Real world moral dilemma in FM?

[Chasing Lamely]

Well, it was slightly more than a random act of violence to us- basically, those two bad-tempered games against Swindon in 78/79, which by all accounts were accompanied by some pretty awful refereeing, cost us promotion to the Second Division (modern-day Championship) for the first time in our history. There was, of course, violence around the ground, the court cases etc. Then, of course, there was Swindon beating us in the 86/87 Playoff Final replay, again denying us promotion to the second tier- a promotion which had to wait until the 1999/2000 season.

The reason it's endured is because there isn't really anyone else for us to hate. You mention that we could find a rivalry closer to home, but we're not really that much closer to London than you are, and those clubs are all too busy with each other. A few Gills fans would count Millwall, Fulham or even Charlton as rivals, but none of them care about us either, and there's no real reason for it. Some of the younger ones would also consider Man City rivals after that heartbreaking Playoff Final, but that was referee Mark Halsey's fault for putting up "eternity" as the time added on, not City's. And then there was Maidstone in the league for all of three seasons before they finally went bust.

So, Swindon it is- and I have to admit, it was great fun going to Oxford a few seasons back and chanting "We hate Swindon more than you". Good times.

See, I know the history, still seems silly to me! But if you guys are happy to have a pseudo rivalry with a team that doesn't give yours a second thought, I suppose that's cool. But everyone considers Millwall rivals - when 99% of a club's fans are racist thugs, people are gonna hate them!