In the nsl days i always though preston v heidelberg was bigger than preston v south. I just assumed heidelberg never travelled cos the fanbase wasnt that big. By contrast South were so well represented all over Melbourne that taking fans there was actually easy, i mean i lived a 5 minute drive from heidelbergs ground when i was a child, South supporters always easily outnumbered heidelberg even in the northern suburbs.
Preston lost a lot of relevance when they got relegated in 93, especially as knights soon after won back to back titles. I think South v Knights was the biggest rivalry in the last decade of the nsl, and also had the epic 91 grand final.
Depends what era though. In the early 90s i thought Souths biggest rivals were actually Marconi and Adelaide City. You'd get 10-12k to those games at middle park.
When you skip to the late years of the nsl, the biggest rivalry was South v Perth, in the last yr of the nsl south v perth got 12k whilst the derby with knights only got 8k.
My take on South is that historically South supporters werent as motivated by ethnic factors compared to other clubs. Our biggest rivals would often chop and change based on who was rivalling us most on the pitch.
