I've been out today with a group of lads today who have supported pools for years, and a topic came up earlier do we miss the derby game!!!
Most of us did some didn't care , I'm in the I miss it , I loved looking for the fixture, train times an all that,pubs to have a drink in,
Does anybody else??

My opinion is the day Darlow dived to the bottom of the sea was also the day that a lot of long standing Pools fans started to drift away and a day that killed the most contested football fixture in both our clubs history! I was one of only a hand full of supporters who predicted that the demise of our rivals would have a direct effect on our club and nothing has changed my opinion since! Most loved our neighbours demise sadly!!!! But not a single game since has carried that TOTALLY AMAZING BUZZ!!! I feel really sorry for the younger supporters who never got to enjoy the buzz of a "Derby Day" game because those very very very special days have gone forever and that is so sad for both clubs and more so for both sets of amazing crazy die hard PROPER football supporters. RIP the best & most amazing & most honest contested north east football fixture EVER!! Its deffo missed by all those supporters of both clubs who had the PRIVILAGE to witness this totally amazing fixture with its unique buzz & sheer grit that could only be rivaled by winning the league or a cup in my opinion!

the way to look at it is like this..... of all the clubs in the league,past or present - only one set of fans looked for the Hartlepool United fixture first

The Tyne Wear derby being played yesterday brought it home..... there was never a day like playing Darlo, whether people think it or not.It is the truth,and EVERYONE got caught up in the atmosphere.Try telling me Exeter away is the same...........

I am definitely right here

Miss the 6 points

For me it was all about the hatred of them
Loving how they have suffered over the recent years, and have had a huge laugh when Reynolds houghton and Singh consecutively conned them

Wow,thats some grudge ..did you get your arse kicked over there or something.

Well I don't miss the games, I sort of miss the rivalry, but when I read shite like that I don't miss that either. The games were rarely good games, 100 mile an hour with little football, unless we were paggering them which was fairly enjoyable.

They're gone, move on.

I can't honestly say I miss the fixture much because we'd been seeing next to bugger all in the way of derbies anyway, even without their demise.
If we ever do play them again, I think it's going to take a while to rekindle that old rivalry.

We will never ever play them again....a shame for both clubs!!!!

PS....are we the only Club in the League that hasn't got a 'real derby rival'????

Middlesbrough too.

Quite a few, Carlisle and York are a couple without thinking much I'm sure plenty of others don't either.

Yeah there is quite a few when I think of it!!!!

Fuck 'em.

Just keep selling your best players..It'll be a.few years yet, but it will happen..

Yes we need to stop making up to three quarters of a million pounds profit on players picked up from non league, that's a road to ruin that.

Just think Baldwin could of filled that laughable totaliser ten times

So, reading between the lines, you mean if we let all our players go, we'll be down to your level?

That's a bit like me writing to Kate Bush........."just you wait, Kate. When you've lost your voice, I'll be able to sing as well as you can".

Aye, but will you see any of the Baldwin cash ?

Growing up in Billingham, I hated Boro more than Darlow, even though we never played them (except for the Milk Cup 1986) but as I got older and started going to the shit hole that was Feethams, my rivalry switched more to Darlow than Boro.

I honestly think I wouldn't missed get bricked walking down Polam Lane or having to piss in the worst toilets in English League Football, but I must admit I do. Even the other 'so called' local games haven't got the same edge. The trek to Carlisle or even this years trip to York were all to friendly to be a traditional local derby.

We wont have a game with that edge every year unless

a) We are ever in the same league as Darlow 1883
b) We are in the same league as Boro
c) We have play off semi-finals/Final regularly.

The Saddest thing is, I bang on to the my 10 year old son about how shite Darlow are and how much I dislike them, and he really just doesnt get it, and probably never will. It'll all be lost on the new generation of Pools fans!

Pwhoarr..don't get me started about Kate Bush..i'd rather keep my thoughts private miss grabec..

How are the steam roller getting on at the moment anyway playing in the Uni kids league? Will you be having another love in this year in the Dolphin Centre hailing blokes like heroes who couldnt beat my cousin at three pots and in?

regarding Kate Bush i'd rather keep my privates taut

Not really, no. We moved on the early 2000's and they went to rat shit. We're different gravy now in terms of a league club and they sank. To be fair, over the years it could have been us who're where they are, but it isn't and I can't say it meant that much apart from maybe a bit of edge to two games a season. We weren't that impressive when they were happening, which probably was what it was all about.

the essence of derby day is a great addition to any season though

In London and other parts like Lancashire/ Yorkshire where there's quite a few clubs close together it's watered down, because they have too many local games

but two isolated towns clashing produces games with a lot of peripheral/tribal stuff which I think is brilliant. Everybody goes beserk at a derby like that when their team scores

Well, good attempt at side-tracking, Sussex, but I think we all noticed your own goal.
But, yes, since you mention it, we'd all rather you kept your thoughts private. So, a rare moment of Bunker unanimity......?

