[Pumpetypump]

Rival teams and "derbies" : Sat Mar 28, 2009 5:15 pm  

Just who are our local and traditional rivals? And who is it we have a "derby" against? It seems to be the real one is Halifax and that Leeds was largely invented by marketing men but is pretty fake.

But what about Hudderfield. Not being from Bradford I'm not sure about this one. Don't the footy teams regard it as a derby? And isn't it backed up with a fair amount of grudge?

But does Rugby echo this? OR do Huddersfield consider us to be more of local rivals than visa versa? Certainly a Huddersfield versus Bradford game has never filled me with much excitement so if it is a 'derby' its bypassed me.

: Sat Mar 28, 2009 6:26 pm  

I don't actually understand this myth that the real derby is the one with Halifax. In the 40+ years I've been watching, I've never been more concerned about the result of games against Halifax than about any other matches. I can only surmise that the grudge is all the other way - that Halifax supporters are desperate to beat Bradford, and that we are therefore expected to reciprocate the loathing.

The only team I'm desperate to beat are and always have been Leeds. Not some cooked-up Super League phenomenon - I can still remember how hacked off I was when our Division 2 winning campaign in 1973-4 (only 2 league defeats) was marred by getting knocked out 3 times by Leeds in various cup competitions.

: Sat Mar 28, 2009 6:29 pm  

I think nowadays too many people are more concerned with what their "rivals" do than they are with their own team.

Personally I'm much more interested in what my teams are doing than what their rivals aren't, the one thing I'll never understand is the mentality of singing, for example, "we all hate Leeds" while watching Bradford v Wakefield.

: Sat Mar 28, 2009 6:36 pm  

Asim wrote:

I think nowadays too many people are more concerned with what their "rivals" do than they are with their own team.

Personally I'm much more interested in what my teams are doing than what their rivals aren't, the one thing I'll never understand is the mentality of singing, for example, "we all hate Leeds" while watching Bradford v Wakefield.

Absolutely. I've always been embarrassed that we can't get those Leeds blighters out of our heads, even when we're playing a completely different team. And even though beating Leeds matters to me more than other matches, I certainly don't "hate" them - I grew up. I just wish some of those who drivel on about passionate derbies in terms of "hating" the opposition would do the same.

[Bulliac]

: Sun Mar 29, 2009 8:45 am  

I think the original sense of a `derby` meant a game between two sides from the same city, so in that sense, since Manningham finished we don`t really have one. When you think of any local rival to be a derby match it becomes difficult to define which match is your `true` derby since, in RL, so many games are against fairly local sides. We probably play as many derbies as non-derbies.

Of the local teams with which we have a `special relationship` then it has to be Leeds for me, mainly because I probably know more Leeds fans than any other rival (I consider these people to be mates by the way, not enemies) and local `bragging rights` are important , aren`t they.