Part I - A look at some of the worst of enemies throughout the Revs’ 18-year history.
Scott McCullough
World soccer features some legendary rivalries. In the plethora of leagues throughout the world, many of the best-known matches are local derbies, while other notable clashes are based solely on history, religion, culture, or other conflicting ideologies. Regardless of the reasons behind various derby matches, such encounters can bring out the most passionate support from fans at the grounds to others watching on TV’s around the world. These matches are generally considered to be amongst the most exciting fixtures each season.
Epic battles such as The Old Firm between Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic, Barcelona and Real Madrid’s El Clásico, Everton and Liverpool’s heated Merseyside Derby, the Milan Derby - Derby della Madonnina - featuring AC Milan and Inter Milan, and the Derby della Capitale pitting AS Roma against S.S. Lazio are just some of the many legendary rivalries that soccer fans from around the world tune into. Even national sides tend to share a mutual hatred for each other: England vs. Argentina, USA vs. Mexico and Germany vs. The Netherlands are just a few of the many rivalries that highlight the International fixture list.
The neutral fan will typically just enjoy watching the two clubs (or nations) bleed their passion on the pitch, while supporters of the particular clubs will sometimes let their own passions boil over into moments of madness, as such rivalries can spawn horrific scenes of violence and hooliganism, usually derived from a mutual hate of various sorts between the two sides. For many, these matches are more than just a game – they can be a matter of life or death.
Focusing on our beloved local side, the New England Revolution has competed in MLS since the league’s inception in 1996. Having their fair share of both success and failures against all other competing clubs in the league, it’s been a bit difficult to truly pinpoint who the Revs’ true rivals would be. This topic has been a hotly debated issue for many a year, with each war of words amongst the New England faithful often ending in a “agree to disagree” truce. Some supporters feel using the regional rivalry theme as the foundation for their arguments, while others prefer to go the history route. Having seen the Revs’ battle all other MLS clubs near-to and far from New England since 1996, I will break down what I feel are the Revs’ top rivals after nearly 18 seasons, concluding with my personal choice as our most hated rival.
*** DISCLAIMER – The following expressed opinions are mine and mine alone, and in no way do they speak for, or represent, the views of the rest of the crew at The Drug Is Football ***
I’ll start with the most recognized type of rivalry – the regional rivalry, or the local derby.
New England Revolution vs. New York/New Jersey MetroStars/Red Bulls and/or the future New York City FC
In the spirit of the famous Boston vs. New York rivalry, it’s so very easy to label the club from New York (or Jersey?) as the Revs’ greatest rival. Indeed, there have been many historic matches against the former MetroStars/current Red Bulls club, dating back to our first ever 3 points in club history (thanks to THAT own-goal by Nicola Caricola). Throughout the remainder of the ‘90’s, the two clubs would battle it out in the lower half of the Eastern Conference table, as each side were desperate to gain 3 points at the expense of their counterpart in hopes of keeping their respective playoff hopes alive. The most notable match-up of that time period was the Revs’ 3-2 comeback win over the MetroStars in their 1997 home finale – a must-win game that pushed New England to the brink of their first-ever playoff appearance.
The new millennium brought some very memorable playoff ties against our filthy neighbors to the south, all of those ties going in our favor. After eliminating the Metros from playoff contention in our 2002 home finale, closing the curtains on the illustrious careers of Tab Ramos and Marcelo Balboa in the process, the Revs locked horns with them in the playoffs for the first time ever that very next season. Rookie Pat Noonan came of age in the absence of injured golden boy Taylor Twellman and the illustrious Joe-Max Moore, scoring a goal in each leg to lead the ousting of the underachieving NY side. Two years later, however, the Revs’ supporters would enjoy one of the clubs most memorable matches, an epic comeback over the MetroStars in Foxboro that would see the Revs claim victory in the series on aggregate. That 2005 season, our greatest to date, nearly collapsed in a tragic manner, dropping the first leg 1-nil in the swamps of New Jersey, then letting up a 60th minute goal in the home fixture to go down 2-nil on aggregate. Facing a disgraceful end to a wonderful season, Steve Nicol’s army collectively roared back, showing top class in the snow (in late October!) to bag three unanswered goals in the final 25 minutes of the series to eliminate Metro, and advance to their 4th straight Eastern Conference finals match. Another two years later, and the two sides would meet again in their last playoff match-up against each other to date, the Revs being the victors yet again, this time on a more conservative 1-nil aggregate total over NY, since re-branded Red Bull New York the previous year. Three times the Revs have been the playoff spoilers for the club from New York and/or New Jersey, and for the supporters who embrace that regional rivalry, each victory was something truly special.
