Over the years Nottingham Forest and Derby County have had a fierce rivalry which in recent years has seen several unsavoury incidents.

On the pitch they have been feisty affairs too, with neither side wanting to give an inch as they bid to send their respective fans home with regional bragging rights.

But just who is the bigger club?

In fairness to both Forest and Derby, they are two proud clubs who are steeped in years upon years of history, with each club having some famous days over the years.

Legendary boss Brian Clough is at the heart of the Forest and Derby divide with both fans choosing to debate over just where his loyalties lie.

Football League World’s Lee Clarke set about telling us THREE reasons why he thinks Forest are the biggest Championship club in the East Midlands.......

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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE 3 REASONS!

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Forest have a more loyal fan base

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If anything we should just stop the debate over which club is bigger right here.

Okay, so Derby County cram more people into the iPro Stadium than Forest do the City Ground, but just how many of the 30 or so thousand who go to Derby actually need to buy a ticket?

If the Rams were such a big club would they really need to keep embarrassing themselves by offering out freebies to schools and such like for every single home game? Probably not.

Forest could, admittedly, take a leaf from the Rams’ book by offering some sort of incentives to get more bums on seats, but clubs who are genuinely big shouldn’t really need to be offering out complimentary tickets each week.

The quality of fans is a key point too. When the Rams visited the City Ground earlier in the season they barely mustered together one song all evening, yet when Forest were thumped 5-0 by the Rams two seasons ago, the Reds following never stopped backing their team.

Derby have so many fans going to games now that were nowhere to be seen during the dour Nigel Clough days and they are quite simply not used to their team losing.

Forest’s ardent supporters have been backing the club since the drab League One days, and continue to travel in their numbers now, despite some less than impressive performances this season.

Glittering trophy cabinet

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Forest have held the Brian Clough Trophy now for over a year, regaining the trophy last January thanks to a 2-1 win at the iPro, and then retaining it back in November when the Reds were victorious 1-0 at the City Ground.

If that trophy isn’t adequate enough Forest can also back it up with two shiny European Cups which were won back-to-back in 1979 and 1980, which is two more than Derby County have won since their formation.

In total Forest can boast 19 major trophies compared to the Rams’ measly nine, which adds yet more credibility to the argument of who is the bigger club

Youth Academy

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The list of players that Nottingham Forest have seen graduate from their academy over the years and then go on and play Premier League football, completely outweighs the amount of Rams players who have done the same.

The likes of Jermaine Jenas, Andy Reid, David Prutton, Michael Dawson and current Leicester City captain Wes Morgan have all been part of a glittering Forest youth system.

Whilst I appreciate that Derby currently have a very talented crop of youngsters. The likes of Will Hughes, Jeff Hendrick and Jamie Hanson are all seemingly set for bright futures.

This season whilst Forest have given first-team chances to the likes of Jorge Grant, Oliver Burke and Tyler Walker, Derby’s youth team graduates have stalled somewhat and the likes of Farrend Rawson and Mason Bennett have been farmed out on loan instead.

If you were a youngster in the East Midlands area at present having to choose whether to sign for Forest or Derby, it really would be a no brainer, with the path much clearer at the City Ground.