User:The C of E/Belfast's big two

Belfast's Big Two or the Big Two is the name given to the Northern Irish local derby between Belfast clubs, Linfield and Glentoran. The derby is also reffered to as the Belfast derby. They are the most successful and most supported clubs in Northern Irish Football. They traditionally face each other on Boxing day each year which attracts one of the biggest attendance of any Irish Premiership game. They regularly play each other in the league and sometimes play each other in the Setanta Cup.

Although both clubs are successful, Linfield currently lead Glentoran in terms of trophies won with Linfield's 51 to Glentoran's 23.

The "original" Big Two
Belfast's big two didn't always refer to matches between Linfield and Glentoran. Up until 1949, Belfast's big two were Linfield and Belfast Celtic as they were the most successful teams in Northern Ireland. This rivalry often lead to sectarian violence between supporters of Protestant Linfield and Catholic Belfast Celtic, which was the main reason given for the closure of Belfast Celtic after a riot on Boxing day of 1948 that saw 3 Belfast Celtic players injured by Linfield supporters. As a result of Belfast Celtic folding, Glentoran took their place in the Big Two.

Supporters
The intensity of the Big Two rivalry since 1949 had been escalated due to the fact that since Belfast Celtic closed, Glentoran was the only club that could generate a support base that was similar to Linfield's as some supporters of Belfast Celtic became fans of Glentoran when Belfast Celtic was closed. Although both teams are predominatly Protestant, the rivalry was tensioned as Glentoran fielded Catholic players and had Catholic fans compared to Linfield originally only fielding Protestants until the 1980's.

In the 1985 Irish Cup final at The Oval, Glentoran supporters released a cockerel and a pig that had been painted blue onto the pitch to insult fans of Linfield.

Boxing Day
Although Linfield and Glentoran traditionally play a derby game on Boxing Day, in 2009 the traditional Boxing Day fixture was removed from the fixture list until 2011 by the Irish Football Association due to crowd trouble at Windsor Park.