobby Saxton
Wilf Carter
Bristol Rovers vs. Bristol City
see Bristol derby

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