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There must be something about Newport station......had to jump for my life off a moving train once, on the way to London and five of us walked into a carriage that appeared to be full of Chelsea fans from jack land. Blows raining in, the only way out was off and in to more bother in Newport, loads more again in orient with West Ham.....my first ever away game....pitch invasions, stabbings, mental it was....Originally Posted by Tuerto
Plenty! I wasn't a big lad and didn't fancy my chances! I only got into 'combat'on two occasions. One was on Newport train station and the other was in a car park in Blackpool, early nineties-that was quiet nasty as there wasn't anywhere to run, i was fighting with this fat lad with black curly hair (and doing alright, even if i say so myself!) We didn't start it though. Anyway, Transpires that the four blokes who we were fighting were City fans and not Blackpool fans
As for avoidance, done that a few tomes, i had eyes like a shit house rat and could see a situation arising!
Kidderminster aka wolves in disguise. Little did we know when me and a mate went in the away end with them at the vetch for the welsh cup final. We were waving at the jacks and about 50 of them came running down the west terrace assuming we were also jacks, how we got out of that I’m still unsure, being about 18 helped I guess....
For some unknown reason me and three others decided to go drinking in Newport before the Bristol City game 1990 away-that was a bad one-we got to the platform without any problems when a couple of newport lads who were now supporting Aston Villa started to get funny with us. I wasn't one for violence but two of the lads i was ith who weren't really massive football fans absolutely loved fighting. One of them is doing 20 years now for getting involved with Moroccan gangsters, a scenario that ended up in him getting shot twice. Anyway, i let these two nutters i was with take care of things, i think that i threw one punch which was a complete waste of time as these two Newport lads were in a shocking state when it was over. The funniest thing about it was while one og the newport lads was lying on the floor, some old granny came over and hit him with her umbrella-the final insult
One game we had close encounters was Wales v England at Wrexham , Wales won 4-1 I think it was around about 79/80.
My mate had just bought an old Morris Minor post office van and because it was red he decided to hand paint it with blue gloss
Anyway he said lets go to Wrexham to watch Wales v England ok so 5 of us crammed into the van and off we went. Got to Wrexham straight on the piss then went to the ground on the home end early only to find it was occupied by loads of English . I can remember a crowd from Doncaster/Chesterfield/Leeds/Sheffield/Grimsby and Cockneys all together battling with Wales fans who were mostly Cardiff and a few North Walians probably Wrexham this continued throughout the game.
After the game we were obviously jubilant and on the journey home disaster struck the van ran out of fuel between Wrexham and Hereford I can't quite remember where it might have been Leominster area don't really know it was middle of nowhere country.
So we had to find a garage to do this we would require a lift so we started to wave our Welsh Dragon flag to vehicles coming towards us in the hope they would stop and assist.
After half an hour or so of doing this a white transit van with red and white scarves hanging out came to a screeching halt about 50yrds up the road from us.
So we gleefully started running towards it thinking at last these are our saviors when suddenly the back doors burst open and out piled what I can only describe as a pack of gorillas with full beards swinging chains & bats throwing empty beer flagons at us screaming " You got the wrong ones this time you Welsh kents"
Now we were no match for these fully grown cavemen as were at the ages of 17 to19 so we legged it knowing they could'nt catch us but they surrounded my mates van smashing the lights /mirrors and windscreen then drove off.
To this day I don't know who they supported but it definitely was'nt Wales .
When we played Everton in the FA Cup, in the 70's. We would often walk home to Gabalfa/Llandaff North after City games. Anyway, we (4 of us) had passed Llandaff Technical College and were just approaching the Western Avenue bridge, over the Taff.
We kept looking behind because there were quite a number of Everton supporters' coaches going by and we were flicking the 'Vs' at them and so on.
What we didn't bargain for, was a car load of them pulling up alongside us and getting out.
We were fit teenagers and these looked like guys in their 30's. It was our territory, we knew we just had to slip through a hole in the fence by the bridge and, well.... we'd escape easily - or so we thought!
About 3 of them chased us almost to the high-rise flats on the Gabalfa estate. We kept looking around expecting them to give up at any moment, but they didn't. My legs were like jelly through nervous exhaustion. They were so determined that we often wondered how much of a beating they would have given to us if they'd caught us!
That Bristol City game on boxing day I went with my mate and his dad.
Now my mates dad was nuts not in a football hooligan way in a I don't give a feck way.
