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The Not a Derby Derby


georgeweahscousin

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Me, I was born in Boscombe when it was still part of Hampshire and as such, with one notable exception, I always want Hampshire clubs (or those on the coast) to do well, even if they are now in Dorset. I also broaden that a bit, still with that one exception, and want all southern clubs to do well as the focus on football is too much on London and the "north west". As a nipper, I used to be taken on the odd occasion to Dean Court when Saints weren't playing, and I think many people in my neck of the woods (say half way between Bmouth and Soton) did that. Or am I the only one? I suspect those living the other side of Soton, didn't visit Pompey when Saints weren't playing!!!!!

 

What I found amusing from your article is that the lady was accused of being a glory hunter for supporting Saints!!! We all have our reasons - mine is down to a family connection with the club - but chasing glory can hardly be considered one of them, even if we are a bigger club than Bournemouth.

 

As for being a derby or not, of course it is given the proximity. But the rivalry isn't there and it is largely banter between the supporters that suggest that there is any rivalry. After the game at SMS, I took the train back to Brockenhurst and because the rail network was up the spout, had to jump on the Bmouth only train which they had had to add a stop at Brock to relieve the back log at Soton. The B'mouth lads (I think mostly from X'church) were more than pleasant and we had a great chat. Even with them all boozed up, there was no sense of aggressive rivalry. There were no problems with the 2 sets of fans mingling (save for one chav on the platform mouthing off). With a "true" derby, opposing fans cannot mingle save with the possible exception of the Liverpool one.

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Great read that - as a Saints fan from Weymouth who has lived in Bournemouth for the past 20 years the Saints fan living in Poole has pretty much summed up my feelings and views.

Ive never quite got over the dis-respect they showed when the then Mayor of Southampton was tragically killed and they treated the minutes silence with complete disdain at a time we were tryig to help them out !

 

Of course you arent allowed to point out that Southampton helped keep them afloat down in these 'ere parts..........

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Nice article - I'd say that the viterol from the Bournemouth fans wavered when we played them in L1, but it's also a bigger occasion than playing another relegation battling team for obvious reasons of location.

 

GWC - could you add a little B or S next to each persons quote as I was getting lost as to who supported who!

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I'd always thought on them in a kindly sort of way...like a little step-sibling who needed a bit of help maybe.

 

That began to change in the L1 matches...they invented a pseudo rivalry which I'd never thought existed...almost a skate-lite, manufactured, not really ever been there thing a bit tacky really.

 

I thought we hit the right tone with the 'We don't care about you' chant....I admire their rise a bit, think Howe's done a good job but as rivals they might as well be Weymouth...

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Nice article - I'd say that the viterol from the Bournemouth fans wavered when we played them in L1, but it's also a bigger occasion than playing another relegation battling team for obvious reasons of location.

 

GWC - could you add a little B or S next to each persons quote as I was getting lost as to who supported who!

 

Small confession. I was supposed to colour the initials to be clear. Forgot. Will do it when I get home.

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They are slightly more interesting for me to watch Saints play against than clubs I have no interest whatsoever in. But not even on a par with middling Prem clubs we have some kind of run-in with over the previous 25 years or so. I like them more than Newcastle, who I don't dislike for any particular reason and sit quite nicely slap bang in the middle of the like/dislike scale.

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I quite like Bournemouth, big fan of the way they played to get promoted as it reminded me of us under Adkins. But their obsession with making a big rivalry out of us is starting to get on my tits a bit.

 

Had a bit of a Twitter spat with a Cherry who was convinced during our televised game with West Ham that we were singing "Charlie Austins Red and White, he hates Bournemouth". Despite correcting him he wasn't having any of it and called us a joke club, then not 24 hours later we had Bournemouth fans chanting scummer at Alex Chambo live on Sky. They're so desperate to hate us it's a little embarassing

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The Cherries just don't really seem to be rivals to me. I suppose they should be since they are geographically close but I just view them as rivals on the same level as other teams currently in the PL - a team to be beaten.

 

I suppose this stems from growing up - Bournemouth never really figured as a rival team. In fact I don't recall us playing them that much in any competition.

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They are a funny little club, from a funny little place. Everything about them makes you smile, the cheeky nickname, the corrugated flat pack stadium, the elderly supporters, the challenged supporters, the Leeds Alamo - in fact they are much more Brighton than Portsmuff, Brighton lite, if you like. They do seem to get really angry and should really be thinking 'we are here for a good time, not for a long time' to take the edge off, maybe adopt it as their club motto. They are as relevant to SFC as Plymouth or Torquay, i.e. fundamentally irrelevant!...

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I lived in Boscombe for a couple of years for work but was and had been a season ticket holder at Saints for many years, being from Southampton. On the odd occasion I would go to Dean Court on a Saturday afternoon just for something to do if there was no game at the Dell. At that time it was a filthy, dilapidated hovel and there would be barely 4,000 people in the ground. I do remember a few songs about Saints and booing if Saints had won, which I thought was all quite amusing considering the crowd at the Dell would cheer a positive result for Bournemouth. I always looked out for their results and hoped they did well. They are a bit like a cute small brother or sister to take pity on whereas we are the big brother who they are a bit envious of and that does not result in a 'proper' rivalry. I want to beat them on Tuesday because I want Saints to win every game, not because they are Bournemouth. If we lose I will be ****ed off, but on the same level as losing to Norwich rather than losing to the skates.

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The question of "derbies" has come up several times on this site in recent years, and of course it depends from which angle you take on it.

Geographical ....maybe. Although some clubs are a long way apart and can't be compared with those in Manchester, Liverpool or (especially) North London.

