Am I the only one who laments the rather sad demise of this once proud knickname??
Surely,even in this age of power branding there is still room for it.
It just seems that it has been rather succesfully wiped from the pages of history post '96.

Thoughts??

Yep I agree, I would think that now with the Rhinos name firmly established the club could introduce the "loiner" to some of its merchandise maybe?

Rename the academy team the loiners as it mainly represents young people from the city?

Leeds will always be 'Leeds' or 'the Loiners' to me, and I will never refer to the club as 'the Rhinos'.

The term represents EVERYONE from the city,just the same as cockney,geordies etc etc.

There's a bit on wiki about it but I cant be bothered posting the link!!

Unlike the two examples you've given though - and you can add Scouser and Brummie onto that list - it's not a nickname that people in other places would immediately associate with people from Leeds.

It's rhinos now. Deal with it.

WHAT? you are saying the term Loiner means "a young leeds person"
how do you arrive at that?
All the leeds rlfc match programs going back from the 60s 50s 40s ect was called the LEEDS LOINER.
My dad and grandfather who came from the north east used to refer to leeds people as loiners.
Its a term for citizens of leeds.
There are are quite a few arguments as to the origins of the term loiner .
i like the one about people who lived in lower briggate in those yards alled low ins /loins /loiners

its bad english but i presume damo means that the academy team is "full" of leeds people ie loiners
the first team isnt quite as full as local boys as the academy is

I actually agree.



I also, think that the name 'Loiner' is not that well known outside of the local area. Unforunately. I like it.
Not at least after the Kaiser Cheifs used that terrible term 'Leodensian'.

Whilst I’m more than aware it represents everyone in the city but realistically we’re not going to re-brand Leeds Rhino’s The Loiners. Leeds Rhino’s represents what we are now which is as good as we have been since the 60s/70s maybe early 80s I believe?

The 90s and early 00s were really under archiving times for us as a club. At one point in the 90s we was about to go bankrupt until the savours came in and made us what we are today. For me its all about going forward rather than backwards but preserving our proud history in the same time.

I think one way to preserve it and put it in the public view again realistically is renaming the academy as something like The Loiners Academy. But renaming the first team is a big no no IMO.

Mind you some Wigan Warriors fans want it changing back to Wigan RLFC.


Not at all. Just suggesting that it may be a good idea too rebrand the academy rather than the first team.


When I’ve been out of Leeds with my cousin they referred to people from our city as w@n!<ers




Well at least it originated in Leeds




I think our city suffers a bit because we don’t have a nick name like other cities. Brummies, Geordies, Scousers and Cockneys are more well known that ourselves!


What do you expect from a band whose front member attended a school opposite a mental hospital

Oh Damo, you make a good suggestion about renaming the Academy team, then ruin it with your final comment.

So close.

So close yet so far. Still you’ve got to have the likes of myself in this worlds so people can look at them and know what not to do!

They could produce some traditional merch' that bares the Loiner name such as the old cotton repica shirts they released a few years back. Would be great to see Loiner plastered around a bit more..

I totally agree. Love em or loathe em and yes we all loathe em but St. Helens have to get a load o credit for not jumping on the moronic bandwagon of "lets get a silly nickname like we are an American Football team".

We are Leeds, nothing more, nothing less.

Extract taken form an early LS16 Rhinos Newsletter:

[iLeeds took the nick-name of the Loiners, but where did this originate? There are several theories:

- Loiner could derive from the name Loidis (in use by the eighth century for the district around modern-day Leeds).

- Another explanation says that in the 19th century there were many yards and closes around Briggate whose back entrances were known as Low Ins or Loins, hence Loiner.

- Yet a third theory is that there were a number of lanes in the Briggate area pronounced loins in the local accent. People who gathered in these loins to gossip were therefore called Loiners.

- It is also understood that all the more affluent residents of Leeds lived in Upper Briggate and the commoners at the bottom end hence lowenders or Loiners

It is said that supporters of the then Leeds Rugby Football Club took the nick-name Loiners from the then match day program but nobody seems to know the exact origins. [/i

Even though you've probably been bombarded (haven't read further than this post) by people who cant understand it was an 'idea/suggestion', i actually think it would be a good move.

Gives younger people who are playing for the club a bit of a look into the past and people from the previous generation can relate with the name again.

IIRC all the other clubs were virtually forced by the SL/RFL to adopt a nickname apart from St Helens. The excuse being that they were generally known as "Saints" anyway.
If my memory serves Leeds and Wigan resisted for a bit, which is why we weren't actually named Leeds Rhinos until 1997 despite Super League starting in 1996.

Nice idea but you'd never get GH to agree to that.

He didn't/wouldn't take notice of the supporters when they voted to keep 'Loiners' as there nickname and decided to go with the 'Rhino' so a suggestion like this would undoubtedly end in his rubbish bin.

Being of the 'old school' and a traditionalist I still refer to myself as a Loiner.

much as i admire G H hes not a true loiner maybe thats why he rejected it as the official club nickname

Also it would have sounded even worse than "Rhinos".
The club was never going to be called "Leeds Loiners" apart from the fact it sounds terrible theres no way of marketing it. Whereas with Ronnie its much easier to market the name especially to kids.

Isn't a Leodensian someone who attended Leeds Grammar School, which is the context it was used in on "I Predict A Riot"?

Old Leodian is the term IIRC for the Grammer School...I think

Aye - Marketing had a major influence on the choice of Rhinos - but the main reason it was chosen is due to a certain builder's paranoia over the nickname which actually came out top in the YEP's 'You choose the new Leeds name' poll.....

Never have seen any sharks in the aire.

Not seen many Rhinos charging over soldiers field either