A complicated rivalry exists amongst the two largest Yorkshire cities. Whether it’s arguing over which is the larger or who has the best music scene/football team, Leeds and Sheffield are like two siblings, fighting for a parent’s affection. This metaphor came to me the other day when I heard a fellow Sheffield-er call BBC’s local news programme Look Leeds, a swipe at its West Yorkshire focus. Sheffield sometimes likes to revel in this ‘hard done to’ attitude and you’ll usually be able to find someone ready to have a pop at Leeds. But is it justified?
Both cities have changed dramatically in the last twenty or even ten years. Plenty of cash has been ploughed into the area after the collapse of the traditional industries and an increase in prosperity has seen a rise in new industries such as IT, banking and the Arts. Both have benefitted but whilst Sheffield’s skyline has a splatter of new buildings and a lot of cranes, Leeds has a lot more fully-formed impressive buildings. 
Like the Dalek (below), otherwise known as Bridgewater Place.
In 1990, Meadowhall opened in Sheffield. With 1,419, 997 squared feet of retail space, it has a love/hate relationship with the rest of the city. Originally held responsible for the death of Sheffield’s city centre retail area, this shopping mecca is nicknamed Meadowhell to locals.
Whilst Sheffield got hell, six years later Leeds got Harvey Nichols. 1996, Harvey Nichols opened their first store outside of London, part of the seriously trendy Victoria Quarter. Alongside shops like Agent Provocateur, Reiss and Kurt Geiger, Leeds city centre became a serious shopping destination for the wealthy and fashionable.
I’m not going to pretend to know a lot about football. In fact, most of the time I go out of the way to know very little about it. But I do know Leeds United have experienced a rather bumpy ride over the last ten years. From playing with the best of Europe to financial difficulties and languishing in League One, some would have felt sympathy for their woes but the club is still one of the most hated in English football. The club hasn’t shaken off its ‘Dirty Leeds’ reputation gained in the 1970s (see Damned United) and many perceive the club to be extremely arrogant even though the club hasn’t been in the top division for 6 years.
All these factors have not helped endear Leeds to its neighbours and has breeded a warped sense of the average Loiner (an inhabitant of Leeds); a strange breed of champagne-supping, shopping WAGS by day and loutish football thugs by night.
A recent bone of contention between the two cities is the proposed Leeds Arena. Sheffield has had an arena of its own for the last two decades which draws a huge audience across the whole of the region and now the West Yorkshire neighbour would like a piece of the concert pie too. A huge furor has erupted after it was announced that the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward would be funding its construction. Sheffield International Venues, the owners of the arena as well as local MP’s have voiced their fury at these plans for a government agency tasked with improving the local economy to back the new plans. They argue that a new arena in Leeds so close to the existing Sheffield site which receives no funding, will be in direct competition for artists, events and audiences. Sheffield has accused Yorkshire Forward of favouring Leeds to the detriment of an existing financially viable business.
Who knows what the future holds for both arenas but this rivalry is sure to cloud any future city relations. It’s a rivalry that has been around for many years built on its different attitudes. As Martin Wainwright, the Guardian’s Northern Editor notes from growing up in Leeds:
“Leeds always seemed to be exemplified by a postive can-do spirit, whereas Sheffield was more self-deprecating and even downbeat.”
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