That seemed to be the case with most of the teams based in the smaller towns - the fans were more rabid, and they wanted to literally kill the opposition.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Besides, there were 50,000 fans or more there, and they wanted to see the best you've got. There was an obligation to the people, as well as to ourselves, to go all out.
It goes without saying, winning against a good team in a hostile crowd on the road, it's just an absolutely huge win.
It was a pretty fierce rivalry. I'm just speaking for myself, but I think it was general through the clubs. We didn't like them, and they didn't like us.
It's a unique situation as well because England is a small country, so it makes it easy for the fans to travel. If we play down in London, they get buses and we'll get three or four thousand fans come down. They'll all sit in the same area and show their support for the team.
The players wanted more money, higher salary caps and they didn't have that family relationship we felt with the players. Mentally, the players were more businesslike.
I wanted the players to feel like they were part of a family, to be conscious of that controlled togetherness as they made that slow entrance onto the field. It had a great psychological effect on the opposing team, too. They'd never seen anything like it.
An ardent supporter of the hometown team should go to a game prepared to take offense, no matter what happens.
When I was playing, there were always lots of teams in contention for the league - Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Leeds. Every week was a big game and a big battle.
As the game gets bigger for the fans it gets bigger for the players.
Rabid fans were literally jumping into the camera.
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