Eternal derby (North Macedonia)
Eternal derby (Macedonian: Вечно дерби), also known as the Macedonia derby (Macedonian: Македонско дерби), is the name given to matches between the two most popular clubs from North Macedonia, the Skopje-based FK Vardar and Bitola-based FK Pelister, supported by Komiti and Čkembari respectively, with fans at times infamously engaging in hooliganism during the derby.
| Other names | Вечно дерби Македонско дерби |
|---|---|
| Location | North Macedonia (Skopje and Bitola) |
| Teams | Vardar Pelister |
| First meeting | 5 August 1990 (official) |
| Latest meeting | Vardar 1–1 Pelister (Macedonian Second League) (9 May 2023) |
| Stadiums | Toše Proeski Arena (Vardar) Petar Miloševski (Pelister) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 78 |
| Most wins | Vardar (42) |
| Largest victory | Vardar 7–0 Pelister (8 May 1996) |
Vardar
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Pelister
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The rivalry can be traced back to the 1989–90 season and a match in Skopje, between FK Vardar and Red Star Belgrade. A conflict occurred between the "Skopje fans" and a few Bitola fans who went to cheer for Vardar, who at that time was the most popular Macedonian football club in the former Yugoslavia. On 5 August 1990 in Bitola, Pelister and Vardar met in the Yugoslav second league and the first incident occurred. From that day forward, started the big rivalry between Komiti and Chkembari along with the Vardar-Pelister match becoming the Eternal derby of Macedonia.
However, the rivalry is playing at the stands but not much at the ground because Vardar there are many more honours than a rival from Bitola. In a present time there is a small number of attendance and Pelister were many times and Vardar once relegated to the Macedonian Second League so the rivalry has lost its formerly importance. As of May 2018, there have been 68 derbies played in total since the establishment of the Macedonian championship in 1992, with Vardar winning 38 and Pelister 14 games, while 16 matches ended in a draw.