Cambridgeshire derby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cambridgeshire(22 March 1956)
Hunt's Premier Cup
(15 March 2025)
2024–25 EFL League One
| Location | Cambridgeshire |
|---|---|
| Teams | Cambridge United Peterborough United |
| First meeting | Cambridge 1–5 Peterborough (22 March 1956) Hunt's Premier Cup |
| Latest meeting | Cambridge 0–1 Peterborough (15 March 2025) 2024–25 EFL League One |
| Stadiums | Abbey Stadium (Cambridge United) London Road (Peterborough United) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | Total: 56 League: 36 |
| Most wins | Total: Peterborough (28) League: Peterborough: 14 |
| All-time record | Peterborough: 28 Draw: 13 Cambridge United: 16 |
  Cambridge United  Peterborough United | |
The Cambridgeshire derby is a sobriquet used to describe football matches held between Cambridge United and Peterborough United, the only fully professional football clubs in Cambridgeshire. Both the clubs are 42 miles apart.
The first derby took place on 22 March 1956 and has since been played 54 competitive matches with Peterborough winning 25 to Cambridge United's 16. Both clubs have played two friendlies and one memorial match.
Fans of both clubs consider each as one of their main rivals. In the 2003 Football Fans Census, the Cambridgeshire derby was listed one of the 23 requited rivalries in English football.[1]
The first league meeting between Peterborough United and Cambridge United took place in Fourth Division on 10 October 1970 at Abbey Stadium. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, but Cambridge would be the first of the two clubs to taste derby victory - in the reverse fixture - winning 3–2 away at Peterborough's London Road, later the same season.
Following Cambridge's relegation after the 2001-02 Second Division, the sides would not face each other in a competitive fixture for nearly 16 years.
In August 2015, a memorial match was played between the two teams in honour of Chris Turner who had died four months earlier.[2] Turner, who was born in Cambridgeshire, made 314 league appearances for Peterborough and 90 for Cambridge United before going on to manage both clubs. In September 2017, a statue of Turner was unveiled outside London Road.[3]
The drought of competitive derbies ended with an EFL Trophy match played in Cambridge on 7 November 2017. Before the game, a smoke grenade was set off in a pub near Abbey Stadium. The pub was evacuated but reopened 85 minutes later with no injuries reported.[4] Cambridge's 2020 victory on penalties in the EFL Trophy group stage was their first over Peterborough in any competition since 1998, in what was the Football League Third Division.
Since Peterborough's relegation following the 2021–22 season, both clubs now compete in EFL League One. The most recent derby took place on 15 March 2025 with Peterborough winning 0-1.