Why do us Sheffield folk hate Leeds so much? Do you think we have a chip on our shoulder, or does history provide the answer to the riddle?

What do you think about Leeds (and the people of Leeds)? Do you think it's the armpit of Yorkshire, or do you think Sheffielders have an inferiority complex? (of course we don't, but I have to try to create the illusion of a balanced debate).

Appro.

I was brought up to hate Leeds because I am from Sheffield, and no doubt I will raise my children with those same ridiculous principles.

On a more serious note, I visited Leeds recently and it never felt quite right. Everywhere else is fine, but I just didn't feel comfortable. In the pub, at the shops or wherever. It's not that welcoming a place I dont think. It doesnt have the same friendly atmosphere as here.

So reason enough for me to hate it!

I reckon that it is a bit of a little brother complex. We don't feel quite as cool or big as Leeds which creates envy and jelousy. But lets face it we don't have as good a town centre, pubs or clubs so maybe our inferiority is well placed!

I must say - having worked in Leeds in the mid-80's - this 'hate' seems to be a one-way thing.

I feel that we, as Sheffielder's, developed an inferiority complex during the mid 60's when we let a second-rate football club from a staunch rugby city take over and make our two, fine, traditional historic clubs look stupid.

Then, even worse, as Sheffield fell into decline during the seventies and eighties, Leeds rubbed our noses in it once and for all by having the audacity to prosper and leave us behind for ever.

Sob.

to be honest ive lived in sheffield for 3 years.. its alays seemed like a big village to me.. not a city.. especially when compared with manchester, liverpool or newcastle..

all to do with the city centre - shops/bars/cafe/life/culture.. it all needs developing and building..


i went to leeds once and it seemed like more of a city to me to be honest

I work in Leeds City Centre and live in Sheffield City Centre. Give me Sheffield any day! I wasn't brought up with the bias coz I grew up down south. So here are my reasons


Sheffield has a real community spirit whereas Leeds is standard big-city anonymous
Leeds has Harvey Nicks (so what, you can find HN in Manchester & London these days) whereas Sheffield has exclusive little boutiques on Division street selling one-off creations.
Sheffield is truly funky, creative and innovative; Warp Records, Pulp, Moloko. What great music has come out of Leeds?


And finally, the people in Sheff are nicer, so yeah, better all round!

Petey.

I have spent more time in Leeds than I did Sheffield growing up ( i grew up in Barnsley) don't know why, So was not aware of any complex between the two cities.
Whenever anything 'big' came up on tv I do remember most people I knew looking for Sheffield as opposed to Leeds perhaps because of the South/West Yorkshire thang I dunno.

I have never felt comfortable in Leeds, I used to go shopping with my friends there an snigger at the condom shop in the corn exchange.
I hate Manchester and London and I find Leeds slightly less nausiating than Manchester but prefer London over the two. Despite London being too far south for any decent Yorkshire lass, I do find London a friendlier and more inviting place.

I chose Sheffield over any of them. I find that Sheffield balances community with city life wonderfully, fooling the masses. I do think Sheffield should be recognised by the other parts of the UK alot more than it is - in all areas not just business.

I love sheffield, it is the best place I have lived in.

Moon

Sheffield is the best place I have lived, followed closely by Oswestry, Shropshire. Then again, these are the only two places that I've actually lived.

The hate certainly is a one way thing, i lived in Leeds all my life, never heard a bad thing said about Sheffield.

I totally agree about the city centre comment as well. It's such a shame that Meadowhall took all the money and people out of the city. It's a beautiful city centre in Sheffield, many historic buildings.

As for what great music came from Leeds - The wedding present, Robert Palmer, Sisters of Mercy, Utah Saints. To be honest i think culture wise they are pretty close. But obviously having a smaller gene pool (and probably hardship taking it's effect as it always does in music) Sheffield has the edge.

Leeds has become more unfriendly, but that IMHO is entry part of the evolution of a city. The more people, the less personal it gets. If you go to NY for instance you find very few people mix outside their insulated groups. It's very similar in London, and getting that way in Leeds.

I still love the place though.

Leeds has a City centre unlike Sheffield Shopping in Leeds is far better than Sheffield.

hmmmmmmmm i feel i must take issue on this one.

having been recently tasked to collect something from london,and getting lost in the process(weve all done it) i found the area i wanted(park royal) but couldnt find the street.

not one person would help me,not even the fail safe ask at a petrol station worked,it was like memory loss kicked in the second any interlopers dared to speak to them.

you dont get that here now do you

and as for the leeds thing, the road planners there have just got to smoking something

I once spent two weeks stuck driving round the Leeds ring road.

oh if hillsbough was blown up it would be even finer i heard leeds has some brill clubs we dont mind taking your woman off ya leeds scum

Originally posted by Dug
I once spent two weeks stuck driving round the Leeds ring road.

Sorry but Leeds does actually look and feel like a City.. I do like Sheffield though. It's just not busy enough to be a City really...

I nkow it's a big place and all but the City Centre feels small.. It needs a lot more City Centre investment..

Originally posted by Red 2
Sorry but Leeds does actually look and feel like a City.. I do like Sheffield though. It's just not busy enough to be a City really...

I nkow it's a big place and all but the City Centre feels small.. It needs a lot more City Centre investment..

I totally disagree Red & I am London born & bred so I know a thing or two about big cities. Sheffield knows how to be a city with soul. It's not just about money, and it's not about shopping (ever heard of transport?). It's about quality of life - and on that count, geezer, this place rocks!

You talk about Sheff being too small. In London I'd have to travel an hour and a half each way to see my mates or my brother (who both lived in the East End, wheras I was West).

