I should have added ..... the FC & Leeds/Liverpool (add other glory teams) supporting scum who pull our team down at any given opportunity. They're scum, no other word fits. Apologies to any dual City/FC supporters ..... obvs.
i suppose rivalry depends on what kind of fan you are/were. a "proper supporter" would have different criteria than the type of young man who went with a load of mates intent on having a bit of banter and maybe even fistycuffs - as was the norm in the late 70's early 80's and again in the early 90's. for me it was the hill brothers, suggies and later gareths double deckers carrying 40 odd young men who saw city as a chance to act hard but in a sort of "safe" environment. being hard back then was looked up to. wusses got bullied, pushed aside and never got the girl and travelled with simon gray. totally different times back then. the blunts were a constant annoyance although their own rivals were harking back to when they were in the top flight so we were an insignificance and never considered rivals. a bit of a joke in their eyes. lincoln mansfield scunts and for a short period blackpool funnily enuff , bolton 2 or 3 years running at home down north road nothing major as in millwall west ham but totally different to on the pitch rivalries its totally frowned upon nowadays going to strange towns getting drunk with a load of lads and acting up kicking cars smashing windows robbing shops/ service stations (the prices they charged it was returning the favour) and the odd charge at oppo fans (very little actual physical harm) quite harmless fun and no one needed counselling afterwards i suppose you had to be there i personally fooking loved it and when it all stopped, football for me lost 90% of its adrenalin/buzz/excitement fear until the allams took over.
I admit there were a few odd ones but it was 40 travellers just on the lower deck never mind upstairs. Regularly topped 80 or more/ The whip round the KHCT drivers got was very decent and towards the end Securicor were waiting for them when they finally got off the bus. Some drivers were also fans and revelled in the occasion. One time on the way to Field Mill pulling out of the services in the late 70s, the KHCT driver totally ****ed up the turn off and ended up going the wrong way and was promptly fined on the spot. A certain R*cky Herit@ge organised a quick whip round for him, and I believe some of it was even handed to the driver.
I didnt want to be accused of exaggeration re the numbers. its a different game and a totally different experience today no cameras back then and if you asked the plod at away games for an escort you were invariably told "youve come here for trouble so dont blame us when you get it!!" and were then left to fend for ourselves it added an element of fear if you were a city fan cos we seldom got the better of teams away from home and the adrenaline flowed through your veins and you really did know you were alive and vulnerable. i feel sorry for young men in todays crowds not getting this fear/buzz. its so sterile you might as well be watching croquet. i worked with some sheff utd 1970/80's top boys" 15 yrs ago ish and we spent hours reminiscing and laughing about how it was back then. we talked football and it was funny how theyd all stopped attending due to the sad state of football as an (exciting) event. despite them being top flight? a few years later i followed suit with city in the top flight. for me now as a non attendee (until the allams do one) i reckon hull fc are my biggest rival never held leeds as rivals, scunts lincoln and non geographically sited luton and stoke both were temporary rivals for a couple of years under PT it was luton or donny as our rivals on the pitch but i couldnt bring myself to hate donny. grimsby in the 80's for a time (the sarcastic clapping game springs to mind) but if i had to pick one it would be hull fc who's fans don robby asked to come and swell the BP crowd and they ended up grouped together in north stand and cheered when gillingham? scored. round town for a time everyone had an fc shirt on merely 2 or 3 years after their lowly attendance of 1500 against new hunslet or some other giant im suprised i can remember much of our on the pitch rivals back then because i, like 95% of football fans spent most of the 90 minutes chanting or hurling abuse at the oppo fans. the football actually spoiled it at times. happy days all in all. i remember reading the back page of the sports mail - a feature on a season in the past and remember scanning the fixtures remembering each away game thinking wow what a season was that, one of the most fun id had. shopping trolley races in chester - goading granville the goalie and crazy memories at most games. i then looked at the league table and guess where we finished? bottom city was a day out, an event, stirred the blood and its sad how it has dwindled to what it is today however.... despite my apathy with all things football nowadays it was absolutely fantastic to watch us out perform leeds all over the pitch last night and i loved it how we also outsung them on the terraces......
It was Brentford. Some of those that were cheering when Brentford scored were people who had been at City 2 or 3 years before One was mouthing off and I told him I would deck him and roll his sleeves up. He shut up as he knew I knew that he had City tatoos.