[Bulliac]

Re: Odsal : Wed Jul 30, 2014 8:49 am  

Bullseye wrote:

We'll need the full ground to accommodate the hordes from Keighley on their annual trip out of town.

If Keighley avoid the drop...and with five going down it's far from certain at the mo. Not sure it'll take over from the rivalry with Leeds but a Keighley derby would be good locally.

Re: Odsal : Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:42 pm  

Bradfords proper local derby has and always will be Halifax IMO only really became Leeds because Halifax Sweaty Sox went down lol

[Bulliac]

Re: Odsal : Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:33 am  

To be honest, in RL with lots of local games always on the agenda, the 'derby' concept has never really had the same resonance as in, say soccer. Going back to the old Yorkshire and Lancashire leagues almost every game would have qualified.

It's come to the fore more since having 2 [or 3] divisions, though I don't think Fax have been in the top section as consistently as us and Leeds to generate the same great 'derby' rivalry. I mean, we always want to beat all opposition but you never hear fans singing, "we all 8Fax", do you?

Re: Odsal : Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:49 am  

Bulliac wrote:

To be honest, in RL with lots of local games always on the agenda, the 'derby' concept has never really had the same resonance as in, say soccer. Going back to the old Yorkshire and Lancashire leagues almost every game would have qualified.

It's come to the fore more since having 2 [or 3] divisions, though I don't think Fax have been in the top section as consistently as us and Leeds to generate the same great 'derby' rivalry. I mean, we always want to beat all opposition but you never hear fans singing, "we all 8Fax", do you?

Thats because Fax havent been in the top flight for quite a while now and the majority of fans that sing "we all h8 leeds sc*m" is the younger generation that have only really experienced leeds derbies, leeds now does seem bigger as its grown over the years.

I wonder how many of the "younger generation" of fans that now attend remember,

1997 Halifax Blue Sox Vs Bradford Bulls @ Thrum Hall

Bulls win 30-26 after an epic comeback

Back then rivallry with Fax was far greater than it was with Leeds (although beating them in the CC Semi finals was a treat - especially Brian Mac smacking 3 leeds players LOL)

However this is only my opinion and how i remember things.

Re: Odsal : Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:38 am  

pulsator2k7 wrote:

Thats because Fax havent been in the top flight for quite a while now and the majority of fans that sing "we all h8 leeds sc*m" is the younger generation that have only really experienced leeds derbies, leeds now does seem bigger as its grown over the years.

I wonder how many of the "younger generation" of fans that now attend remember,

1997 Halifax Blue Sox Vs Bradford Bulls @ Thrum Hall

Bulls win 30-26 after an epic comeback

Back then rivallry with Fax was far greater than it was with Leeds (although beating them in the CC Semi finals was a treat - especially Brian Mac smacking 3 leeds players LOL)

However this is only my opinion and how i remember things.

Who was the fax player show boating before walkin in for an unoppose in the first half?

I also remember a game at the shay in 2002 for some reason but I don't know why

Re: Odsal : Thu Jul 31, 2014 11:29 am  

pulsator2k7 wrote:

Thats because Fax havent been in the top flight for quite a while now and the majority of fans that sing "we all h8 leeds sc*m" is the younger generation that have only really experienced leeds derbies, leeds now does seem bigger as its grown over the years.

I wonder how many of the "younger generation" of fans that now attend remember,

1997 Halifax Blue Sox Vs Bradford Bulls @ Thrum Hall

Bulls win 30-26 after an epic comeback

Back then rivallry with Fax was far greater than it was with Leeds (although beating them in the CC Semi finals was a treat - especially Brian Mac smacking 3 leeds players LOL)

However this is only my opinion and how i remember things.

I think it depends who you ask really - and like you say, what you remember. You say the Leeds rivalry wasn't really there until Fax went down, but we got the - then - SL record crowd against Leeds and I remember the rivalry being pretty fierce and that was four years before Fax were relegated.

I can't really speak about life pre SL, as I was born in the mid 80s and although I did attend some Northern games my memories are naturally strongest in the SL era. However I remember asking my parents/grandparents about the Fax thing even in the late 90s, and they always said our main rivals have always been Leeds and Fax have always wished they were ours.

I think, should Keighley stay up - I would still think our bigger rivalry will be with Fax in that division.

Edit - After I posted this I was thinking about the comment about how "all kids growing up in the SL era hated Leeds" - as I was in secondary school for most of the glory years, I can confirm most guys I knew that supported the Bulls viewed Saints as our biggest rivalry and weren't that bothered about Leeds. Bumped into one of them last Christmas and he still viewed Saints as the biggest rivals!!

Re: Odsal : Thu Jul 31, 2014 11:33 am  

It's always been Leeds for me.

[Bulliac]

Re: Odsal : Thu Jul 31, 2014 12:14 pm  

Maccbull_BigBullyBooaza wrote:

Who was the fax player show boating before walkin in for an unoppose in the first half?

I also remember a game at the shay in 2002 for some reason but I don't know why

I remember the game, well it was pretty unforgettable wasn't it, Lol, and though I definitely do remember someone 'showboating', I can't actually remember who - though I'm pretty sure he wasn't doing it after the game!

Going back the 'biggest derby' thing, I think the reason most folk don't think of Fax as the 'mortal enemy' is that they have mostly been below us, even when in the same division and it's hard to truly dislike strugglers, whereas Leeds have always felt themselves as glamorous and we've usually felt they needed taking down a peg [or three]. Certainly, back in the fifties and sixties Leeds won a lot of 'pots' and always seemed to have the wood over us.

[Bullseye]

Re: Odsal : Thu Jul 31, 2014 5:24 pm  

Think it was Asa Amone that did the showboating for fax that day. Didn't he look a prat at the end of the game ☺

Re: Odsal : Thu Jul 31, 2014 7:04 pm  

It was Asa Amone holding the ball out as if to day 'come and get it' on the way to the line. One of the greatest comebacks I can ever remember, very sweet on the last trip to Thrum Hall.

At least one of the holiday fixtures at Christmas/New Years or Easter were against Fax when I was growing up. At least when they were both in the same divisions of course.

Historically Leeds had the Hunslet rivalry in the post WWII boom period of the game plus Wakefield and Cas who would be considered fierce derby rivals, especially in fallow periods for Northern.

It will be refreshing to not hear the 'go get yer father's gun' BS from the Headingley mob, or that horrible soccer song they sing for a year or two.