Anyway we went in the main stand above the tunnel and when Mabutt and Jones got sent off and were coming down the tunnel my mates dad stands up and shouts Mabutt you wanker.
Me and my mate slid down the seats trying to look inconspicuous.
We both still chuckle about this episode sadly his dad has passed on.
Yes, I think he looked much the same on that night in 1969 as he does now. I heard the same as you about him helping towards a transfer, but don't know how true it is - what I do know is that you'd be wrong if you judged his wealth on his appearance and mode of transport, he's worth a fair bit I understand.
My one and only time as a Grandstand season ticket holder was our 02/03 promotion year and Frankie (you're right about his surname) was sat behind me. I didn't know what to expect when I first noticed him, but he was absolutely fine all year in a part of the ground where there were, far, far, too many moaners for my liking.
The first away match I went to was when my uncle took me to Fulham in 1968 when I was 12. I was so excited that I insisted we got into the ground about ninety minutes before kick off. Of course, there was virtually no one in the ground when we got in, but after about fifteen minutes, a group of about twenty five City fans entered the Hammersmith End (we were opposite them in the end away fans go in now) and started signing "we have taken over". As the minutes passed, more and more Fulham fans began to enter the Hammersmith End with this lot of City fans stood in the middle of the terrace declaring their Cardiff allegiance loud and proud and finally the home support felt confident enough to charge them - they didn't get far because the City fans fought them off easily with one of them taking the fight back to the Fulham fans, I was told by someone in school during the following week who was into football violence that it was Frankie.
Two scrapes that come to mind:
Swansea about 1992 can't remember the game but it was evening down there - for some reason I got conned into taking Dave Hunt down - as we were walking back to the car parked in the leisure centre far too many jacks were taking notice of us and I was hoping and praying he would keep quiet - it lasted until we actually got to the car then he turned round and gave one of his usual Hunty "Bluebirds!!" shouts. Me and my mate quickly bundled him into the car and we managed to escape with just a few dents ( I was almost tempted to give him the pasting he'd avoided in swansea.)
Port Vale a year or so earlier wen into this pub not far from the ground ( as we walking past the Pub the landlord called us in and said it was safe ). The pub was a sort of half and half affair ( lounge and Bar ), unbeknown to us while we were there word has got around and the lounge area was full of their boys - we sussed what was going on and saw that outside was full of PNE as well so we were effectively trapped - when the assault came the landlord was at the front ( barstard had stitched us up ), anyway we had a few casualties but we'd used every chair and table to throw and defend ourselves - we eventually got out when the police turned up.
Chelsea 1983 - absolutely peed down all day was stood on the open terrace and we got beat 2-0 - managed to get a tube back to Paddington and when we got there queuing to get on the train everyone was miserable - I was actually shivering I was so cold and wet - then a bunch of Chelsea turned up to take the piss - for the first time in my life I didn't even think about it I just waded in ( unfortunately for me there were BTP in the area and hooked a few of us off to Paddington Green ) Nightmare of a trip and cost me loads in money as we had to go back up the following week for the court case.
He always used to hang about the main entrance collecting autographs after a match. In keeping with the thread (almost) he actually threatened to punch me as he thought I was a Chelsea fan, presumably, because of my accent as he claimed he had either been stabbed or almost stabbed by them in their previous visit to NP.
I would like to say with my towering physical presence or quick witted patter I humiliated him. Sadly, the best I could come up with was a ‘ eh’ before he noticed the City badge on my jumper. He then apologised before jumping on that old bike and pedalled off into the distance.
I remember big Frank Humphries punched a police horse. At QPR if my memory serves.
1984 (I think… memory ain’t what it was).. Man City vs City , Div 2
Was living in London at the time, and we had a fair few who’d travel to away games, and we’d always meet up with other exiles en-route. One of the exiles was a younger lad who lived in Manchester, who we’d always bump into at the games in the Midlands and ‘up North.
For the Man City game he’d be the “main man” and find us a watering hole, and so about 6-8 of us met up with him at Manchester Piccadilly, and he announces that we’re going for a drink at the official Man City supporter’s Club. A few people expressed doubts, but he was insistent “it’ll be ok…. I’ve been there loads…. They all know me ….. never any trouble … etc etc “. So off we went.
We get there, and I’ve vague recollections about how we got in, but soon we’re sitting at a table virtually in the middle of this large social club, and it must have been pretty obvious who we were as I guess we were the only people not wearing colours.
