Football (Soccer)

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by W.HI.P

..but then again, wtf am i suppose to expect from someone who lives in England and is unaware of the bloodshed in your own league which you came here so desprately to talk about.

I'm done with this thread

W.HI.P I have to agree with King here - the idea that two Leagues would be involved in a conspiracy to stop the two Sheffield teams being in the same League is frankly incredible. Every team would have to be in on it in order to fix the results so that they did not go up/ down, not to mention how frustrating it would be for whichever team was "chosen" to play in the League below - Wednesday in this case.

Yes, there has been trouble in the past between the two side. Yes, the teams have "crews" of hooligans with a reputation and the desire to spill eachother's blood. But the London teams have crews as well, and they play against eachother in the same city year in and year out. Also, why would this have kicked in this year (as King says, they played eachother last year) rather than at the height of the violence 4-6 years ago?

I do also question the idea that it is "common knowledge". I've asked a Blades fan friend of mine and he's never even heard of this conspiracy. Perhaps if you could point us in the direction of some evidence (at least evidence that other people believe it) it would make it easier to credit.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

W.HI.P I have to agree with King here - the idea that two Leagues would be involved in a conspiracy to stop the two Sheffield teams being in the same League is frankly incredible. Every team would have to be in on it in order to fix the results so that they did not go up/ down, not to mention how frustrating it would be for whichever team was "chosen" to play in the League below - Wednesday in this case.

Yes, there has been trouble in the past between the two side. Yes, the teams have "crews" of hooligans with a reputation and the desire to spill eachother's blood. But the London teams have crews as well, and they play against eachother in the same city year in and year out. Also, why would this have kicked in this year (as King says, they played eachother last year) rather than at the height of the violence 4-6 years ago?

I do also question the idea that it is "common knowledge". I've asked a Blades fan friend of mine and he's never even heard of this conspiracy. Perhaps if you could point us in the direction of some evidence (at least evidence that other people believe it) it would make it easier to credit.

I realise that WHIP is Canadian, but if I may for a moment group and stereotype North Americans... ( ) I find that here in the US, the only news about British sport that reaches the masses is football hooliganism, and that seems to be reported with great glee. Not only that, but the majority seem to believe that the Hillsborough Disaster was a result of "fan" violence. It's often cited as a prime example of British Soccer Hooliganism. For those unenlightened in North America, it was entirely due to poor planning, organization and stadium design.

I went to the footy in the UK -the Sheffied rivalry is one of the most friendly ones afaict. Birmingham is the most fractious, in my experence, Manchester is a bit hairy, but so many fans are from outside the city that the real rivalries are actually kept away from the stadiums. In my (admitedlt limited) experience.