-
Scrapes at away games..
Firstly, this thread isn't aimed towards glorifying thuggery or bad behaviour. I'm sure that many of us who travelled away on a regular basis ended up in situations that could've or did end up going to wrong way, even if we weren't looking for trouble, such was the reputation of our fans for many years. Some may be funny, like Sludge in Mothercare (any excuse) some may not be so humourous and may have terrified you. Here's mine;
Remember the FA cup game against QPR at Loftus Rd, think it was 1990. I was on the coach that stopped off at Chievley services and some of our fans started to smash the place up for no apparent reason. Being 18 and thinking that i was a tough guy i decided to karate kick a bin outside the services front entrance, it was one of those bins with a small 8" by 4" opening on the side of the bin towards the top ( that's 200mm by 100mm approx for our younger viewers) my foot went straight through the opening and i couldn't get it out as hard as i tried. The police were in hysterics and were calling me all sorts, really rubbing it in (deservedly) they just left me there as people walked past and laughed. I eventually got my foot out, covered in ketchup. I had the piss taken out of me for the entire journey. Needless to say, i didn't kick anymore bins after that!
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Firstly, this thread isn't aimed towards glorifying thuggery or bad behaviour. I'm sure that many of us who travelled away on a regular basis ended up in situations that could've or did end up going to wrong way, even if we weren't looking for trouble, such was the reputation of our fans for many years. Some may be funny, like Sludge in Mothercare (any excuse) some may not be so humourous and may have terrified you. Here's mine;
Remember the FA cup game against QPR at Loftus Rd, think it was 1990. I was on the coach that stopped off at Chievley services and some of our fans started to smash the place up for no apparent reason. Being 18 and thinking that i was a tough guy i decided to karate kick a bin outside the services front entrance, it was one of those bins with a small 8" by 4" opening on the side of the bin towards the top ( that's 200mm by 100mm approx for our younger viewers) my foot went straight through the opening and i couldn't get it out as hard as i tried. The police were in hysterics and were calling me all sorts, really rubbing it in (deservedly) they just left me there as people walked past and laughed. I eventually got my foot out, covered in ketchup. I had the piss taken out of me for the entire journey. Needless to say, i didn't kick anymore bins after that!
Could have been worse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7x8wd36uJg
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Maxim
:hehe: It was quite similar to that.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
:hehe: It was quite similar to that.
Was it bin there done that.:ayatollah:
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Late 2009 QPR away... no fisticuffs at all.
It was a train job via Paddington and back.
The agg occurred in the evening at Cardiff Central, first on the platform then on the train home.
There had been a Wales rugby international earlier that day, dirty egg fans were everywhere.
Someone started a chant about where oval balls should be placed. Eggers countered with Hymns and Arias, I think, which was met with derision and some shite re a player (maybe Gareth Edwards) being a homosexual. It was just a laugh till some big fecker emerged in red offering to take anyone on. He was promptly kicked in the nuts and crumpled to the floor. As luck would have it, the train was coming to a standstill as he lay there gasping for air.
Everyone piled on as both carriages filled up. In the one we were on there was perhaps 20 of us at one end versus the rest who possibly numbered 60 or more. Their chopsy ones were at the opposite end. One of ours lobbed an unopened can of grog at the foes. It travelled just 10 feet to ricochet off of the ceiling to hit some innocent sat in his seat on his head. One of theirs, who must have watched too many Rocky films, swaggered up the aisle all nonchalant like but was headbutted by someone before he could reach us who was stood in the aisle who nobody knew.
Then both sides converged to that spot with our mystery hero leading the fight as in the melee everyone else tried to land blows. The journey only lasted 10 minutes but proved knackering.
