The "Pigs"

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Sheffsteel said:
True.

A history lesson

Football was relatively sedantry in the 50’s and 60’s.
Many Sheffielders used to go to Bramall Lane one week, then go to Hillsboro the week after. Fans mixed.
Then when television came on the scene football became more tribal, more passionate and nasty.
SW produced their new simplified badge in 1973, that easy to draw badge meant in the 70’s you used to see their badge grafittid everywhere. I remember even seeing a Owl badge drawn on the brick wall on John Street which some Blade had grafittid over to look like a pig.

What would you do if you saw graffiti everywhere in the shape of their Owl badge?
Remember grafitti was much more widespread in the 70’s than what it is now.
Maybe draw a SU badge next to it? But our badge was difficult to draw and not so easily recognisable.
How about cross it out?
No, some Blades, simply grafittid a snout over the beak and drew in a curly tail.
I also remember seeing OWLS graffiti and some Blade would add an F before it spelling “FOWLS”
The simplified Owls badge seemed to be on toilet wall in every city centre pub, so Blades would always add a curly tail and snout.

It basically the grafitti culture and the easy of drawing their simplified badge that lead to us to calling them PIGS from 1974.
Click to expand...
you couldn’t graffiti our badge at the time as it was the sheffield coat of arms.. the ‘Hagan badge’ came a couple of years later on the black side stripe Admiral shirt
 



Sheffsteel said:
Sorry to bring this up again but I’ve spoke to few older United and Wednesday fans recently and it’s been confirmed by older Owls and Blades the truth behind who are The Pigs.

I was only a kid when I went to my first ever football match in March 1975, which was the famous SU 3 West Ham 2 Tony Currie match. My uncle who took me to that match and his friends definitely referred to SW as “The Pigs” in 1975 and some of the Wednesdayites in the family had never heard it said before, this is a fact.

He said “The Pigs” was never used by either Sheffield before 1973/74 time.
Apparently SW produced their newly designed badge in 1973 which was an outline of an Owl.
It caught on during 1974 for naughty Blades to draw a curly tail and snout on their badge.
And thats when “The Pig” insult started being used.
I even remember me and my mates drawing the Owl badge with snout and curly tail at school in the late 70’s.

Honestly can’t personally remember any SW fans calling it us until the 80’s.
Probably response was “why are you calling us The Pigs, you should be The Pigs as your shirts are striped and coloured like bacon”.
So Wednesday fans started calling it us back.

Speak to any pensioners who went to both grounds and they’ll confirm it was never used in the 50’s or 60’s.
It started being used by Blades from 1973/ 74 ish because of Wednesdays new badge.

This is not another theory or old wives tale, it’s actual FACT. The others theories about pig farms, streaky bacon, and butchers aprons might be true but that’s not why “the pig” name started being used.
Click to expand...


My ex wife's grandfather was a huge pig fan "I won't eat bacon if we lose etc, (even though he did, but we're talking about Wendies here) and never once used the term Pigs, about United. His son, another grunter didn't use it although I did to him (mid70's) . Older mates reckoned it originally came from some of them using Hoggs coaches for away games. That badge made it even more apt.

As someone has said, they've never had an original thought.
 
ekke287 said:
Now then.

I've done a quick search and can't spot any threads discussing this so my apologies if I've missed it (I'm relatively new).

I wanted to try and get something cleared up, that's essentially been the bane of my life on an almost daily basis since I started a new job in March.

There's a lad at work who's a big Wednesday fan, and aside from the occasional banter he does something that really pisses me off.

He grunts like a pig when I come to see him, and regularly calls me a pig, an oinker, pink and white baconer etc. This all came to a head recently when I told him that although it's a term I never use, Wednesday are actually the pigs, and not united, which stems from the Hillsborough ground being built on old farm land.

This was obviously debunked on the spot, and the counter claim was that Wednesday have always called United "The Pigs" and that we basically started copying them.

I can't seem to find any references online regarding the validity of the Pig Farm theory, only vague references to old posts on the Sheffield Forum where the same debate has been had several times.

So, can anyone clear it up? Who are "The Pigs"? Or is it simply that we both call it each other?

I don't mean to cause any offense in this post, so if any has been taken I apologise.

ekke
Click to expand...

Just smack the twat
 
At the Boxing Day match someone had a picture with the team consisting of 11 pigs in blue and white.
 
I've never eaten red and white bacon, still don't see it.
Given how in my lifetime they have stolen lots of things off us and other teams, to then claim as there own, its not hard for me to believe they did the same with this. Even though its before my time.
 



Sean Thornton said:
As someone has said, they've never had an original thought.
Click to expand...

Got to pick you up on that one.

Surely thinking that some non descript football club in south Barnsley is massive couldn't have been thought of anywhere else in the entire world?
 
Sirius said:
As far as I remember we started it by calling Jack Charlton PIGGY JACK
Click to expand...

I also remember Charlton sometimes being referred to as “Piggy Jack” but he didn’t become their manager until 1977.
So that’s not why it started, Charlton went on to manage Middlesboro and Newcastle, those clubs arent called the pigs.

It all started because of Wednesdays pride in their new badge. It was a simple outline and very easy to draw.
It was so easy to draw that you’d see it grafitti’d on walls. Unitedites hit back by spreading the word that their new fancy badge looked more like a pig than an Owl. The new badge came out in 74 (I think) and United started using the pig term shortly after.

I was in my about 12 yrs old in the late 70’s. Older Blades will confirm the following.
We used to draw the Owls badge on paper in the classroom and show it our Wednesday pals.
They’d look in shock and say “I thought you supported United”, then you’d quickly draw in a snout, trotters and curly tail and re show it to the same Wednesday pals to watch their reaction. It seemed like a cool magic trick at the time, but we were young ha ha.
 