Thoughts in plural ? I doubt the 'lovely lovely person' has more than one original one a week

The only thought that matters in their regard is this:

Darlo are dead

Parmo hits it right on the head when he says
the essence of derby day is a great addition to any season though,
That's exactly what me and the lads were saying on Saturday we had just watched the Newcastle v Sunderland game , after there were showing the Sunderland fans celebrating, the feeling off beating your enemy was class especially away at feethams a feeling us poolies unfortunately will probably never feel again!

I miss it, sad to see that the York game was probably the closest we are going to get now. Yes it was intense and the games were often horrible to watch, but not having a genuine local rival is a big miss.

I live in Gateshead and work in Newcastle and just seeing the build up to the game and intensity and rivalry, did make me long for the old Darlo games.

Would have darlo back in league 2 in a flash.

Same, boring not having a stand out fixture anymore

I miss them. Part of your identity is defining yourself in opposition to an enemy.

And how many Poolies would deny the 3-0 drubbing of Darlo at the White Elephant isn't one of their most memorable games? We've beaten loads of teams 3-0 home and away over the years but that one was special.

Nah. They died years ago. May as well lament Workington or Bradford PA.

why does it not surprise me that wish darlow to be successful?

The derby games, though it could be argued that they werent derbys at all, were shite. Apart from one very good day at their white elephant.

Every chavy twat from both towns made their annual appearance, just for the chew. Aye, great days.

I suppose I'm wishing them to be successful compared to their current plight but them finishing 22nd in league 2 every year would do me.

If playing your closest neighbours in a derby is ruined for yourself because some chavs go then it says more about you then anything else.

So I take you want darlow to win their league this year, and next, and the year afer that?

And does that mean you want Pools to stay in league two as well?

Or do you want Darlow to win league two as well?

You should be careful what you wish for.

This.

Plus in reality wishing to be in the same league as them and that becoming a reality is about as realistic as the desire to have a regular derby with Newcastle United. It's not going to happen. They are planning to move into Rugby ground that is currently inadequate for Evostick football, getting to the Football League isn't something they can even begin to think about. The clubs who have done it like AFC Wimbledon had much bigger fan bases and an suitable ground.

Never going to happen.

The same could be said for those wishing they went out of business?

Would I rather they plodded along in whatever division they are in or got promoted to our level? Promotion everytime I'm afraid. Although saying that, mad John has a point, it ain't Darlington so maybe it would never ever be the same rivalry again? In which case I don't care actually.

I just miss playing against people you utter despise like Hodgson, Bennett, that whingy little prick of a winger whose name escapes me etc etc but if it ain't Darlo then maybe there wouldn't be people I hate and who I'm desperate to beat. Maybe it would just be pity?

The 3-0 at the white elephant is my most memorable Pools game. Never felt so nervous before a game and then boom, smashed them to pieces.

Considering they dont exist anymore I dont really care. They are a Phoenix club of our true rivals and it would be like going to watch a tribute act with none of the original band playing only a faint recollection of what they used to be. This is never going to happen in my lifetime anyway so no point in even thinking about them.

Whats funny is they all worship the new players like they are some brilliant players when in fact they are just local fellas having a kick about at an ok level. The fact they got beat last year of a bunch of uni kids (of which my cousin would have been playing but did his ligaments in) says it all.

I cant believe their fans are so stupid to see this. I have pity on them really as they are just clinging onto the past like Liverpool fans but thicker. They have two charitiy fund raising schemes running at the moment in which the "get back to darlo fund" is a load of bollocks without them being given £50K each year from donations just to keep the club afloat in a tin pot league. They will make the playoffs this year in that league and need to go up otherwise all momentum is lost. I see the scheme to get back to darlo is at only 10% of what they need at present but they are all happy as the manager has put his own money in

I miss the old games and happy I went to all in my time supporting Pools with the last being the thrashing at the Elephant. Lets be honest this will never be repeated and even if it did there arnt the same team no matter how much they sugar coat it.

compo sums it up there like. The old Darlo is dead and buried, and can't ever make a re-appearance

It's like this weird incarnation calling itself Thin Lizzy.

Phil Lynott WAS Thin Lizzy.... how can anything or anyone else be Thin Lizzy?

I am sad to see the passing of the old club cos it was definitely the highlight game for the season

there was no better feeling than walking out of that shit hole feethams with all 3 points. Joe Allon 90-91 season lobbing Mark Prudhoe for a 1-0 victory, the only team to beat Darlo that season was a brilliant feeling. Derby days were always brilliant regardless of quality of football its all about winning.

What fixture does everybody look forward to when the fixtures are announced? I know this year was York but if they go down who will everybody be looking for?

I've never fully understood the "it's not really" Darlo argument. I would argue it's the supporters who make a club what it is rather than players who, by and large, will turn out for whoever is willing to pay them the most money. Like any other professional. The supporters don't operate based on that principle and whilst numerous people don't follow them anymore (I play cricket with a couple) their support will mainly (if not exclusively) be the people who turned up to watch them as Darlington FC.

To my mind they are still, to all intent and purpose, the club we used to play.

I think most Pools supporters acknowledge this. Borne out by the fact that posts about them still appear on this board.

I second that Bramstein. Without its supporters a FC is just a company. The inherited identity of a club doesn't reside in its shareholders.

Funny watching them flail around and continue to fail, particularly looking fwd to when they run out of money again in the next couple of years and fold again