Darren Bent has evoked the anger of supporters at Upton Park by suggesting that his move to Spurs will serve his ambitions - his England and European hopes - better than opting for  West Ham.

Needless to say, that hasn't gone down too well with Hammers fans, but his comments got me thinking that when players do move from one club to another or as in this case, chose one club over another, they invariably "have a dig" - often at fans and the club's ambitions - but more often than not with a hidden hint that they are moving to a bigger club.

When David Beckham was transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid he said that he was leaving United - who were established at that time as the biggest club in world football -  to join an even bigger club. In his case he didn't particularly want to leave, so he had a "little dig." So how can you tell which is a bigger club? Is it a case of comparing the clubs' histories or indeed the size of their followings? Or does it simply not matter?

'it is the kind of thing that riles us and causes a great many fans to get increasingly angry, leading to a seemingly unending comment war on message boards'


Whether you are affiliated to either West Ham or Spurs, or indeed to a side at either end of a similar debate, it is the kind of thing that riles us and causes a great many fans to get increasingly angry, leading to a seemingly unending comment war on message boards. But stop for one moment - does it matter?

Arsenal fans do not like Spurs fans! Correct. And the same is true in reverse. And how do you upset a Tottenham supporter even more? Well, if you are an Arsenal fan, you point out that their team is nowhere near as big or as important as yours. You will seek to cement that claim by pointing out something to the effect that it has been more than 40 years since Spurs lifted the title.

Does this make one side bigger than other? Or indeed better? In pure statistical terms, of course it does, but does history have anything to do with today?

As a fan of a team that is infinitely smaller than any  mentioned so far in this article, I am used to being patronised by football fans and non-football people alike. There is nothing more irritating than being told just how small my club is by someone who has no interest in football and has no team of his own. You know the kind of person I mean, the person who switched his allegiance in school every Saturday around 4.45 so that on Monday he would be extolling the virtues of whichever team happened to be top of the Division One table (days before the Premiership, yes there was life before 1992).

However, after being the butt of many jokes and sly digs, I can say that I have reached the impervious stage. I simply let the insults roll off like water off a duck's back (if you’ll excuse the 12th cliché of this article).

It is not as if, because of these continuous attacks, I feel it necessary to switch to a ‘bigger’ club - although when I was younger I almost did. I realise that as football fans' hatred for other teams is a given, be it geographically or otherwise, it is perfectly natural for them to have nothing but contempt for each other. As long as this doesn’t descend into violence, than I am all for it. A spot of healthy competition never hurt anyone. What I am saying is that for anyone to simply state that their club is ‘bigger’ than another is just not enough.

I choose my rivalries carefully. There will always be teams that I despise; unfortunately these teams rarely face mine as, invariably, they are playing at different ends of the footballing spectrum (mine at the lower end!) Rivalry is the key and it is a testament to the popularity of football that it is more evident than in any other sport. The notion of rivalry between two sets of supporters should not be thought of as neanderthals or something to be dissected by academics. It should be championed and celebrated as it is what the game it about to a large extent.

Arsenal fans have every right to feel proud of their club. Historically they are up there with the greatest, right from the Herbert Chapman days through to the present incumbent Arsene Wenger. That doesn't necessarily make them a "bigger" club than either West Ham or Spurs. Again, historically, West Ham can point to the fact they they are regarded as Britain's finest footballing academy, a claim backed up by the unending stream of talent that finds its way into the elite areas.

And Spurs can always point to the Bill Nicholson era and the wonderful days of Dave Mackay and Danny Blanchflower, when they were a true force in the game. Everton haven't always been the underdog on Merseyside and Manchester City can trade blows with United over their particular heritage.

There is a famous saying that "what goes round, comes round" and who is to say that Spurs and West Ham fans won't be having a jibe at their Arsenal opposites this coming season? Let's see whether quiet man David Moyes has a trick or two up his sleeve for the more flamboyant Rafa Banitez, and can Sven sprinkle a bit of long lost magic at City.

The one certain thing in football is . . . you never know!