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The various football clubs located in East Anglia vie for being the Pride of Anglia, an unofficial title celebrated by fans of the clubs involved.
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Description
The title is claimed for winning the East Anglian derby and/or for finishing highest in the league. According to all definitions (see below) Norwich City are the undisputed Pride of Anglia, as they are the latest winners of an Anglian derby and were the highest placed Anglian team in the English football pyramid, finishing 3rd in the 2nd tier of English football and were promoted to the highest tier via the playoffs. Norwich were then the only team in the top tier from East Anglia, but they were relegated at the end of the 2015/16 season. The latest competitive Ipswich/Norwich games played on 21 August 2016 and 26 February 2017 ended in 1-1 draws, leaving Norwich retaining the last decisive derby result.
The main rivals are Ipswich Town and Norwich City. Other league clubs in the region include Colchester United, Peterborough United and Cambridge United.
East Anglian derby
When Norwich and Ipswich meet the match is known as the 'East Anglian derby'. Over the 142 matches played between Norwich and Ipswich since 1902, Ipswich boasts the better record, having won 42% of the matches to Norwich's 39%. The most recent encounters in the EFL Championship ended in 1-1 draws on 21 August 2016 and 26 February 2017. Prior to this, the last decisive derby result was a 3-1 win for Norwich at Carrow Road in May 2015 in the 2nd leg of the Playoff semi-final (Norwich won 4-2 on aggregate). This fixture is sometimes referred to as the "Old Farm derby", a humorous reference to the "Old Firm derby" and the rural nature of East Anglia.
League position
Another commonly employed measure for "Pride of Anglia", and one that encompasses all of the East Anglian teams, is the side finishing as the highest placed East Anglian team in the English football league system. Norwich have claimed this position since 2010–11 by finishing second in The Championship (by finishing 2nd, Norwich were automatically promoted to the top tier) after being promoted from the 3rd tier the season before. By virtue of being the only East Anglian team in the Premier League (the top league of English football), did so from 2011 until the end of the 2013–14 season when they were relegated back the Championship. Norwich finished 3rd the following season and were promoted back to the Premier League (via the playoffs, coincidently beating Ipswich in the semi-final stage), while Ipswich finished 6th, meaning Norwich were the only team in the Premier League from East Anglia the following season. Norwich were relegated back to the Championship at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 season. Ipswich will be the only other East Anglian team in the Championship, meaning it will be only Norwich and Ipswich competing in this measure to be the Pride of Anglia.
Previously in 2007, Colchester United finished in the highest league position of clubs in the region and were awarded a special trophy by Anglia Television to mark the event.