After the weekends 'trouble', it set me thinking of the bad ol' days. Now I have kids of my own and I really appreciate the changes in place to make football more family friendly and I really don't condone violence in any form (I'm a lover, not a fighter maaan)... ..but do you remember the first time you went to an away game and genuinely cacked your pants? That moment when you had that absolute sick feeling in your pit of your stomach and that sense of menace everwhere.. Mine was actually not a Saints game - my second away game ever, at the tender age of 13, was Hibs v Rangers in 1987 (my family are Scottish and all massive Rangers fans, so they are, by family association, my second team). My Uncle convinced my mum that it would be fine for me to go, there'd be no trouble - 'ach there'll be nay bother' to be precise. How wrong was he...from the very moment we got off the coach to the moment we got back on, it was evil..pockets of spontaneous violence erupting everywhere, crowd trouble, police on horses, escorts back to the coach. After my balls dropping the previous year, they went back up that afternoon and didn't come back down for a week ! My mum was none the wiser, but did comment on how quiet I was. My Uncle, fearing an ear bashing from his sister, blamed it on the result (they lost 1 nil I think, tbh the match passed me by as I wasn't watching the pitch much, I was too wide eyed with terror watching the crowd!) Funny thing is, I now look on that evening with real fondness - I suppose it's human nature to do that. It may even be that it wasn't as bad as that and it was just the norm! Now I'm not condoning violence, nor am I looking for any 'we're harder than such and such'. I'd just be interested to find out everyone elses first 'hairy away match (in fact it could even be a home match)! It makes a change from all the transfer rumours anyway, plus it allows for a bit of reminiscing!
Why is it that all the vilest most nastiest fans support a team that wears a blue shirt? Rangers, Cardiff, Millwall, Chelsea. Everton, Scotland and of course the blue few.
Ahh, but these were Hibs fans whos team, if memory serves me right, wear green... (I'm not saying you are wrong about the blue though!)
Stamford Bridge in the mid/late seventies. I was only about 13 or 14,and went up with a family friend and a couple of mates. Got snarled at and intimidated all of the way to the ground,scraps all over the place inside the ground. It wasnt just blokes,there were gangs of girls dressed in jean jackets,and Dr Martens,that seemed to be dying for a scrap. Been involved in quite a few scary moments since then,but that was the first time i found out that adrenalin was brown.
Not had a hairy away day but had a hairy "home" game a few years back. I live in sight of Ibrox but pay no attention to Scottish Football at all. I'd popped out to the shops and was on my way back with the roof down when all the pubs on Paisley Road West erupted and about five hundred Rangers fans ran out on to the street as Celtic had let in two injury time goals to gift Rangers the title. It was a very very bad day to have been wearing a green and white T-shirt in a convertible and I'm not sure that I ever got all the beer and spit out of the seats!
Worst (and funny) away match story i have would of been from my Uncle, who chose to take his wife and kid to their first away game. They decided to drive, and happened to get stuck behind a bus full of the home teams fans at a set of traffic lights. Unfortunately he was wearing his Saints scarf and shirt and the fans in the back of the bus spotted them. The home fans on the bus continued to pull their pants down, press their arse cheeks against the glass and pull them apart. The poor kid must of been scarred for life!
Blimey, too many to mention really. Been involved in incidents at Leicester, Man City, Brighton, Pompey, Oldham, Norwich, Spurs, Chelsea, QPR, Villa, Derby, Forest, Sheff Wed, Coventry, Oxford, Everton, Liverpool (always was nasty walking around Stanley Park in the dark at either of the Scouse clubs) and probably more. Never went looking for trouble, but often seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in the 80's mainly. Pubs and car parks seemed to be where most trouble occurred. Were no "away pubs" in those days, unless you totally took them over, which Saints didn't do much as our away support was pretty small for most league games, but then loads would turn up for Cup matches (8,000 at Sheff Wed for FA Cup game that was live on ITV was an amazing turn-out). Generally, many of the older grounds were in or near big estates in some of the cities, which meant even walking to and from the games you could get hassle from locals who didn't even go to the matches. Really, it was generally accepted that if you went to away games in those times, there was probably a greater than 50% chance there would be trouble. Although most of the time, it would be a brief flare up and over in a few minutes. However, some away days where you were expecting a battering, like at Millwall's original Den, nothing happened and had a cracking day out.
In mid eighties I was given ticket in the chelsea stand and had to meet the bloke in the pub opposite the ground. I was 13 or 14 and not wearing any colours, but still was scared.
I'm only 23 so my away days haven't been that bad. Been spat at at Everton. Had people push and shove me at Reading and Fulham but that's the worst it has got.
Nothing to do with away games, but does anyone remember the Warrens pub, off Poundtree Road? It was once the scene of an epic battle with - can you guess? - yep, Millwall, around the late 70s or early 80s.
Just about remember the Warrens, but was too young to go in it. Have heard accounts of that Millwall battle, think many of their fans turned up in white butcher coats or something like that? The Painted Wagon and Lord Louis were the main pubs after that until they were knocked down/renamed.
Mine must have been when I was 13 or 14. I was a Saints fan by then but my family had a trip to Fulham to see Leicester in a promotion decider so I went along. My dad wasn't there for some reason but my mum and older brother were. Leicester scored the winner late on which virtually guaranteed them promotion to division 1 at the expense of Fulham. After the game we could not get back to our car because Fulham fans were running up the street throwing bricks so we were held back by a line of policemen on horses. My brother nearly got arrested when he tried telling one policeman how to do his job as he was thinking what our dad would say when we got home with his car smashed in by Fulham fans. After the police had driven the Fulham fans back we got back to the car which thankfully was ok but the house we'd parked outside had a brick thrown through its window. We got out of there pretty quickly. The other incident I remember was Wolves v Leicester a few years before. I was with my parents but my older brother was further back with some of his mates. At half-time he told us the person he was standing in front of had been carted away to hospital after being hit by a bottle thrown by some Wolves fans.
PFC fan in peace - I went up to the Ricoh last year and my beer was warm - that was pretty outrageous!
Blimey, Fulham fans causing aggro? Thats a new one on me. These days, they would probably only riot if their beloved statue of Michael Jackson was ripped down, or if the price of Hors d'œuvres at half time went up.
down at dean court last year a bournemouth supporter angrily opened a pack of worthers originals whilst looking in my direction. scary stuff
Ah, The Lord Louis and the Painted Wagon, not to mention the Centre Inn - happy days. I think Fulham have every right to riot over that statue. Still, can't be any worse than the Freddie Mercury one that appeared in the Above Bar precinct recently.
