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.