Sludge spent the entire time in the bog with the door securely locked.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Happens in the places you least expect it. Northampton away 97 in the play off semis was rather eventful before during and after.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Firstly, this thread isn't aimed towards glorifying thuggery or bad behaviour. I'm sure that many of us who travelled away on a regular basis ended up in situations that could've or did end up going to wrong way, even if we weren't looking for trouble, such was the reputation of our fans for many years. Some may be funny, like Sludge in Mothercare (any excuse) some may not be so humourous and may have terrified you. Here's mine;
Remember the FA cup game against QPR at Loftus Rd, think it was 1990. I was on the coach that stopped off at Chievley services and some of our fans started to smash the place up for no apparent reason. Being 18 and thinking that i was a tough guy i decided to karate kick a bin outside the services front entrance, it was one of those bins with a small 8" by 4" opening on the side of the bin towards the top ( that's 200mm by 100mm approx for our younger viewers) my foot went straight through the opening and i couldn't get it out as hard as i tried. The police were in hysterics and were calling me all sorts, really rubbing it in (deservedly) they just left me there as people walked past and laughed. I eventually got my foot out, covered in ketchup. I had the piss taken out of me for the entire journey. Needless to say, i didn't kick anymore bins after that!
I was at those services too when all that kicked off
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
goats
I was at those services too when all that kicked off
Did you see me? I was the one......... :hehe:
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Lincoln away, I’ve been married 37 years and it was before I was married, it was a period I was watching Leicester more than Cardiff as er indoors from up that way and I was going to Hinckley most weekends, Lincoln not that far from Hinckley so thought it would be a good idea to catch up with the City, telling er indoors all about the reputation of our lads on the way up in the car, we had seats in the stand and had a good view of it all, whistle goes at the end, right on cue City fans over the wall or fence whatever it was, steams straight up to them in their end, I’m smirking telling her “I told you so, then in an instant Lincoln came out of their end and legged City back across the pitch, to be fair she didn’t take the piss :hehe:, around the same period I went to watch Leicester V Lincoln at Filbert street, fair play again, Lincoln went in Leicester’s end and took it to them, game as F they were.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Heathblue
Lincoln away, I’ve been married 37 years and it was before I was married, it was a period I was watching Leicester more than Cardiff as er indoors from up that way and I was going to Hinckley most weekends, Lincoln not that far from Hinckley so thought it would be a good idea to catch up with the City, telling er indoors all about the reputation of our lads on the way up in the car, we had seats in the stand and had a good view of it all, whistle goes at the end, right on cue City fans over the wall or fence whatever it was, steams straight up to them in their end, I’m smirking telling her “I told you so, then in an instant Lincoln came out of their end and legged City back across the pitch, to be fair she didn’t take the piss :hehe:, around the same period I went to watch Leicester V Lincoln at Filbert street, fair play again, Lincoln went in Leicester’s end and took it to them, game as F they were.
Weird place Lincoln, only small and quite rural. Those are the type of places where everyone knows eachover and getting a small mob of nutters together isn't much of a problem. Newport used to be the same, probably still is.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Weird place Lincoln, only small and quite rural. Those are the type of places where everyone knows eachover and getting a small mob of nutters together isn't much of a problem. Newport used to be the same, probably still is.
She lived in a village called Sharnford just out side Hinckley, and is on the old A46 between Leicester and Coventry its basically the same distance either way to Leicester and Coventry about 13 miles, the boozer we used in Sharnford was often a mix between them, got tasty in there a few times, good mates most of the time having a dust up when a few of the undesirables turned up and once finished, back to being mates again :hehe: er indoors twin brother is a die hard Leicester Fan, the other brother brother in Law is Coventry, TBF most of the family up there is Leicester, the Leicester mob came down here a few years ago now for a Cardiff V Leicester game and one of the posters on here, very kindly gave me access to one of the hospitality boxes for the game, just before they got into Cardiff the game was called off with frost i think it was.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Did you see me? I was the one......... :hehe:
You looked so scary and deranged I never went to an away again.....:hehe:
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
goats
You looked so scary and deranged I never went to an away again.....:hehe:
****ing ketchup on my brand new Gazelles as well.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Back in 1971, we played the wurzels at home at about 6:30 on a Saturday. I think there was an egg match and also the Grand National that day.
I lived in Risca at the time; Jones busses did a special for 3pm Sats, but not evenings. Got through the game, I think we won 1-0. Busses back up the valleys from Cardiff weren't too often, so I decided to get a train to Newport and get a bus from there.
Jumped on the first train, it was a sea of red wurzels! Had a bit of banter, didn't push it, got off at Newport unscathed.
Thanking my lucky stars, I walked from the train station to the bus station - and got jumped by 3 skinheads outside WHSmiths!
