His article (no link attached - sorry Andy) today starts with:
"The most meaningful result at the weekend came at the Olympic Stadium. Not because Palace were hammered - the manufactured rivalry with Albion has never really interested me.."
Get her!
Because you haven't got the bollox to say anything.
Actually that's not true as it's always been feisty between the two and personally Oxford v reading should be bigger than Swindon v Oxford....Swindon are West Country buffoons basically and reading/oxford are in the Thames valley.Ive been to reading v aldershot twice and the crowds were piss poor and the atmosphere was shite.Despite being name checked on various Nigel boards as someone they don't like very much, I very much agree with you. I have plenty of Palace fans as friends seeing as I live in the area, and they are all far better to talk football than the armchair billy big club twàts you have to put up with in the office who have never even been to a game. Oh and you're spot on with regard to "Chels".
Nope. All about Swindon for Oxford. And that one is very much reciprocated. They really don't care about Reading.
Go to any Swindon or Oxford message board and they'll tell you they don't give a shiny shite about Reading.Actually that's not true as it's always been feisty between the two and personally Oxford v reading should be bigger than Swindon v Oxford....Swindon are West Country buffoons basically and reading/oxford are in the Thames valley.Ive been to reading v aldershot twice and the crowds were piss poor and the atmosphere was shite.
Both Portsmouth and Southampton were of course, both major naval cities, the former the home of the Royal Navy, and the latter, the Merchant Marine.
That in itself engendered a fair amount of rivalry, and the largely working class population loved it's football.
Google has Brighton to Croydon as 43 miles and Brighton to Pompey as 50 so that's nowhere near 'almost exactly the same'. They are both quite near though. From Hastings in the East it's only 59 miles to Croydon but a whopping 83 to Portsmouth.
I've been to Oxford v reading numerous times.....always kicks off and also they had a clash at the reading festival weekend about 7 years ago.Go to any Swindon or Oxford message board and they'll tell you they don't give a shiny shite about Reading.
Your idea that the Reading rivalry "should" be bigger than Swindon for Oxford ignores the animosity between the two places that transcends football.
Maybe, but it's nothing like Swindon v Oxford. That is a proper two way rivalry with each being the arch enemy of the other. Reading don't feature.I've been to Oxford v reading numerous times.....always kicks off and also they had a clash at the reading festival weekend about 7 years ago.
Message boards on their sites come to a grand total of about 400 people between them lol....It's a feisty encounter for sure trust me
That's your opinion naturallyMaybe, but it's nothing like Swindon v Oxford. That is a proper two way rivalry with each being the arch enemy of the other. Reading don't feature.
Yes, my opinion. And naturally, also the opinions of Oxford, Swindon and Reading fans. You're just wrong I'm afraid.That's your opinion naturally
Please explain why palace as the NEAREST league team (I'm not counting Crawley as they are recent) is a nonsensical rivalry?From my youth it was Pompey and to a lesser degree Bournemouth and even Leyton Orient. The Palace thing exploded as a mutual hatred in the 70's. I tend to view it as a relic of the thuggishness that persisted into the eighties. Because of it we now have bubble-policing, all-seater stadia, and Brighton are still stuck with a nonsensical rivalry
He supports another team, and can eff off. About time the Evening Anus appointed a local as lead sport writer. Someone like Callum May at the beeb. FFS! And at a MASSIVE salary.
No need to rise to a worm not cast for you . . . . you soppy sod
I thought it had something to do with a strike and Southamton dockers went back to work, and the anomosity grew between the towns.
Here you go [MENTION=5729]sir albion[/MENTION]
http://www.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=112128
"I know lifelong Swindon and Oxford supporters and they just laugh at the suggestion of us being their rivals. They couldn;t give a hoot about Reading. A bit like us and Bournemouth."
Broadly speaking you’re correct. Prior to Palace in 1976 the general overall consensus was that Brighton didn’t have a real rival, clubs would come onto the radar and then drop off again. When we discussed it in the school playground, rather like this thread there was never any agreement. In our school Bournemouth and Fulham were the two names that cropped up the most with Portsmouth being a very distant third. In my youth the Bournemouth ‘thing’ seemed to be the biggest, but compared to Palace it was tinpot and it had fizzled out long before 1976.As I understand it, this was one of those passing rivalries, pre-Palace. I believe it stemmed from a season we were both vying for promotion to what is now the Championship and they "took" the north stand back in the days when there was no segregation and all you had to do was get there early enough to stand where you wanted. ....