So, we get in a few drinks, and a bit of banter starts. All was good until our second pint, when the atmosphere and banter started getting a little heated, and we started getting a bit nervous. …… and I’m not sure of the catalyst, but suddenly one of our lot clocked this Man City bloke, and he went flying back across a table.
For about 3 seconds the place when eerily silent …………. then all hell broke loose.
But rather than come piling in on us, the majority seemed to pick up whatever was on or near their table and throw it at us….. pint glasses, bottles, chairs, ashtrays etc etc …. We grabbed hold of the chairs and tables and held them up to protect ourselves.
But as we were near the middle of the club, whatever didn’t hit us, was hitting the Man City fans all around us, and people were getting laid out, left, right & centre. It was like something out of a John Wayne western bar brawl.
It felt like a lifetime, but I guess it was no move than 45-60 seconds before the cavalry arrived in the form of the stewards, who managed to stop the carnage, and who ordered us OUT ! “F*ck that “ we said, holding onto our chair legs and bottles, and looking at the faces of about 100-200 baying natives who wanted to tear us apart. “We’re not walking through that lot”
We stood our ground (thankfully surrounded by the stewards !) until the police arrived, and were given an escort out of the club.
Looking back, we must have been mad to go in there in the first place.
Great thread lads
Bradford away ninetiesGreat thread lads
They had brought down some nutters , and bradford have got lots of nutters , and they attacked one of the pubs in town . Word got around that the last game of the season , bradford , would be carnage .
And it certainly was
I moved up to bradford in the january for work, Bradford have never done much considering how big the city is but they have good support . Everyone in the place I worked was a bradford fan and they hated leeds , a match between the two at the time saw carnage in leeds city centre , they basically merge and are only 8 miles apart
They knew I was a cardiff fan and a few weeks before the game the local press and media began reporting on information that police were expecting problems from cardiff fans in revenge for an attack on a pub in cardiff earlier in the season and were mounting the biggest police operation in years.
I left my flat in the north of the city , no colours obviously and had arranged to meet a friend off the train at bradford interchange railway station . I was on the bus into bradford city centre and there were police everywhere , horses , dogs , riot police , Van's at every junction
I got off the bus and went into the Midland pub next to the station . Within minutes of sitting down a group of cardiff fans started fighting with the locals so I got out of there sheepish and went over the road and stood by st George's hall , where I had seen the fall play just a few weeks earlier
There were loads of police in the forecourt of the train station but when one of which I presume was a number of trains carrying cardiff fans turned up they literally turned on their backs and moved out of the way. This lot were completely mad , they charged past the coppers and then just marched up the hill towards valley parade. One came up to me and said are you bradford or cardiff , I was shitting myself , he was a man mountain , I showed him my bluebird pin badge hidden beneath my denim jacket and he said keep out of the way today mate , we are here to sort bradford out. I was shaking like a leaf .
My mate turned up on a later train from manchester twenty minutes later and we walked up the hill to valley parade
It was obvious there had been serious disorder , three pubs were wrecked , shops had been looted and we saw blokes in bradford shirts being looked after by ambulance crews.
As you get out of the city centre the ground levels off and in the distance we could see mounted police trying to herd this gang of nutters back towards the away end .
We stayed back and entered the ground just before kick off. It was clear that most of the cardiff fans in the ground were pissed or off their heads . The lower tier was shut but I know the upper tier holds 3000 fans and it was full , of complete nutters .
There were cardiff fans in the grandstand to our left causing trouble all afternoon , people being taken out by snatch squads. At half time a large fight broke out opposite us in their standing Kop.
At the end of the game it got worse , a large gang of bradford fans were waiting at the top of manningham hill , by the ground , the police completely lost control and the cardiff fans charged into this group of bradford supporters and they scattered many taking a right old leathering .
That was enough for me and my mate , we waited until the police moved the cardiff fans to our left down the hill towards the train station and we got our bus back to the northern suburb of Shipley.
Apparently the cardiff nutters continued fighting with the home fans and wrecking the city centre on the way back to bradford station
We lost the game two nil but in work on monday morning all the bradford fans said it was worse than the games with leeds
The bradford telegraph and argus over the next few days was full of reports and pictures of the disorder and widespread damage and west yorkshire police said despite the biggest police operation in many years the cardiff fans were intent on causing as much damage to persons and property as possible .
I was shitting myself in the pub when it all broke out and I was shitting myself when a huge cardiff fan approached me before the game
In fact I was still in a state of shock when I got home , there were so many nutters out there you were afraid you were going to get a beating if you looked at someone
Spurs away was nasty , swansea in the fa cup was bedlam but I was at a cardiff game in bradford that may and I was scared of my own fans .