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Weird place Lincoln, only small and quite rural. Those are the type of places where everyone knows eachover and getting a small mob of nutters together isn't much of a problem. Newport used to be the same, probably still is.
you are right, one that stands to mind was when we were on the train on the way back from Torquay ( must have been early 90's ) when Justin Fash got sent off for elbowing John Williams, city had alot down that weekend for fun and games, the trains were rammed , we had to change trains at newton abbot, a few went to grab a few more cans, some went to grab some chips, from nowhere came a mob of about 40 - 50 blokes, now how they got together i dont know as this was before mobile phones, i guess a largish pub must have emptied to get that mob together, the 2 British transport police looked worried and just left us to get on with it
always amazed me on how they got that mob together in such a small time
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
J R Hartley
Happens in the places you least expect it. Northampton away 97 in the play off semis was rather eventful before during and after.
..****ing nuts
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Firstly, this thread isn't aimed towards glorifying thuggery or bad behaviour. I'm sure that many of us who travelled away on a regular basis ended up in situations that could've or did end up going to wrong way, even if we weren't looking for trouble, such was the reputation of our fans for many years. Some may be funny, like Sludge in Mothercare (any excuse) some may not be so humourous and may have terrified you. Here's mine;
Remember the FA cup game against QPR at Loftus Rd, think it was 1990. I was on the coach that stopped off at Chievley services and some of our fans started to smash the place up for no apparent reason. Being 18 and thinking that i was a tough guy i decided to karate kick a bin outside the services front entrance, it was one of those bins with a small 8" by 4" opening on the side of the bin towards the top ( that's 200mm by 100mm approx for our younger viewers) my foot went straight through the opening and i couldn't get it out as hard as i tried. The police were in hysterics and were calling me all sorts, really rubbing it in (deservedly) they just left me there as people walked past and laughed. I eventually got my foot out, covered in ketchup. I had the piss taken out of me for the entire journey. Needless to say, i didn't kick anymore bins after that!
Our supporters club coach stopped at chievley
Minus the back window which had been put out by Jason weaver , rest in peace , from porthcawl
When we got there a bus full of swansea city youth team players , just kids , turned up and a load of our nutters tried to roll the bus over
A night of mayhem before , during and after the game
It was embarrassing
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Weird place Lincoln, only small and quite rural. Those are the type of places where everyone knows eachover and getting a small mob of nutters together isn't much of a problem. Newport used to be the same, probably still is.
Hereford , Exeter ......I have personally found them quite scary places
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
J R Hartley
Happens in the places you least expect it. Northampton away 97 in the play off semis was rather eventful before during and after.
Up on that hill
I think it's fair to say it was like Zulu
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SLUDGE FACTORY
Our supporters club coach stopped at chievley
Minus the back window which had been put out by Jason weaver , rest in peace , from porthcawl
When we got there a bus full of swansea city youth team players , just kids , turned up and a load of our nutters tried to roll the bus over
A night of mayhem before , during and after the game
It was embarrassing
I spoke to one of those Swansea Youth players not long after. Hed played for City but been released and was on a night out with a City player who lives by me. Said hed sh!t himself but laughed about it.
Was more concerned about Nathan Blake playing for the Cardiff Youth Team in an upcoming fixture.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
I went to Nurenburg to see Wales I think it was Giggs debut.
They stuffed us 4-1 and at the end of the game they were giving us heaps of shit either side of the segregation.
They were going auf wiedersien and waving and taking the piss.
This nutter pushed past me and said I'll give you Facking auf wiedersien now, jumped up on the fence reached over and grabbed a German flag.
Then he got his lighter out and set fire to it, the Germans went ballistic.
Outside the ground it went off big time and the police pushed all the Wales fans into the car park weather they were on coaches or not.
We hung around for a while then found a gate at the back of the car park and exited that way. We didn't know where the fack we were or where we were going.
It was dark we were lost but in the distance we saw what looked like some sort of entertainment area as the 6 of us approached it a large mob of Germans came towards us leather jackets, scarves on wrists, moustaches one even had banner on a stick.
We were at the stage of saying everyone stick together don't run etc when we saw what it said on the banner.
"WE LOVE YOU DAVID HASSLHOFF."
When got by them we agreed we Facking loved David Hasslhoff as well!!!
