The fixture is almost a century in existence and has developed into an intense and often bitter one, traditionally attracting large attendances.

In addition to football, the two clubs also compete in basketball, volleyball, athletics, boxing, table tennis and rowing.

In these 11 matches, footballers such as Lefter Küçükandonyadis, Can Bartu, Selim Soydan, Nedim Doğan, Cemil Turan, Mehmet Oğuz, Fehmi Sağınoğlu, Sanlı Sarıalioğlu, Fahrettin Cansever, Samet Aybaba and Metin Tekin announced their retirement from football.

[14] In the 87th minute of the 1991–92 1.Lig match between the rivals hosted at Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium, Beşiktaş's Mehmet Özdilek scored the equalising goal making the score 2-2, which caused a long-lasting public debate as to whether the ball had crossed the goal line.

[16][17][18] Beşiktaş 3-0 Fenerbahçe was a Turkish First Football League or now known as Süper Lig match in which Fenerbahçe manager Mustafa Denizli made a historic mistake and had 6 foreign players on the field at the same time, violating the football regulations implemented in Turkey.

The match's result was registered as a 3-0 win by forfeit for Beşiktaş with the decision of the Turkish Football Federation.

In a 2009-2010 Süper Lig match between the two teams on 18 April 2010, in which Fenerbahçe defeated Beşiktaş 1-0 in Kadıköy, Fenerbahçe footballer Fábio Alves Da Silva, or commonly known as "Bilica", loosened the grass of the penalty spot with his boot before the penalty kick won by the black-white team in the 64th minute had been taken, this resulted in Bobo's penalty shot getting saved by goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, denying his opponent the chance of a draw.

[24][25] Although Beşiktaş requested TFF to replay the match, this offer was rejected.Levent Erdoğan, former Beşiktaş vice-president, made the following statements about the incident: ''Turkish football is buried in the grave Bilica dug at the penalty spot at Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium.

In the Ziraat Turkey Cup semi-final second leg between the two rivals on 19 April 2018, Fenerbahçe fans injured Beşiktaş manager Şenol Güneş by throwing a projectile at him from the stands in the 57th minute.

In response to the events, Beşiktaş refused to play in cup, stating that it would boycott the match in protest of the ruling.

[34][35] Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe are among the most popular Turkish clubs; both sides have large fanbases that follow them in domestic and international matches.

Football hooliganism is a very common phenomenon between their fans in recent years, featuring anything from breaking seats, cursing, fighting, fireworks and street rioting.

Before Fenerbahçe players could recover from the goal, Görkey took advantage of a defensive mistake and doubled the difference.

[40] In the 35th minute Naci Bastoncu scored Fenerbahçe's first and only goal and the first half ended with Beşiktaş's 3-1 lead.

In the 68th and 75th minutes, Hakkı Yeten and Şeref Görkey scored two more goals and Beşiktaş won the match 7-1 and took the Dörtler Cup trophy to its museum.