Southampton and Portsmouth are separated by hundreds of years of inter-city conflict. The bad feeling between the Football clubs, who have met relatively few times, is a reflection of history. From the twelfth century onwards until 1835, Southampton officially owned the port of Portsmouth, which led to constant disputes over who controlled trade in the docks. Therefore the animosity between the two cities is one that stretches back for almost 800 years. The ill-feeling between Southampton and Portsmouth stems more from civic rivalry than from any true animosity between the Football clubs.
Read some interesting facts about each town today from yescando
 A short but fascinating history of Portsmouth by Colin Wintle.
Charles Dickens Birthplace, 393 Old Commercial Road, Portsmouth
Southampton, a short history by Colin Wintle
 Southampton Town Quay
Judged by any standards, Southampton is a great provincial city and port. Although rooted in the distant past, it lives and expands in the present — and looks confidently to the future; happily, despite ravages of war, much of its historic past remains, not only in its excellent museums but also, and more dramatically perhaps, in the medieval stones which still stand as silent witnesses amid a bubbling modern life which gives it quite a metropolitan aspect.
As a maritime base it enjoys the unique and valuable phenomenon of being served daily by the Solent with double tides. This may have given rise to the theory (staunchly maintained by some citizens) that it was not at Bosham, in Sussex, but at Southampton that King Canute (to teach his courtiers a lesson) had his famous, if farcical, adventure with the incoming tide. In 1016 he had been offered the Crown at Southampton, after Ethelred the Unready had fled from Denmark’s victorious invaders.
Those with a yen for historic, if legendary, spots should go to Canute Road, near the waterside, and ponder for themselves. The most imposing building in that road is the former South Western Hotel, which was patronised by passengers using the Transatlantic ocean terminal and is now the regional headquarters of the British Broadcasting Corporation (1977). More History
100 years separate these photos, in 1912 RMS Titanic left Southampton on her first and last voyage, in 2012 the 3 Queens left Southampton to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
