Derby day is sport with the volume turned all the way up: the songs are louder, the scarves are older, and the result will be discussed for years. For a first-timer, a little preparation turns chaos into ceremony.

Start with the basics: arrive ninety minutes early, eat before the ground, and learn the two anthems. Nobody expects fluency, but effort is noticed and rewarded.

Where to stand, what to wear

Home end for home colors — never neutral, never the other lot's shirt, even as a joke. The joke expires at the turnstile. Bring layers; evening derbies turn cold by the hour mark.

A derby is not watched, it is attended — you are part of the occasion.

After the whistle

Win or lose, give the streets time to clear and the pubs time to breathe. The best derby stories are told slowly, over food, with the result already safe in history.

Enjoy it. You only get one first derby.