The rivalry between the clubs started when they competed in the Eerste Divisie in the 1990s.
Until the 1990s, Go Ahead Eagles played in the Eredivisie most of the time and is the more successful of both clubs winning the national championship in 1917, 1922, 1930 and 1933.
PEC Zwolle won the KNVB Cup in 2013–14, and the Johan Cruyff Shield in 2014.
Deventer and Zwolle are both situated along the river IJssel.
Go Ahead Eagles supporters call their rivals ‘Olle’, as Zwolle sounds too disgusting for them and Zwolle fans call their rivals ‘Egels’, which roughly translates to "hedgehogs".