With the English Premier League’s Johnny-Come-Lately club Manchester City collaborating with the dreaded New York Yankees of Baseball fame to form MLS’s 20th club, New York City FC, the Revs may yet have an even more intense regional rivalry on the horizon once the club debuts in 2015. Until then, both Revs and Red Bull supporters will continue to mark their calendars for their annual, and sometimes bi-annual, road trips to their regional rival’s stadiums, continuing the strong tradition of the fierce rivalry off the pitch, while the players keep it going on the pitch.
Now shifting the focus to some of the Revs’ more historically-driven rivalries, I’ll start with another club that gets a lot of recognition from Revs supporters as their most-hated rival:
New England Revolution vs. Chicago Fire
Having first entered the league in year 3, the Chicago Fire has clashed with New England so many times when a massive result was on the line that it is almost impossible to rule them out of the running for the title of New England’s greatest rival. The two clubs have cruelly ended one or the other’s season a total of NINE times to date, going back to the 2000 season when Chicago was the victor of the long-defunct best-of-three playoff series. After losing the first match 2-1, New England notched their first-ever playoff victory, winning 2-1 at Foxboro. That match will forever be known as the true birth of the New England/Chicago hatred, at least from the viewpoint of the Revs fans, as that match is known by fellow “old-timers” as the hair-pulling match – former Chicago striker Ante Razov, in a classless fit of frustration during the game’s final moments, harshly pulled on the dreadlocked mane of then-Revs sweeper Mauricio Wright, instigating altercations between the players. The act forever cemented Razov’s place in the annals of the Revs’ greatest enemies list, as well as inspiring the classic anti-Razov chant from the supporters in the Fort (to the tune of the now-discontinued “Woah Oh New England!”):
Woah oh Razov
Won’t ya won’t ya pull some hair for me?
You fight like a bitch
So get the fuck off the pitch
Won’t ya won’t ya pull some hair for me!
Following that incident, a humiliating 6-nil defeat away from home in the series’ conclusive match left an awful taste in the mouths of Revs players and supporters alike, and following the hostile incidents of the previous match, a mutual hatred of the two sides had truly spawned.
The legendary 2002 Revs side (at least from late-August onward) met Chicago in the opening quarterfinal round of the playoffs again, this time besting their foe in the three match series, and eventually winning their way to their first ever MLS Cup appearance, losing to LA Galaxy (more on them later). Chicago got their revenge, however, in the one-match Eastern Conference final in 2003. Neither side could find the back of the net during regulation, and it took a Chris Armas finish in the 101st minute to end the Revs’ hopes of a 2nd straight MLS Cup appearance by virtue of the now-defunct golden-goal rule.
2004 saw both New England and Chicago labor at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table throughout the season as endless injuries to key players hampered the clubs from start to finish. The Revs hosted Chicago on the final matchday of the season, both sides needing a result to claim the final spot in the playoffs. It was the Revs who triumphed on that day, winning a hard-fought battle by a score of 2-1, and advancing to the MLS Cup playoffs despite being tied on points with Chicago, the Revs’ superior regular-season results over their enemy being the tie-breaker.
The playoff clashes resumed the following season, as 2005, 2006 and 2007 saw New England eliminate Chicago from the post-season in all three of those years, each match-up being more bitter and more nastier than the previous encounters. The hatred between the two sides had exploded, and by this period, their heated playoff contests had parlayed into their regular season confrontations as well, as the fixtures against Chicago were among each season’s highlighted matches for the New England faithful.
The break-up of New England’s “Golden Generation” of the mid-2000’s commenced the club’s great decline into the new decade, and their final two playoff appearances, yet again against Chicago in both 2008 and 2009, saw their hated enemies brush away the dwindling Revs’ sides with much ease. Steve Nicol’s fading army had no answer for the much-loathed Cuauhtemoc Blanco, as the Mexican #10 orchestrated the dismantling of the once-superior club from New England, and solidifying himself as one of the greatest villains to date in the Revs’ 18-year history.
While the Revs have not made the MLS Cup playoffs since that defeat in 2009 (fingers crossed that this year’s solid crop of young talent finally breaks that duck), New England supporters still continue to look forward to their club’s fixtures against Chicago. The passionate hatred for their mid-west rivals still boiling high as ever, thanks to those epic playoff encounters throughout the last decade.
With those four playoff victories over Chicago came New England’s four MLS Cup appearances, and as all MLS fans know, brought four agonizing defeats. In the next issue I will discuss the two clubs that brought high-flying New England back to earth twice and reveal who I believe to be New England’s greatest rival.
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