PNE rivalry and WW1

Alf

Well-known member
Random question for those of you more acquainted with local history than myself (probably everybody). I was just reading about Lancashire in WW1, and came across a tale of local sandgrownuns getting pissed off when Lord Derby made an appeal for locals to join his regiment. Supposedly it caused a lot of aggro because his regiment was more closely associated with the Preston area and so it wasn’t really his place to be recruiting in Blackpool.

I’m paraphrasing from a very questionably written blog, and can’t find much else on it. I’m just wondering if anybody can shed a bit more light, and if maybe this has something to do with the local rivalry.
 
There was no local rivalry back then. Quite the opposite. I do know that people were expected to show loyalty to local landowners, which was more often than not the gentry
 
Lord Derby was more associated with the Kings Liverpool regiments but he was also instrumental in the forming of 'The pals' regiments accross the country, where friends and work colleagues from the same town joined up and fought together in the same unit. Could be something to do with that.
 
Lord Derby was more associated with the Kings Liverpool regiments but he was also instrumental in the forming of 'The pals' regiments accross the country, where friends and work colleagues from the same town joined up and fought together in the same unit. Could be something to do with that.

And yet, I always thought he was a pub in St Anne’s
 
And yet, I always thought he was a pub in St Anne’s
You beat me to it! 😂
I'm not sure when the real rivalry/dislike started, but I reckon it may have been as late as the 1960s! One of my old bosses years ago told me that as a young fella him and his mates(who were all Blackpool fans) used to watch Mathews and Co one week at Bloomfield road, and the following week, when 'Pool were away they'd jump on a train to Preston and go and watch Finney at Deepdale! I'm not sure how many people did this sort of thing, but generally fans didn't travel far to away games in those days....
 
I watched the film 1917 last night.

Very good but also very sobering.
I've not seen a WW1 film before, that depicted the utter destruction and devastation to the lives of those who served.
 
It was common for Pool fans to watch PNE at Deepdale when playing away.
They used to run coaches from Fylde too.
As mentioned no football rivalry until late 60’s.
 
It was common for Pool fans to watch PNE at Deepdale when playing away.
They used to run coaches from Fylde too.
As mentioned no football rivalry until late 60’s.
So really it wasn't as uncommon as you think! The thing to remember I guess is that there wasn't really football hooliganism and fighting between fans back then. I remember my old boss saying that even when Blackpool and PNE played each other the fans were all mixed in together. There was banter and good-natured ribbing, but it never developed into fisticuffs. You just can't imagine such a scenario! 😳.
I do remember my late dad telling me though that when he very occasionally went along to Turf Moor to watch Burnley in the late 1940s and 50s(the family lived in Padiham until 1968)shopkeepers in Burnley would close and lock all the doors in the town centre when Burnley played Man U or Liverpool, cos the Mancs and Scousers would go through the place like a plague of locusts and trash the place! Mind you it'd be difficult to tell if Burnley's been trashed admittedly! 😂
 
You beat me to it! 😂
I'm not sure when the real rivalry/dislike started, but I reckon it may have been as late as the 1960s! One of my old bosses years ago told me that as a young fella him and his mates(who were all Blackpool fans) used to watch Mathews and Co one week at Bloomfield road, and the following week, when 'Pool were away they'd jump on a train to Preston and go and watch Finney at Deepdale! I'm not sure how many people did this sort of thing, but generally fans didn't travel far to away games in those days....
My grandad and his brother did exactly this. My grandad identified as a Blackpool fan, his brother Preston. Before I could drive, I used to go on Preston with my mates when Blackpool were away, and they'd come on Blackpool when they were away. Mostly to laugh at each other if we lost, but rivalry shouldn't equal hatred, it's just banter when done right!
 
When Blackpool were at their peak (1946 - 1957), so we're Preston ( leaving aside the C19th). Preston did better than us in the League, (generally) but we both had key England players: Matthews, Morty, Finney. So, the rivalry, I suggest, starter in those days, albeit the nastiness didn't start until the 70s.
 
My grandad and his brother did exactly this. My grandad identified as a Blackpool fan, his brother Preston. Before I could drive, I used to go on Preston with my mates when Blackpool were away, and they'd come on Blackpool when they were away. Mostly to laugh at each other if we lost, but rivalry shouldn't equal hatred, it's just banter when done right!
I've got to say I don't HATE them, and even less so as I get older, but I don't think the tribal thing inside me will ever die! 😂 My lip still curls a bit when I hear that distinctive accent....and I still think that most of it is a s###hole...apart from the Guild Wheel alongside the Ribble(which I've ridden down dozens of times) and in the pedestrianised centre. Some good pubs too...and I always think the traditional old railway station is ace! When I stray away from those areas though I ALWAYS get lost....it's a feckin nightmare! 😂
 
About ten years ago me and wife took a static caravan holiday on the Lizard peninsular, Cornwall. On my 'day off to do the pubs' I was dropped off in Helston, where I started my tour at the Blue Anchor. I'm half way through my pint on a quiet Thursday, at one of the most southerly pubs on the British mainland, when in walk three blokes all wearing PNE shirts. Time to move on.
 
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