West London derby

The West London derby is the name given to a football derby played between any two of Brentford, Chelsea, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers, all of whom are situated within West London. This particular derby is less prominent than other such derbies in English football, owing to the teams frequently being in separate divisions. Chelsea did not face Fulham between 1986 and 2001, and have played Brentford only seven times since 1950. QPR did not face Brentford between 1966 and 2001, and did not play Chelsea between 1996 and 2008. The derby's most common match, Chelsea vs Fulham, has taken place 75 times. By contrast, the North London derby has been contested almost 200 times, and the Merseyside derby over 230 times. The 2011–12 season campaign was the first instance of three of the west London clubs competing in the top flight in the same season: Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers and Fulham. This happened for a second time in the 2022–23 season, with Brentford, Chelsea and Fulham appearing in the top flight. According to the 2012 Football Rivalries Survey, Fulham regard Chelsea as their main rivals, QPR as their secondary rivals and then Brentford third. QPR fans identified Chelsea as their main rivals, Fulham second, Cardiff City third, Brentford and Stoke City joint fourth. Brentford fans chose Fulham as their main rivals, QPR as their secondary rivals and Chelsea as their third. Chelsea fans did not list any of the West London sides, instead selecting Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. There is very little rivalry between Brentford and Chelsea, mainly due to the fact that they have been in different divisions for over 60 years. The only time that the two clubs ever shared a division was in the old First Division between 1935 and 1947, but despite the fact that both clubs are local to each other, it was never seen as a big rivalry to either side, as Chelsea had been in the Football League for a longer period of time than Brentford and had stronger rivalries with the likes of West Ham United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, whereas Brentford's main rivals are Fulham and QPR.