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hilts
I spoke to one of those Swansea Youth players not long after. Hed played for City but been released and was on a night out with a City player who lives by me. Said hed sh!t himself but laughed about it.
Was more concerned about Nathan Blake playing for the Cardiff Youth Team in an upcoming fixture.
Lucky those swansea city youth players hadn't seen me with my foot stuck in the bin, i was still with the club and was in college with them one day per week!
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hilts
I spoke to one of those Swansea Youth players not long after. Hed played for City but been released and was on a night out with a City player who lives by me. Said hed sh!t himself but laughed about it.
Was more concerned about Nathan Blake playing for the Cardiff Youth Team in an upcoming fixture.
I felt sorry for those kids , I went onto the coach to apologise about our fans , the youngsters must have been scared out of their wits .
Cardiff fans were animals that night , almost possessed
Gloucester city away in the fa cup was another night of madness
The place was over run
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SLUDGE FACTORY
Hereford , Exeter ......I have personally found them quite scary places
Hereford was always lively
sometimes getting out of the train station was a struggle
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
blue matt
Hereford was always lively
sometimes getting out of the train station was a struggle
Cardiff was their big game of the year , they hated the Welsh and hundreds of their big eared farmer boys would turn up when city came to town
They gave as good as they got
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SLUDGE FACTORY
Cardiff was their big game of the year , they hated the Welsh and hundreds of their big eared farmer boys would turn up when city came to town
They gave as good as they got
We always took a good amount up to them, night games were always the best fun :thumbup:
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
****ing ketchup on my brand new Gazelles as well.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
I think I'd rather take a kicking than have a brand new pair of Gazelles ruined. They weren't that easy to come by back in 1990.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Best shoeing I had was on the way back to London after Cardiff against Southampton For a League Cup Midweek Night Match at the Dell 95 or 96.
On my own on the train...probably somewhere in Surrey, four or five lads got onto the carriage I was on, sussed me for what I was wearing and my pin badge then gave me a bit of a going over.
Still no idea who they followed, a calling card would have been nice at least!
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
insider
I went to Nurenburg to see Wales I think it was Giggs debut.
They stuffed us 4-1 and at the end of the game they were giving us heaps of shit either side of the segregation.
They were going auf wiedersien and waving and taking the piss.
This nutter pushed past me and said I'll give you Facking auf wiedersien now, jumped up on the fence reached over and grabbed a German flag.
Then he got his lighter out and set fire to it, the Germans went ballistic.
Outside the ground it went off big time and the police pushed all the Wales fans into the car park weather they were on coaches or not.
We hung around for a while then found a gate at the back of the car park and exited that way. We didn't know where the fack we were or where we were going.
It was dark we were lost but in the distance we saw what looked like some sort of entertainment area as the 6 of us approached it a large mob of Germans came towards us leather jackets, scarves on wrists, moustaches one even had banner on a stick.
We were at the stage of saying everyone stick together don't run etc when we saw what it said on the banner.
"WE LOVE YOU DAVID HASSLHOFF."
When got by them we agreed we Facking loved David Hasslhoff as well!!!
I remember coming out of that game. The stadium was built on the city outskirts in a park/forest area. It was eerie, the whole place was poorly lit, with narrow walkways leading off to goodness knows where!
I did see large groups of Germans stood around and the customary "There they are" and "Stick together" noises coming from our lot. However, I personally didn't witness any fighting, thankfully.
The policing seemed very low-key after the game, that, along with the darkness and wooded area, had the potential for something unsavoury to happen.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Belgium away where we lost 2-0.
Got thrown out of the ground at half time by a particularly big gendarme who whacked me for my trouble, managed to get back in waving a Welsh FA pass from an under 21 game which happened to be in my pocket, is the main ground reception. I helped myself to a vol au vent from some buffet and watched the second half with the Belgian band who played the anthems, who were great. After the match managed to get back into the Welsh end and bumped into the same gendarme:biggrin:
Immediately outside, a mate got into a row with a few Belgian fans/locals and we got legged into a raised garden area surrounded by a dozen so of them. We looking pretty ****ed, then out of nowhere the gendarmerie turned up being led by a kid in a Man City away top (purple with those vertical stripes) and from Swansea. I’d been talking to him earlier in the day.
