The Big Match Preview: Stoke City vs Arsenal

Welcome to Stoke…
What did you expect? Big Al did the reasonable bit for this match in his Friday column and frankly, you knew it just couldn’t last. Oh, I know that the denizens of the Potteries get upset by the tags attached to their club, how they like to portray themselves as being victims of a big city prejudice. It is no use denying the antagonism exists, each side has their own take on the causes and reactions, both believe themselves to be the victim. Even Lineker thought he could get in on the act last year, feeding off the animosity between the supporters. Of course, being Lineker, it went horribly wrong and made himself look an arse.
But all of these are recent things. For me, some of the intense dislike comes from a...