 

Historical ..almost certainly but when you consider that in over 100 years Saints and Pompey haven't played each other nearly as often as some people seem to think.

In the days when the Bristol clubs travelled down to South Devon (either in L1/L2 or their equivalent Div 3 /Div 4 days)....they really were the closest geographically,but

I don't know whether Bristolians or Devonians considered such meetings to be "derbies" but it was a heck of a long way to anywhere else....maybe the Midlands?.

 

Looking back over the years ....whenever we played " southern" clubs (other than the one the other end of the M27) I noted some London media-types would take one look at the map, and then call games against Yeovil, Reading or Swindon to be " Southern derby games ". Obviously they were absent from social studies classes in their secondary schools.

 

I don't have stats. at my figure tips, but I'd guess that ...in the last 50-odd years, our meetings against Swindon, Reading and even Bristol City haven't been so far - (numerically-speaking) behind those against Pompey,(supposedly) closest....geographically. Someone driving to B'mouth can clock the mileage and prove me wrong.

Games against Bournemouth weren't uncommon in the 1950's Div 3 days, until we got back up to (old) Div 2. After which it was down to the occasional Cup match.

 

Recently read an article by a stats. nerd who said the teams we had played the most - in living memory - were; Coventry and Norwich which could never be described as derbies although we have the most history against them.

 

For me Bournemouth maybe close on the map, but a long way from being called a derby. If we're still playing each other in the Prem ...in 5 years time ..I'll re-think it.

Edited by david in sweden
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Crystal Palace is about the same distance from Brighton as Southampton is from Bournemouth. Does that mean that Palace v Brighton is a derby game?

 

Very much so. According to both sets of fans

 

 

Remember when we first got relegated from the prem and we played plymouth. Which was billed as a "south coast derby"

 

Bit much lol

Edited by Batman
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Is there a specific distance that determines whether a game is a derby or not? And do you have to be in the same county?

Obviously not. Painfully, obviously not.

 

Ipswich and Norwich are 50 miles apart and is a huge derby but that does not mean every club in a 50 mile radius of another club is a derby.

 

Fu ck me. Can't even believe I am having to explain this.

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Obviously not. Painfully, obviously not.

 

Ipswich and Norwich are 50 miles apart and is a huge derby but that does not mean every club in a 50 mile radius of another club is a derby.

 

Fu ck me. Can't even believe I am having to explain this.

 

It was tongue in cheek but feel free to be a ***t as usual.

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I'd always thought on them in a kindly sort of way...like a little step-sibling who needed a bit of help maybe.

 

That began to change in the L1 matches...they invented a pseudo rivalry which I'd never thought existed...almost a skate-lite, manufactured, not really ever been there thing a bit tacky really.

 

I thought we hit the right tone with the 'We don't care about you' chant....I admire their rise a bit, think Howe's done a good job but as rivals they might as well be Weymouth...

 

Let's leave the mighty terras out of this ;)

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Didn't we help them out with ground staff, I thought we were good neighbours, only a handful of years ago the owners were moaning about only getting 5k down there for home games. I don't want them to get relegated but if they do I think they'll lose quite a few of the glory hunters.

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Great read that - as a Saints fan from Weymouth who has lived in Bournemouth for the past 20 years the Saints fan living in Poole has pretty much summed up my feelings and views.

Ive never quite got over the dis-respect they showed when the then Mayor of Southampton was tragically killed and they treated the minutes silence with complete disdain at a time we were tryig to help them out !

 

Of course you arent allowed to point out that Southampton helped keep them afloat down in these 'ere parts..........

 

I am also a saints fan who still lives in Weymouth. Remember back in the seventies if Saints and Weymouth were both not at home, Bournemouth was my third choice. Think it was the seventies,Ted Macdougal and phil Boyer days. (age showing I'm afraid!!!)

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I moved to Poole about 20 years ago and the Boscombe chumps were pretty friendly , a lot were interested in us and how we did.

 

Around the time of Redknapp and our relegation some of them jumped on this Scummer bandwagon and started to think they were the skates younger brothers . They've now got this big chip on their shoulders about BH Saints which is funny as **** because with one exception , all the ones I've met at work, socially or through local football , all supported somebody else . Liverpool , Chelsea, Arsenal, Man Utd & Spurs mainly. They're a real pain in the arse , going on about " glory hunter " ( ****ing glory hunter lol ) . I even took my passport into work to shut one twt up . My lad takes a bit of stick at school , whereas my oldest 2 never did when they were his age in the early '00's .

 

Don't get me wrong , some are ok , and I'm meeting a few of them before the game Tues . They don't give me stick and I don't remind them they're Arsenal or Liverpool supporters , but I hope we smash the twts .

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I would be quite happy if the premier league didn't have any team further north than Manchester but instead had

Bournemouth

Brighton

Reading

Any of the West Country teams

Ideally other teams in the SO postcode

All in it as long as saints are top dog getting the positive results

We could do with healthy rivalry & sparing partners

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Interestingly someone tried to tell me yesterday that....

 

Saints v Bournemouth isn't a derby because 'a derby is only games contested by teams from the same city'.

 

This would mean Pompey wasn't a derby either, which I pointed out to him, he said no it's isn't, it's 'a local rivalry'.

 

was it The9 or MLG?

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Southampton v Pompey is a derby because we're from the same area (Hampshire)

Southampton v Bompey is a derby because we're from the same area (Hampshire, or County of Southmpton if you prefer).

Just because some idiot politicians changed the county boundary in 1972 makes no difference.

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