I was a very happy laddie.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NYCBlue
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
I think I'd rather take a kicking than have a brand new pair of Gazelles ruined. They weren't that easy to come by back in 1990.
I know, classic Electric Blue, had to go over to Bristol for them.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Firstly, this thread isn't aimed towards glorifying thuggery or bad behaviour. I'm sure that many of us who travelled away on a regular basis ended up in situations that could've or did end up going to wrong way, even if we weren't looking for trouble, such was the reputation of our fans for many years. Some may be funny, like Sludge in Mothercare (any excuse) some may not be so humourous and may have terrified you. Here's mine;
Remember the FA cup game against QPR at Loftus Rd, think it was 1990. I was on the coach that stopped off at Chievley services and some of our fans started to smash the place up for no apparent reason. Being 18 and thinking that i was a tough guy i decided to karate kick a bin outside the services front entrance, it was one of those bins with a small 8" by 4" opening on the side of the bin towards the top ( that's 200mm by 100mm approx for our younger viewers) my foot went straight through the opening and i couldn't get it out as hard as i tried. The police were in hysterics and were calling me all sorts, really rubbing it in (deservedly) they just left me there as people walked past and laughed. I eventually got my foot out, covered in ketchup. I had the piss taken out of me for the entire journey. Needless to say, i didn't kick anymore bins after that!
Dennis, how about this as a thread: how many scrapes have you managed to avoid? :-)
The reason for my suggestion is that like most people I suspect, I must have been to probably thousands of games now, and despite witnessing some pretty depressing acts of violence and aggression (this is off the pitch btw!), I have managed to avoid being even vaguely caught up in any of them. :-0
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bobby Dandruff
Dennis, how about this as a thread: how many scrapes have you managed to avoid? :-)
The reason for my suggestion is that like most people I suspect, I must have been to probably thousands of games now, and despite witnessing some pretty depressing acts of violence and aggression (this is off the pitch btw!), I have managed to avoid being even vaguely caught up in any of them. :-0
Plenty! I wasn't a big lad and didn't fancy my chances! I only got into 'combat' :hehe: 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 :hehe: i became good mates with one of them.
As for avoidance, done that a few tomes, i had eyes like a shit house rat and could see a situation arising!
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Swansea away mid 80s the game we were 2 up and lost 3 -2. A few of house had gone down on a normal service bus.
In the bus station when we were waiting for the bus to our left a mob of City appeared to our right a mob of Jacks. The City fans ran at the Jacks and they legged it.
We got on the bus then the Jacks come back. Theres 4 of us aged 14 to 16 and foolishly put a City scarf on the back seat. They try to get in through the back door but the bus goes off. Foolishly we make mistake number 2 and give them the finger and loads of abuse. Unfortunately the bus has to stop in traffic outside the station. The Jacks then proceed to brick the bus. Feckin hell the bus was packed and apart from us the rest of the passengers were just on a day out.
The next thing the daft tw@t of a driver gets out of his seat and shouts if we dont get off hes getting the police.
From under a seat i shout get the feckin police then.
Luckily the Jacks dispersed.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Some quick memories.
1. My dad taking my brother and I to Oxford United in 1969 (what a trek from the station to the Manor Ground!), no trouble at all at the match, but then the City fans wrecked the carriage next to ours on the train coming home. We then had John Reynolds (?), the guy who still cycles to games from his Western Avenue house, telling us all about the rucks he'd been in that day as we waited for the bus home and the night ended with my Dad telling us he would not be taking us to any more away games.
2. I'm not sure what it says about what he thought of me, but my Dad was still prepared to let me go to away games with friends at the age of 13! So, about six months later, I went to Swansea to watch the Welsh Cup Semi Final replay in which Ronnie Bird missed his only penalty with City, we went by bus that day and there was trouble all the way from the station to the Vetch Field - I knew it already really, but that day was the final convincing I needed that I was in no way a fighter when it came to watching my team.
3. My father relented in 1971 when the family spent the weekend with friends who lived in the Midlands and we went to the game at Birmingham which drew a crowd of over 50,000. I won't go into the details now, but we got to the ground late and there were large queues at the turnstiles, so we missed almost all of the first half an hour and ended up right in the middle of the Birmingham nutters - an interesting experience!
