now now Rudeboy would you prefer the open terrace as was or the cramped shallow Oak Rd entering over terraced houses and back gardens haha
compared to the sterile all seater lego jobs that pervade the country, any ground with standing is preferable , the choice has been taken and the price has been hijacked--
The best of times were standing at the School end, the Loft was OK but preferred the other end. I know a lot of people who gave up on watching Football once all-seaters were brought in.
One of the best seasons Busty was when they were developing the Loft and we had the NEW School End. The noise was unbelievable in such a small ground!
Too true, Bustino, me and my mate used to 'stand' opposite the main grandstand. That whole side was standing only. Those were the days!
People always talked about what monkeys the Millwall fans were but in early '72 I went to an away game there and stood amongst mainly Millwall fans. Not the most refined of people but there was no trouble and it was a friendly afternoon with lots of laughs between the fans. Pity the game wasn't better. A month or so earlier I'd been to a Chelsea home game versus Spurs and was totally disgusted (and admittedly frightened) at the atrocious behaviour of both sets of fans. Chelsea edged it in the nastiness stakes and I've had no time for them or their team since.
Of course there was the famous late-season Millwall game of '66 when Millwall were top of the 3rd Division (Rangers were struggling mid-table) and came to Loftus Road. I must admit I wasn't there but heard so much from my classmates. Millwall were so full of themselves and so were their fans: it was almost as if they were on a victory lap. But when they went 5-1 down their fans invaded the pitch to try and get the game abandoned. Of course it was the first revelation that QPR had a true star amongst their squad: the wonderful Rodney Marsh. The next season I at last started following one team and that was it. Stepney was Millwall's goalkeeper and in midfield they had a bloke called Barry Rowan who I later had the pleasure of playing 5-a-Side with. Cracking bloke.I think Stepney was bought by Chelsea soon after but had the ridiculous situation of him not playing as they preferred Bonetti. Soon after he moved on to Man Utd. Seems strange today that we had 3 goalkeepers of the standard of Banks, Shilton and Stepney at the same time. It always killed me in the Only Fools and Horses special from Miami that Del Boy used the only Italian name he knew when talking to the Colombian drug suppliers and kept saying 'Bonetti, Bonetti'. Only a genius like John Sullivan would get that in.
Worst game I ever saw in regard to fan behaviour was Aberdeen vs Celtic in the '70s. I walked out at half-time. If that's what sport's about, they can keep it!
Player and ref get into argument. Ref orders off the player but he refuses to go, so pulls a knife and stabs the player. He dies a bit later. The crowd storm the field and then kill the ref by stoning. They then quarter the body, behead it than stick the head on a stake planted on the field.
I was a big Rodney Marsh fan. I remember, when we were an amateur team, QPR came to Loakes Park for a friendly game and Rodney put on a bit of a display.
He was something else in his heyday, Ron, just magic. Frankly. although he did play nine times for England, I always thought he was too good (i.e. his 'thinking' was just too quick for the other players?) for the national team. His transfer from QPR to Man.City in 1972 turned out to be disappointing for Marsh, probably because he did not get along with the dour Francis Lee. It was quite obvious that they had an intense dislike for each other, and Lee certainly had no time for old Rodney's ball juggling skills during a game.
Thanks, Cyc, great stuff! Here's a right old ice-hockey-style Donnybrook between Francis Lee (playing for Derby here) and Norman Hunter (Leeds). Both got their marching orders in the end. Lee was the first prominent 'diver' and was nicknamed 'Lee One Pen'. later improved to 'Lee Won Pen' for his prowess in obtaining a penalty, in which he invariably took himself.
