The Humber derby is an association football rivalry between Grimsby Town, Hull City and Scunthorpe United.

[8][9] The following year, Scunthorpe United were formed and began play at the Old Show Ground as a semi-professional side.

For the next 30 years, Grimsby–Hull would be a semi-regular fixture in the Second Division, whilst Scunthorpe continued to remain outside the Football League.

Hull were the dominant side before the First World War but Grimsby won the majority of fixtures in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

[2] After their eventual admission to the Football League in 1950,[10] Scunthorpe's first derby against Grimsby was on 25 December 1951 in the Third Division North.

Uniquely, the reverse fixture was played the following day at the Old Show Ground, but again Scunthorpe lost, this time 3–1.

[21] However, the Tigers did reach the FA Cup semi-finals in 1930, but coincidentally lost to Arsenal, much like Grimsby would six years later.

[23] Considering that Scunthorpe had only played in non-league up to this point, it is unsurprising that their biggest achievements at this time were their title winning seasons of 1926–27 and 1938–39 in the Midland League.

Scunthorpe won five consecutive fixtures against Grimsby between 1953 and 1956, including a 4–1 win away at Blundell Park on 24 August 1954.

Hull–Scunthorpe was only played four times in the 1960s, with Hull's 3–2 victory at Boothferry Park on 21 August 1965 starting a seven-game unbeaten streak against the Iron which ran until 1984.

[2] After the 1965–66 season, Hull did not play a Humber derby game again until 25 March 1980 when they faced Grimsby at Boothferry Park, drawing 2–2.

[30] That same year, Hull narrowly avoided relegation from the Football League in dramatic fashion having seen a steady decline since the start of the decade.

[2] Hull left Boothferry Park for the new KC Stadium in the middle of the 2002–03 season, setting in motion one of the quickest rises to the top flight from the fourth tier in English football history.

[29][30] Scunthorpe won the home fixture 2–0 before the teams played out a goalless draw at Blundell Park.

Hull have exceeded their traditional habits of being stuck in the lower divisions by playing in the Premier League for five seasons across three separate periods since their initial promotion in 2008.

This achievement meant that Hull then had a foray into European football,[33] but they failed to qualify for the Europa League group stages after losing to Belgian side K.S.C.

[30] They had a slow demise beginning in the 2018–19 season where they were relegated to League Two, before finally succumbing to non-league football after a disastrous 2021–22 campaign.

[29] The most recent Humber derby to be contested was on 23 January 2021 when Scunthorpe hosted and thrashed Grimsby 3–0 at Glanford Park.