4. Went to Fratton Park for the game when I saw us play in mauve and yellow in 1972 and things could have got very hairy at the station after the game if a small number of coppers hadn't been able to keep the two sets of fans apart, so the Pompey supporters had to make do with singing "back to school on Monday" at us - needless to say, I had the last laugh because it was the summer holidays and I didn't go back until a fortnight later.
5. Was on a week long training course by myself up in London in 1975 and was getting bored stiff in the nights, so I went along to watch a game between Fulham and Millwall which ended in a dismal 0-0 draw. I'd barely ate all day so decided to have a pie and a pint in a pub close to the local tube station after the match and sat at a table by myself, only for half a dozen "lairy" Millwall fans to come in and sit around me. They soon started asking me questions, detected I was Welsh and asked me if I had been at the City v Millwall match a few weeks earlier - for some reason, I said that I had been. I soon thought I shouldn't have said that and their leader stared hard at me for what seemed minutes, before saying "Nah, you're not a challenge are you" and offered me his hand. I soon learnt they were definitely the genuine article so to speak, but I had a great time with them to such an extent that I went along to a chippie with them when the pub closed which explains why, by the time, we'd finished our meals, I ended up down in a tube station at midnight with a bunch of Millwall hooligans.
6. After years of successfully avoiding trouble at away matches, my brother, a friend and I were walking to the game at Eastville in 1983 in which Jeff Hemmerman got the injury which more or less ended his career. There was plenty going on in the streets around the ground, so we decided to get off them and walk along a narrow track I'd used when I'd been to the ground before. There was no one else around until one big bloke came walking towards us - you could only go forwards and backwards along this track, but there were three of us to his one, so we weren't too concerned until we saw he was carrying a yard long piece of metal scaffolding which he started swinging about as he got closer. He asked us where we were from with an accent I couldn't recognise, but when we said Cardiff he said that's okay, can you tell me how I get into the home end please, I want to introduce myself to the Rovers fans. I told him how to get there, but was surprised when he started to walk in that direction and didn't stop. I assume and hope he never managed to get to his destination - for me, after a long time of not really feeling too threatened at away matches, that day all round was a real throwback to more scary times.
The truth is, that I've come closer to being attacked by opposition supporters at home matches, with Chelsea fans twice getting close to catching me and the only time I've ever been punched at football was by the Ely based City supporting school bully who a few of us had the misfortune to come across his gang as we walked back home to Fairwater after a match. .
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
the other bob wilson
Some quick memories.
1. My dad taking my brother and I to Oxford United in 1969 (what a trek from the station to the Manor Ground!), no trouble at all at the match, but then the City fans wrecked the carriage next to ours on the train coming home. We then had John Reynolds (?), the guy who still cycles to games from his Western Avenue house, telling us all about the rucks he'd been in that day as we waited for the bus home and the night ended with my Dad telling us he would not be taking us to any more away games.
2. I'm not sure what it says about what he thought of me, but my Dad was still prepared to let me go to away games with friends at the age of 13! So, about six months later, I went to Swansea to watch the Welsh Cup Semi Final replay in which Ronnie Bird missed his only penalty with City, we went by bus that day and there was trouble all the way from the station to the Vetch Field - I knew it already really, but that day was the final convincing I needed that I was in no way a fighter when it came to watching my team.
3. My father relented in 1971 when the family spent the weekend with friends who lived in the Midlands and we went to the game at Birmingham which drew a crowd of over 50,000. I won't go into the details now, but we got to the ground late and there were large queues at the turnstiles, so we missed almost all of the first half an hour and ended up right in the middle of the Birmingham nutters - an interesting experience!
4. Went to Fratton Park for the game when I saw us play in mauve and yellow in 1972 and things could have got very hairy at the station after the game if a small number of coppers hadn't been able to keep the two sets of fans apart, so the Pompey supporters had to make do with singing "back to school on Monday" at us - needless to say, I had the last laugh because it was the summer holidays and I didn't go back until a fortnight later.
