Ask fans from any large population cernte Manchester to Merseyside, Istanbul to Rio and I'm certain an overwhelming majority would tell you that this attitude is the one element of modern football that they wouldn't swap for a boardroom full of Abramoviches and the love child of Ferguson and Mourinho in the dugout. Local rivalry is a significant element of being a football fan and often an essential part of the identity of a football club. It is something that rich foreign sugar daddies, international branding and unprecedented, arguably unjustifiable investment can never artificially create.I live in Edinburgh but am from Manchester, I was a season ticket holder, and I still go to as many games as I can afford to. My dad was brought up in Manchester one of seven kids raised by a single Mum in Wythenshawe and went to as many games as he could too. In the 60 s this meant he could afford to go to Maine Road one week and Old Trafford the next and still get a pie and a programme. Times have changed, football is no longer just a sport, but a serious high-risk-high-investment industry. People are being priced out of attending regularly and clubs are run by people with neither a grasp of their heritage nor ambition to stay there in the long term. Don't get me wrong, investment usually means progress and almost always means excitement, but it's not hard to argue that clubs can face losing their identity. The passion, banter, animosity and ultimately enjoyment that stems from local rivalry can't be bought; it is to many one of the biggest factors distracting from how corporate and sterile modern football can feel.