Don't get me wrong there's a lot I like about Leeds too, but I think Sheff has a kinda warmth and vibe that many other cities do not. That makes it unique in my book.

I hate L**DS !!!!!!!!!!!!

Only Because the local tv coverage is ****

Oh and I can't foget the ball's up our local Labour Council has made of Sheffield over the years!
No wonder were behind L**DS:mad:

Fellow Sheffielders

I have to agree with many of the comments here - the hatred is a one way thing. Leeds folk don't hate Sheffielders. I worked in Leeds for 18 months, and no one I worked with had any criticism of Sheffield.

There could be many reasons for this, including:

1) Leeds is the superior city in Yorkshire (from a financial viewpoint)

2) Leeds has the superior football team (but not for long ;) and besides their only successes came after poaching the Owls' manager and players)

3) No one from Leeds has heard of Sheffield (Leeds is full of Mancs - there are no Yorkshire left men up there).

Leeds has really taken off over the past couple of decades. Now what really ticks me off is when Sheffield City Council make stupid soundbites such as "We [Sheffield] are now where Leeds was 15 years ago" ... as if that's a good thing :loopy:

I was reading an intersting book on Sheffield history and it appears the rivalry may have started because while Sheffield was becoming a prosperous city through steel, Leeds' success was down to the wool trade, which Sheffielders thought was not the work of real men!

(edit - fixed typo)

Originally posted by E-Man Groovin
I totally disagree Red & I am London born & bred so I know a thing or two about big cities. Sheffield knows how to be a city with soul. It's not just about money, and it's not about shopping (ever heard of transport?). It's about quality of life - and on that count, geezer, this place rocks!

You talk about Sheff being too small. In London I'd have to travel an hour and a half each way to see my mates or my brother (who both lived in the East End, wheras I was West).

Don't get me wrong there's a lot I like about Leeds too, but I think Sheff has a kinda warmth and vibe that many other cities do not. That makes it unique in my book.

Yes but i don't mean it should be as busy or big as London mate.. I'm talking about Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool size..

Sheffield is a big Village

Leeds is a nice place to visit IMO, but I doubt I'd want to live there.

I mean yeah, they have some nice shopping areas, and the White Rose centre, but the White Rose pails into insignificance compared to the sheer mass of Meadowhall, the only better thing is there's nowhere near as many big issue sellers and annoying market researchers pestering you on the Leeds equivalent of Fargate.

There's more historical and educational stuff to take the little school kids to here than Leeds though, such as Abbeydale Hamlet, Whirlow Farm etc, where as Leeds has the Royal Armouries and that's about it I think cos the Tetley's Brewery isn't open to the public and I don't know as there's much else that would be interesting....

There's some nice cafes and pubs/bars in Leeds though like Starbuck's etc, there's only the high street cafes here and ones within Department stores like TJ Hughes's etc.

So yeah, Leeds.... nice place to waste an afternoon shopping and stuff, but not really the kind of place I'd like to live in long term.

Hang on a minute, Sheffield city centre is small because it has in fact shrunk - the bottom end near the Castle Market being evidence of this. The reason for this is Meadowhall.

This actually killed parts of the City Centre.

Originally posted by Appro
Why do us Sheffield folk hate Leeds so much? Do you think we have a chip on our shoulder, or does history provide the answer to the riddle?

What do you think about Leeds (and the people of Leeds)? Do you think it's the armpit of Yorkshire, or do you think Sheffielders have an inferiority complex? (of course we don't, but I have to try to create the illusion of a balanced debate).

Appro.


i live in leeds and i hate it here. i wud much prefer to live in sheff. i wud miss the leeds rhinos tho. wots ur sheff eagles like?

Originally posted by debbie
i wud miss the leeds rhinos tho. wots ur sheff eagles like?

Average springs to mind. :o ;)

Hey yeah so Leeds has a better city centre and clubs etc...and lets face it when we are in Leeds it does feel more Metropolitan than Sheffield ,,you feel a part of a bigger machine and are proud to be English but that is no need to feel regret towards Sheffield... A friend of mine recently said that he moved to Leeds as it is a liitle bit of the south up north!! terribly biggoted I think we will all agree but this does give us an insight into what Leeds has which is a cosmopolitan European feel to it...but hand in hand with this Leeds feels a lot colder and less welcoming as you would expect from a bigger city...But Sheffield is not in competition with Leeds and has a different focus upon education, advanced manufacturing when Leeds is a service economy...,lets work together ....Sheffield is imporoving anyhow in cultre etc xr

Originally posted by raukous
A friend of mine recently said that he moved to Leeds as it is a liitle bit of the south up north!!

That to me is the perfect reason not to go to Leeds.

Originally posted by raukous
Hey yeah so Leeds has a better city centre and clubs...it does feel more Metropolitan than Sheffield ,,you feel a part of a bigger machine and are proud to be English...a cosmopolitan European feel to it...a bigger city...etc

Don't think so.

Originally posted by E-Man Groovin
I totally disagree Red & I am London born & bred so I know a thing or two about big cities. Sheffield knows how to be a city with soul. It's not just about money, and it's not about shopping (ever heard of transport?). It's about quality of life - and on that count, geezer, this place rocks!

You talk about Sheff being too small. In London I'd have to travel an hour and a half each way to see my mates or my brother (who both lived in the East End, wheras I was West).

Don't get me wrong there's a lot I like about Leeds too, but I think Sheff has a kinda warmth and vibe that many other cities do not. That makes it unique in my book.

Having visited friends in Leeds many times over the years, I would say it's a good city, but that the above is pretty much the definitive word on the subject.

I'm not too fussed about national recognition - we know what we've got here, and everyone who has visited me in Sheff from all over the UK (and beyond) has seen it too.