5. Was on a week long training course by myself up in London in 1975 and was getting bored stiff in the nights, so I went along to watch a game between Fulham and Millwall which ended in a dismal 0-0 draw. I'd barely ate all day so decided to have a pie and a pint in a pub close to the local tube station after the match and sat at a table by myself, only for half a dozen "lairy" Millwall fans to come in and sit around me. They soon started asking me questions, detected I was Welsh and asked me if I had been at the City v Millwall match a few weeks earlier - for some reason, I said that I had been. I soon thought I shouldn't have said that and their leader stared hard at me for what seemed minutes, before saying "Nah, you're not a challenge are you" and offered me his hand. I soon learnt they were definitely the genuine article so to speak, but I had a great time with them to such an extent that I went along to a chippie with them when the pub closed which explains why, by the time, we'd finished our meals, I ended up down in a tube station at midnight with a bunch of Millwall hooligans.
6. After years of successfully avoiding trouble at away matches, my brother, a friend and I were walking to the game at Eastville in 1983 in which Jeff Hemmerman got the injury which more or less ended his career. There was plenty going on in the streets around the ground, so we decided to get off them and walk along a narrow track I'd used when I'd been to the ground before. There was no one else around until one big bloke came walking towards us - you could only go forwards and backwards along this track, but there were three of us to his one, so we weren't too concerned until we saw he was carrying a yard long piece of metal scaffolding which he started swinging about as he got closer. He asked us where we were from with an accent I couldn't recognise, but when we said Cardiff he said that's okay, can you tell me how I get into the home end please, I want to introduce myself to the Rovers fans. I told him how to get there, but was surprised when he started to walk in that direction and didn't stop. I assume and hope he never managed to get to his destination - for me, after a long time of not really feeling too threatened at away matches, that day all round was a real throwback to more scary times.
The truth is, that I've come closer to being attacked by opposition supporters at home matches, with Chelsea fans twice getting close to catching me and the only time I've ever been punched at football was by the Ely based City supporting school bully who a few of us had the misfortune to come across his gang as we walked back home to Fairwater after a match. .
That was brilliant Bob, enjoyed that read.The Manor ground is miles from the train station and up hill for alot of the trek. The ground used to be in headington who were the original side before Oxford united formed. I was up there for 18 months working. Loved the Eastville story. I was at that game with the old man, i was ten at the time and it wasn't a nice experience for anyone, let alone a kid. City fans that day were on another level, they were even fighting between themselves. I remember one city fan deciding to scale the barbed wire trimmed fencing, he cocked his leg over at the top of the fence and the police on the pitch side pulled on one leg while city fans on the terracing pulled on his other leg, he was screaming in agony as the barbed wire went up his backside and bollocks! I hid behind the floodlights until a kind copper removed me and my dad over to the side terracing that was quite empty. What a day!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfLuC3QLSX0
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
the other bob wilson
Some quick memories.
1. My dad taking my brother and I to Oxford United in 1969 (what a trek from the station to the Manor Ground!), no trouble at all at the match, but then the City fans wrecked the carriage next to ours on the train coming home. We then had John Reynolds (?), the guy who still cycles to games from his Western Avenue house, telling us all about the rucks he'd been in that day as we waited for the bus home and the night ended with my Dad telling us he would not be taking us to any more away games.
2. I'm not sure what it says about what he thought of me, but my Dad was still prepared to let me go to away games with friends at the age of 13! So, about six months later, I went to Swansea to watch the Welsh Cup Semi Final replay in which Ronnie Bird missed his only penalty with City, we went by bus that day and there was trouble all the way from the station to the Vetch Field - I knew it already really, but that day was the final convincing I needed that I was in no way a fighter when it came to watching my team.
3. My father relented in 1971 when the family spent the weekend with friends who lived in the Midlands and we went to the game at Birmingham which drew a crowd of over 50,000. I won't go into the details now, but we got to the ground late and there were large queues at the turnstiles, so we missed almost all of the first half an hour and ended up right in the middle of the Birmingham nutters - an interesting experience!
4. Went to Fratton Park for the game when I saw us play in mauve and yellow in 1972 and things could have got very hairy at the station after the game if a small number of coppers hadn't been able to keep the two sets of fans apart, so the Pompey supporters had to make do with singing "back to school on Monday" at us - needless to say, I had the last laugh because it was the summer holidays and I didn't go back until a fortnight later.