I first heard the phrase in the 70's, and it was a nickname for SWFC, and I always thought it came from their kit looking like a pork butcher (blue and white stripes) but could be wrong

Butcher-Stripe-Bib-Apron.jpg
 
Grappler said:
I first heard the phrase in the 70's, and it was a nickname for SWFC, and I always thought it came from their kit looking like a pork butcher (blue and white stripes) but could be wrong

Butcher-Stripe-Bib-Apron.jpg
Click to expand...

Surely the blue and white aprons have been used in butchers for decades, so why was it never used in the 40’s, 50’s or 60’s.
Also why would it be pig, when a butcher sells all other kinds of meat, cow, lamb, rabbit.
No other team that plays in blue and white striped anywhere are called the pigs, so this link is weak.

You have to think about WHY would that term just start from no where in the mid 70’s?
As I said it all started with their new heavily publicised badge that they were so proud of.
Some Unitedites naturally wanted to ridicule it and said it resembled a Pig more than an Owl
And to prove it, small amendments were done to their badge to turn it into a pig.

I only remember Wednesday started calling it us back from the early 80’s.
We played them in the 79-80 division 3 season and that year the rivalry went up a few notches.
I personally remember our Kop singing the “Hark now here” song during the Easter 1980 return match.
We say they copied that song from us and they say we copied that song from them.

So it seems from 1980 was when both clubs had an urge to copy each other.
And that is the originals of when and why Wednesday first using the pig insult towards us.
Wen hearing our insult they probably said it’s us that are more like pigs due to our bacon like stripey shirts.
 
Last edited:
Grappler said:
I first heard the phrase in the 70's, and it was a nickname for SWFC, and I always thought it came from their kit looking like a pork butcher (blue and white stripes) but could be wrong

Butcher-Stripe-Bib-Apron.jpg
Click to expand...
Yes they did for a few games in the 1962/63 season. Below is David "Bronco" Layne
layne.png
 
Sheffsteel said:
Surely the blue and white aprons have been used in butchers for decades, so why was it never used in the 40’s, 50’s or 60’s.
Also why would it be pig, when a butcher sells all other kinds of meat, cow, lamb, rabbit.
No other team that plays in blue and white striped anywhere are called the pigs, so this link is weak.

You have to think about WHY would that term just start from no where in the mid 70’s?
As I said it all started with their new heavily publicised badge that they were so proud of.
Some Unitedites naturally wanted to ridicule it and said it resembled a Pig more than an Owl
And to prove it, small amendments were done to their badge to turn it into a pig.

I only remember Wednesday started calling it us back from the early 80’s.
We played them in the 79-80 division 3 season and that year the rivalry went up a few notches.
I personally remember our Kop singing the “Hark now here” song during the Easter 1980 return match.
We say they copied that song from us and they say we copied that song from them.

So it seems from 1980 was when both clubs had an urge to copy each other.
And that is the originals of when and why Wednesday first using the pig insult towards us.
Wen hearing our insult they probably said it’s us that are more like pigs due to our bacon like stripey shirts.
Click to expand...


Used by Blades long before early eighties. Manor Park Pigs had tshirts made using term for Easter 80 game. The first time I remember them using it.
 
I once got in trouble at school when I did a full page cartoon drawing in my 'rough book' of two rows of pigs in swfc shirts. When you filled the book you took it to the library to get a new one. When 'Sir' flicked through it and saw the pic he gave me a penalty slip for wasting paper.

That was mid 60's and no one called United pigs back then.

Unresolvable argument! Not important, Pigs sits so well with them though!
 
How's the Pigs Season Ticket Refund Scheme going?

Joke Club
Deluded fans (or should that be customers now?)
Megalomaniac owner
Clueless (but dangerous) CEO
'Vintage' (should be condemned) ground
 
I like how they always say we never have an original idea then back that up by saying we picked their ground and their nickname. Not only are these two things not true, they are going back to the 1800s to back up their claims.
 
Blade56 said:
I once got in trouble at school when I did a full page cartoon drawing in my 'rough book' of two rows of pigs in swfc shirts. When you filled the book you took it to the library to get a new one. When 'Sir' flicked through it and saw the pic he gave me a penalty slip for wasting paper.

That was mid 60's and no one called United pigs back then.

Unresolvable argument! Not important, Pigs sits so well with them though!
Click to expand...

I haven’t personally met any older Blade or Owl that remembers the pig name used in the 60’s.
What inspired you to draw pigs in swfc shirts? Did other fans use it?
 
Sheffsteel said:
I haven’t personally met any older Blade or Owl that remembers the pig name used in the 60’s.
What inspired you to draw pigs in swfc shirts? Did other fans use it?
Click to expand...
Mate had a hand made badge on a toy badge maker was first time I recall seeing it, just copied that out in rows, hardly "inspired". Years later the badges were everywhere, sold on United coaches in the 70's as well. Still got mine. It was featured on Football a.m. on a Derby day many years back when this old chestnut came up.
 



Blade56 said:
Mate had a hand made badge on a toy badge maker was first time I recall seeing it, just copied that out in rows, hardly "inspired". Years later the badges were everywhere, sold on United coaches in the 70's as well. Still got mine. It was featured on Football a.m. on a Derby day many years back when this old chestnut came up.
Click to expand...

There was no social media (thank God) then so these types of things might be regionalised to a very small community of Blades.
It’s like the Greasy Chip butty song, I personally first heard it sang by 100’s of away fans in 1985.
But I suppose it’s possible a small group were singing it earlier but I never heard it.
Also there’s the rumour that a few Rotherham fans started singing the GCB song in the early 80’s but it obviously never caught on at Milmoor.

You’d think there was someone alive today that remembers exactly when the “pig” insult started and the reasons why.
 
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