The pub where they walked in was The Owain. A coach load waltzed in and announced “T’ Ointment are here...” They were met by 8 rather bedraggled lads who were coming down from an all nighter. One of ours threw a glass which didn’t help matters. I think out of pity and courtesy they decided not to lamp us although they had a particular lad who looked a sociopath who was threatening to shag me.
I was a decent looking lad then so I couldn’t really fault his taste.
Actually think their visit down here was fixed up by Mr. Panorama (my mind could be p,aging tricks here)?
It was carnage up there.
Some grudging but deserved credit to you Sludge because you never attempt to excuse or conceal your inglorious record of never throwing a punch or swinging a boot during any football day out. Always the first to do a runner, often the only person to take to their toes, you would wear a white feather with pride so unashamedly rotten are you.
Tell them about that incident in the services en route to Brentford when you fondled that woman serving in the dining area as she stretched to reach for a sticky bun.
And we wonder why the West Yorkshire plod have made it difficult for us to go back that way every year since(Leeds) they clearly hate us with a passion.
Another adventure began when we went to Tottenham away I think it was the year after we beat them in the F.A.Cup Peter Sayer winner.I am not sure but I think they were relagated the following season. I will tell that episode [F.A.Cup home] later.
So off we go to London to White Hart Lane ,we went with Bebbs coaches who at the time were the main form of away travel there was another firm but I can't remember what they were called.
I can't remember clearly but I think we were dropped off near the ground as it was difficult to park up loads of coaches in such a built up area.
We go into the away end and settled into our place on the terrace to the left behind the goal.
We were only in there a short while when my mate said to me " I wonder where their poxy shelf end is then?"
Immeadiately a head the same size,shape and weight of a medicine ball appeared on my left shoulder and my mates right shoulder ,it said " There it f***ing is you sheep shagging wankers " in a Mickey Flannegan type accent ,pointing to our right "Loadsa nutters in there " it whispered.
Suddenly all hell broke loose and we had no option but to fight or fall it was mayhem. Spurs fans were in with us , no segregation in them days.
Thankfully medicine ball head was dealt with by a few valley boys who must have seen or heard what he said to me & my mate but we still had to take and give a few blows as there was nothing else you could do.
I can't remember the final score but what I do know is worse was to come outside trying to find our coaches.
We left the ground and it was dark must have been winter time we didn't know where the coaches were parked so just followed the crowd of Cardiff fans.
Now obviously it was an unfamiliar area to us ,all I can remember was high rise flats with dark alleys and little rat runs from which we started to get attacked and ambushed by loads of Tottenham.
Our police escort consisted of 2 Met Officers at this time I don,t think they gave a shit about us to be honest.
Anyway Cardiff started to group together causing Tottenham to back off a little and running battles ensued then windows started getting smashed which alerted the 2 coppers to call for back as by now we were getting rained on by bricks and debris.
The cavalry finally arrived on horse back with dogs barking to escort us to the coaches which seemed like miles away.
Quite an adventure but Oh what fun we had ! Madness!
I remember posting about this game not that long ago, but can't find it.
I was 17 at the time and made my way to WHL with 3 other City fans from the Merchant Navy Training school in Gravesend.
It was quite intimidating travelling on the underground with the Spurs supporters and walking to the ground with them. A few City coaches passed us near the ground and they were giving us abuse, thinking we might have been Spurs fans, we didn't want to give ourselves away, so just kept walking.
As we approached the away end, I recall a newly built, brick wall, perhaps the side of someone's house or maybe part of the stadium itself, I can't be too sure - it had "Cardiff City" sprayed in huge letters. It stood out because perhaps, oddly enough, for a place like inner-London, it was the only graffiti on that pristine wall.
You were right about the Spurs nutters being in with us. I was stood next to two of them, they were both big blokes and they were fondly reminiscing about how "good it was" at Ninian Park in the cup, with all the bricks being thrown outside after the game.
They were both very relaxed about being stood amongst our lot.
I can also remember a group of about 7-8 Spurs fans entering our enclosure sometime after kick-off from the very back and started kicking and lashing out while chanting .."We're the barmy Tottenham army, la-la-la-la-la".
We had to get on a City coach after the game, the driver kindly dropped us off away from the vicinity of the ground.
BTW: I think the other coach firm was Morris Travel, wasn't it?
Yes thats right Morris Travel I remember now
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