5. Was on a week long training course by myself up in London in 1975 and was getting bored stiff in the nights, so I went along to watch a game between Fulham and Millwall which ended in a dismal 0-0 draw. I'd barely ate all day so decided to have a pie and a pint in a pub close to the local tube station after the match and sat at a table by myself, only for half a dozen "lairy" Millwall fans to come in and sit around me. They soon started asking me questions, detected I was Welsh and asked me if I had been at the City v Millwall match a few weeks earlier - for some reason, I said that I had been. I soon thought I shouldn't have said that and their leader stared hard at me for what seemed minutes, before saying "Nah, you're not a challenge are you" and offered me his hand. I soon learnt they were definitely the genuine article so to speak, but I had a great time with them to such an extent that I went along to a chippie with them when the pub closed which explains why, by the time, we'd finished our meals, I ended up down in a tube station at midnight with a bunch of Millwall hooligans.
6. After years of successfully avoiding trouble at away matches, my brother, a friend and I were walking to the game at Eastville in 1983 in which Jeff Hemmerman got the injury which more or less ended his career. There was plenty going on in the streets around the ground, so we decided to get off them and walk along a narrow track I'd used when I'd been to the ground before. There was no one else around until one big bloke came walking towards us - you could only go forwards and backwards along this track, but there were three of us to his one, so we weren't too concerned until we saw he was carrying a yard long piece of metal scaffolding which he started swinging about as he got closer. He asked us where we were from with an accent I couldn't recognise, but when we said Cardiff he said that's okay, can you tell me how I get into the home end please, I want to introduce myself to the Rovers fans. I told him how to get there, but was surprised when he started to walk in that direction and didn't stop. I assume and hope he never managed to get to his destination - for me, after a long time of not really feeling too threatened at away matches, that day all round was a real throwback to more scary times.
The truth is, that I've come closer to being attacked by opposition supporters at home matches, with Chelsea fans twice getting close to catching me and the only time I've ever been punched at football was by the Ely based City supporting school bully who a few of us had the misfortune to come across his gang as we walked back home to Fairwater after a match. .
I like number 5!
There is a unique bond between football fans which is hard to define at a times.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bobby Dandruff
I like number 5!
There is a unique bond between football fans which is hard to define at a times.
Number is a good story, why bob told them he was a City fan is beyond me! All worked out well though.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
That was brilliant Bob, enjoyed that read.The Manor ground is miles from the train station and up hill for alot of the trek. The ground used to be in headington who were the original side before Oxford united formed. I was up there for 18 months working. Loved the Eastville story. I was at that game with the old man, i was ten at the time and it wasn't a nice experience for anyone, let alone a kid. City fans that day were on another level, they were even fighting between themselves. I remember one city fan deciding to scale the barbed wire trimmed fencing, he cocked his leg over at the top of the fence and the police on the pitch side pulled on one leg while city fans on the terracing pulled on his other leg, he was screaming in agony as the barbed wire went up his backside and bollocks! I hid behind the floodlights until a kind copper removed me and my dad over to the side terracing that was quite empty. What a day!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfLuC3QLSX0
My sister in law lived close to Oxford's ground when she was young and says that a lot of the locals used to put visitors right when they talked about them being from Oxford, by saying they weren't, they were from Headington - we didn't walk from the station, we caught a couple of buses.
Thanks for posting that video, the challenge which, to all intents and purposes, ended Hemmerman's career was pretty innocuous wasn't it. I agree about many of the City fans at that game, they were worse than I was used to seeing, I think many of them were most pissed than normal probably because we were already up.
-
Re: Scrapes at away games..
Got put in hospital for 3 days and had surgery after taking a shoeing at ....... Kidderminster in 1988 (the movie never got made as it didn't have the romance of Millwall)
Saw far too much nonsense in 80s and 90s to list them all Swansea, Hereford Bristol Rovers and City, Reading, Portsmouth, Torquay, Plymouth - watching Batman and Robin chasing Scunthorpe fans at the promotion game in 93 was funny.
Saw a police woman get knocked out in the game at Eastville Bristol Rovers in 1983 - it was evil that day but as a teenager I was caught up in it all.
Standard Liege was bloody fantastic fun even though it was a bit hairy at times
