I along with all football supporters was engulfed by emotion yesterday when the truth about Hillsborough finally came to light 23 years too late. The cover up by the establishment was truly unbelievable . I wonder if the news brought back memories of times thankfully passed when you your friends or loved ones were in danger while following the Gunners Two personal memories Firstly 1980 cup winners cup semi final against Juve North bank right hand corner (as you look at the pitch) Police on horseback pushed us all toward the last two turnstiles the crush was such that two lads in front of me passed out thankfully smelling salts from the st johns ambulance brought them both round but i was actually scared for moment when the air was crushed out of us by the log jam of fans. Also Hysel stadium 1980 final of same competition at the end of the match when we lost on penalties a small section of the Arsenal & Valencia crowed started throwing stones at each other thou a partition fence near where we were standing.(this was fairley mild unremarkable handbags stuff for the era ) but what makes my blood run cold is the stones were being obtained by stamping on the concrete terracing which was crumbling under our feet 5 years before the tragedy at that ground This post is in no way suggesting that these incidents can compare to what happened to those poor souls at Hillsborough may they rest in peace but its worth remembering how supporters were treated in the 70s & 80s
Not just the Gunners mate...all of us were treated like **** back then. Hooligans were allowed to create havoc inside and outside the grounds while the police and authorities concentrated on herding the rest of us around like cattle. I was a 13 year old kid going to games in the early 80's...I lost count of the amount of times I was pushed, punched and shoved by the old bill or barged by their horses. I remember going to see a Spurs v Leeds match ... loads of Leeds thugs waited around after the game and fighting kicking off all over the place...I was waiting by the gates after the match as their were a lot of trouble and their were groups of really racist scum making threats at anyone non white. The old bill told me and my mate (white) to move on ... we said that there were loads blokes calling me a paki and my mate a paki lover and threatening to cut us up... we were obviously kids but were told to **** off and that if I had no place at a football match if I didn't like being called a paki and my mate shouldn't hang with me if he didn't wanna be called a paki lover. It is this same attitude that led to the police lying about the 96. I ain't religious but Hillsbrough really is a case of there but for the grace of god go all of us
In all honesty, it wasn't exactly roses if you were white. I remember hiding from Millwall fans in a bus shelter in Brighton, while the police went around hitting people that were just running away from the violence. I'm sure there was a lot of racism about, but Hillsborough wasn't about racism. You could be beaten up because you had a posh accent or because you wore the wrong colours, any excuse. There was a lot of hate back then and it is starting to come back.
A certain irony in this but I remember going to the lge cup match at Hillsborough around 15 months before the disaster (Nigel Winterburn screamer from 30 yards won it for us) when standing in a gangway I was physically lifted by the scruff of the neck by a South Yorkshire policeman who said 'you're not in London here, up here you do what we tell you no ****ing move' With that kind of attitude it's not hard to believe that some (I can't believe they're all that sick) would have made life as difficult as they can for those poor fans. As for Arsenal, I remember being in two different bars in Copenhagen for the Galatasaray CPW final that both had tables/chairs thrown through the window, in fact just about every Turk I saw outside the ground that day was throwing something. Ayresome Park Middlesbrough was never pleasant, deep rivalry with us goes back to the 30s and they don't forget, I had a brick thrown at me from the upstairs of a terraced house by bloke no younger than 70 ! Millwall beat us at Highbury in a cup game once and there were pockets of trouble all over the ground, we had Millwall fans sitting near us and I was waiting for the off, it did eventually go but not as bad as elsewhere. I remember once in late 1987 Euston station was a war zone - the fixtures that day drew us at Watford, West Ham at Coventry, Liverpool at Tottenham, Leeds at Millwall and Chelsea were also in town, 6.30pm was a scary time as all trains/tubes carrying all fans seemed to arrive within about 5 mins of each other
Agreed...I didn't mean to make it about racism...I was just giving a memory of the police at football matches. All fans were treated appallingly by the police ...to the police it was a case of all fans were hooligans therefore were fair game when it came to dishing out bad treatment. As for the hate...I honestly don't get it... banter is one thing but actively hating someone cos of who they support? **** me...ain't there enough ****ers to hate for real reasons if you need to hate?????
I remember it kicking off at Highbury v Millwall in an FA cup game, that was 86 I think. Fans in the clock end spilling out onto the pitch and a few missiles being thrown. To be honest, that was pretty common place at grounds in those days. I remember it being uncommon if trouble didn't kick off. Stations were the worst, especially Euston / Kings Cross as it was where travelling fans would clash. I've been on trains - remember the old football specials ? that were literally smashed to pieces by the time they reached their destination. I've been in the Plimsol Arms on St Thomas St when a brick was thrown through the window, within seconds there were guys pouring out of the doors, throwing bar stools, pint glasses . .and I've been caught up in a fight in the bar under the old west stand v Man Utd at HT when someone's pint got spilled, next thing a full on battle. There's no doubt that there was a big hooligan element in the 8Os, for some 'fans' going to a football match was all about going to a fight. But - the grounds those days were unsafe and Policing was brutal. I've lost count of the number of times that I was herded by police into little pens, down tunnels, onto station platforms. And I've lost count of the number of times that I was crushed up against fences and barriers. Hillsbrough was a tragedy waiting to happen, and it seems now that the authorities knew that. Whilst we all moan that the money has ruined football and created the prawn sarnie brigade, it has at least dragged the game out of the gutter that it was in. I personally favour a return to safe standing terraced areas - and I know Cym doesn't agree with me on this - but I do think that with the advent of all seater grounds, we lost a lot of the atmosphere in the grounds.
I have to use Euston if i travel by train to London and over the years i've had some hairy experiences
I remember going to Arsenal's last home game in the late 70's (as a kid) with my cousins who were Arsenal fans (their surname was Gunner I kid you not - black sheeps of the family) and we went on a tour of the streets about 150/200 fans (I've no idea why). Everything was good natured until they spotted a Rugby fan, wearing Widnes or Wigan colours and the whole group gave chase. Poor sod must have thought his life was over. They caught him and although they pushed him around a bit, I don't believe he came to any great harm.
Really good article And rightly pointed out that with the sweeping changes in football that tried to rid the game of hooliganism and poor facilities, we threw out the atmosphere too and the ability for the ordinary working man to afford to turn up at a football game when he wanted, without having to spend a small fortune to do so. This is why I'm an advocate of safe standing: Increased ground capacities, reducing the need to build new stadiums with all the financial and environmental concerns that go with it. Cheaper tickets and people who want to stand and sing together can.
