The punch-ups have made way for pound-shop espionage and a PowerPoint presentation.
Intrigue and animosity still reign, though, as Frank Lampard and Marcelo Bielsa prepare to write a new chapter in a rivalry that has bubbled for more than half a century. With absence, the heart doesn't always grow fonder.
On Saturday at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea and Leeds collide for a first league meeting in 16 years. Try telling those 2,000 Blues returning home that this enmity is consigned to history.
Rather, it has added spice thanks to new protagonists and new bones of contention. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, meetings between these two had all the ingredients for anarchy.
North vs South, a jarring culture clash and two of the most notorious firms in English football. The terrace battles provided enough fuel to keep the fire burning across the decades.
There was the second-tier clash in 1982 when fighting spread from Piccadilly Circus to Charing Cross Station. It's said more than 200 fans were arrested.
Two years later a riot broke out and Leeds supporters vandalised the Stamford Bridge scoreboard. On the pitch, though, no match boiled blood like the 1970 FA Cup final replay.
Chelsea would eventually lift the trophy for the first time after one of English football's most brutal encounters. Current Premier League referee Michael Oliver recently revisited the clash.
Had he been in charge, there would have been 11 red cards (including two for Chelsea's Eddie McCreadie), 16 bookings (including three for Charlie Cooke, David Webb and Ian Hutchinson) and a trail of bruised bodies.
Saturday's meeting at Stamford Bridge should be slightly more civilised. Neither Billy Bremner nor Ron 'Chopper' Harris has an equal in today's squads. But animosity still rages and in recent years, the blue-touch paper has been light by the benches.
It was during Frank Lampard's early days in management that he was given a lesson in the dark arts. Back in January 2019, police were called to Derby's training ground amid reports that someone was acting suspiciously.
In time, it would emerge the man was a spy, sent by Bielsa, to pick up secrets on their Championship rivals. The Leeds boss revealed it was a tactic he'd used since his days in charge of Argentina and Chile.
And during a remarkable 66-minute presentation, he later showed that spying was a tiny part of his meticulous approach. Lampard, then in charge at Pride Park, felt he had crossed a line.
'I was a fan of Bielsa's from afar but I'd rather not coach than send people undercover on their hands and knees in the undergrowth.'
His frustration was catnip to the Leeds faithful, particularly after Derby were beaten 2-0 when they visited Elland Road.
They would later serenade Lampard with an adopted version of Oasis' 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out'. 'You'll beat us some day,' they sang. Come the end of the campaign, Lampard had the last laugh as his Derby side dumped Leeds out of the play-offs with victory at Elland Road.
As he toasted a trip to Wembley, Lampard was then accused of over-celebrating. No doubt he could take that after the bait thrown his way.
These days, of course, Lampard has returned home. He is back at Stamford Bridge and Leeds are back where they belong, too.
But scars linger and his rivalry with Bielsa provides a juicy backdrop to another edition of this historic rivalry. Even those in the bushes will have one eye on the two benches come Saturday night.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com