As a Yorkshireman I had to laugh at Shaun Wane's comments post the Warrington game calling the GF with Saints a 'Lancashire derby'.

Excuse me Shaun, but Wigan and St Helens haven't been in Lancashire for 40 years. One resides in Greater Manchester and the other Merseyside.

Wigan v St Helens is basically the Plastic Mancs v the Plastic Scousers.

Wrong. Wigan v Sains is a Lancasire Derby.

Ahh the metropolitan borough v traditional county boundries debate, it's been a while.

It is a Lancs derby, infact it is THE Derby of derby's as decreed by the current Lord Derby's ancestor

Going by your logic...

There's no such thing as a "Yorkshire" derby, because there is no single county called Yorkshire anymore.

You can be from West, North, South, East... but these are separate counties.

I'm sure you would be interested, as a "Yorkshireman" that your county was severely butchered 40 years ago as well. Yorkshire lost land to the newly formed counties of Greater Manchester, Cumbria, and indeed, the newly formed area of Lancashire.

If people didn't care about this, I'm sure people wouldn't have got rid of Cleveland and Humberside either.

So, in short... shut up.

Troll (Virgin) alert!!

I know this concept is far out, but if you are in St. Helens, you are in more than one place ... at once! How about that, eh?

For a start, you're in St. Helens - the town.

And you're in the administrative centre of the administrative local government Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, too.

Are you in Merseyside? Indeed you are. Or have been since the mid-70s, when the Metropolitan County of Merseyside was created for governmental and administrative purposes. But Lancashire was not abolished. Lancashire is not an administrative anything, it is a historic county and St Helens is in it. So you're in Lancashire too. But, like Schrodinger's cat, you're also not in it, if by "it" you are referring to the administrative district formed in 1974 and run by Lancashire County Council.

But Lancashire County Council by no means has exclusive jurisdiction. The Duchy of Lancaster exercises the right of the Crown within the historic boundaries of Lancashire. Which would be odd, if the historic county had somehow vanished, as then there wouldn't be anything to exercise the right of the Crown over.

This is far from the end of it, though. Being in St Helens, you're also in England. But at the same time, you're in Great Britain. And you're in the United Kingdom. How weird is that?

The correct answer is that people living in the historic county of Lancashire have every right to call themselves Lancastrians and Wigan v Saints has every right to call itself a Lancashire derby. It is, and will be for as long as Lancastrians consider themselves to be Lancastrians.

Why does anyone bother to reply to Brucie. He's actually trying to become RLFans number one troll, and he's making a damn good job of it. I'm pleased to say that he's actually barred from our club forum.

I know this thread, and all our posts are responding to a joke, of sorts.

But top marks for this.

To OP - Lancashire Cricket Club aren't Lancashire then either.

Lancashire has never been abolished, but Merseyside has. There is no county of Merseyside. The Merseyside county council was abolished in the 80s. St Helens is a unitary authority as are other councils that made up the old Merseyside county council, which no longer exists.

Lancashire does still exist and St Helens is in its southern regions, as are Wigan. Manchester City Council exists but there is no such thing as Greater Manchester Council or Greater Manchester County Council.

The Saints Wigan derby is a Lancashire derby. Always has been; always will be.

Wikipedia says "Merseyside (/ˈmɜrzisaɪd/) is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million.[1 It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs:Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool. "

So it does exist?

I agree with your sentiment.

But I think you are confusing the abolition of Merseyside County Council with the county. Unfortunately, the "county" still exists ceremonially with a Lord Lieutenant, with some political functions (Police/Transport, for example) that run through co-operation of the 5 unitary authorities.

Historically and culturally speaking, we are Lancastrians. This will only change once the scouse overspill is complete. This despite Liverpool being historically in Lancs, as well. But for a city that prides itself on heritage and culture, it does well to forget this for some reason!

I don't give 2 hoots where a governmental reorganisation tells me I'm from.

I'm a Wiganer, Lancastrian and English.

Here here

anyone else get the irony that this thread was created by someone claiming allegiance to a club from "humberside"

I'm not sure the city of Liverpool has totally forgot it's Lancastrian heritage. Lancashire County Cricket Club play a few home games in Liverpool every summer, and in fact when Lancs won the County Championship in 2011 they played pretty much every home game at Aigburth.

Enjoy spending a couple of days at the cricket when Lancs play in Liverpool. Always a big crowd in ground too.

St Helens in the old county of Lancashire.
Now resides in the new county of Merseyside.
Has a Warrington postcode which also used to belong in Lancashire but is now Cheshire.

It's confused

It's a Lancashire derby, get a grip.

Perhaps the best illustration of my point - that it's people, and where they live as far as they're concerned that ultimately counts- is the case of Poland.

Invading neighbours and sundry administrators technically made it so that from 1795 tilll 1918 there [iwas[/i no independent Polish state. Poland on admin paper didn't exist. This made precisely zero difference to Poles, though, and when in 1918 the sign was put back on the door, it was irrelevant. Poles had in reality continued to live in Poland for the previous century and still did, every bit as cussed and nationalistic as they had ever been.

It's the people who live in any given region that dictate its real identity. Its "papers" don't count for this purpose.

I'm a Lancashire bloke, but I live in Yorkshire.

I am what I say I am. You may call me fred, bob and charles, but unless I recognise myself as one of those names, calling me by it will not get you very far.

Just as Irish folk who have lived in the UK for 30 years may still refer to themselves as Irish, ergo scottish,welsh and English who do the same.

If the club wishes to be a Lancashire club then it is. If it changes it's mind and wants to be French then it can be. Not many French folk in St. Helens thought.

Same applied to THEM over the lump.

I could argue long and hard about this subject but I have a life so I'm not going to.

Good answer!!!!

Viva Palestine!

Wherever St Helens or Wigan are now, one thing is certain... Neither are in Yorkshire..