Down memory lane

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Found this in the Guardian, rattles were banned in the early seventies along with parrots! <laugh> and any number of other 'offensive weapons'



Take Wembley, for example. Along with "any article that might be used as a weapon", spectators are not allowed to take into the ground: unlicensed musical instruments, including trumpets, drums and "other devices capable of causing a disturbance or nuisance"; Flag poles greater than 1m in length; Flares; Bottles, glass vessels, cans and flasks; Frisbees and "similar items"; Dangerous or hazardous items; Illegal substances; Explosives or ammunition; fireworks; Knives, blades or other weapons; Firearms; Scooters, skateboards or other skates; Laser devices; Smoke canisters; Signs or items with corporate or inappropriate branding; Unauthorised fliers; Spray paint or large industrial style marker pens; Prams and push chairs; Transmitting devices; Professional cameras and recording devices; Large suitcases, lap tops, and back packs; Illegal merchandise items; Water bottles; Illegal charity collection utensils; Motor bike helmets; Umbrellas; Darts; Hampers and Cold Boxes; Air horns; Alcohol; and animals (except service dogs and guide dogs).

But Wembley is far from alone. And the vuvuzela is not the first noise-maker to face a football ban &#8211; wooden rattles were banned in the 1970s due to their handy heft for hooligans. Other bans have been slightly odder. In the 1987-88 season Maine Road became populated with a bumper crop of blow-up bananas, named, in honour of striker Imre Varadi, "Imre Banana". Arguably, the finest hour of the City inflatable craze came in September 1988 when the team visited Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. Away supporters were banned due to trouble in a previous play-off fixture, but some City fans made their way into the ground regardless. "As City scarves and banners would have been a bit of a giveaway," wrote Mike Rowbottom in the Guardian, "a less obvious rallying device was devised. A 7ft inflatable Frankenstein. So simple."

The craze continued. By February Bristol City arrived for a Littlewoods Cup semi-final with 200 sets of blow up fangs in honour of their manager Joe Jordan. At Wimbledon's Plough Lane, 1,500 Grimsby fans turned up waving haddocks. Blackpool started selling two and a half feet high plastic Blackpool Towers.

Something had to give, and it did at Highbury, where local police deemed that the oversized novelty fruits could, by obstructing spectators' views, incite violence.

"Football has become a leading victim of the British mania for banning things," wrote David Lacey. "The latest absurdity came at Highbury on Tuesday night when police video cameras solemnly scanned the terraces for illicit giant bananas." The Gunners, though, soon relented and the inflatable craze was allowed to die a natural death.

Not only inanimate objects have fallen foul of footballs rulemakers. In May 2006 Vladimir Kisilev was in Moscow to show one of his prize-winning pigs at a farm show and afterwards was keen to head over to the Luzhniki Stadium to watch Spartak Moscow v Zenit St Petersburg. Having nowhere to leave his porcine pal, Kisilev attempted to take it with him, but was stopped by police. "I wanted to see the game, but had nowhere to leave the pig," said Kisilev. "I almost managed to get it into the ground in a big bag, but it started grunting and the police noticed."

Irene Kerrigan at least managed to get her pet into the ground. In January 2009 Hertford Heath faced Hatfield Town in a crunch Hertfordshire Senior Centenary Trophy quarter-final tie. Around 150 hardy souls watched a goal-less first half before proceedings took a bizarre twist early in the second half, with play being disrupted by the 63-year-old Mrs Kerrigan's pet Senegal parrot Me-Tu, who, having been a regular at Hertford Heath home fixtures, was demonstrating his new-found ability to mimic the referee's whistle.

"I've never known anything like it in all my football career," said the referee Gary Bailey. "I got a hell of a shock. It was a big game and there were quite a lot of people there. This woman was standing right by the touchline and suddenly unveiled a big cage with this big green parrot in it. I didn't mind at first. But then every time I blew my whistle the bird made exactly the same sound. It was bizarre. The crowd were all laughing. In the end, there was only one thing for it." Mrs Kerrigan and Me-Tu were asked to leave.

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Good thread <ok>

Reading this sort of stuff reminds me how much of the soul of football has been sold to the corporate devil. These days at Arsenal we get padded seats, great views and world class international players gracing the pitch, but there's something about the old North Bank, with it's wonky steps and smelly mix of beer and burgers that was very honest and completely endearing. I count myself as one of the lucky ones to have been there before Football became sanitised - and expensive
 
J8s
Last time I looked at them they were in good condition, also got a mint copy of the John White memorial progamme and a 63 cup winners cup pennent signed by Bill Brown, terry dyson ,Ron henry and I think its Jimmy Greaves but that ones a bit smudged How much are they worth ?
 
YV,

I still buy the programmes, £3.50 each for home ones but those from the CL were £5 each that season.

I must have well over 4500 now, which along with all the rest of Spurs Membrobillia I've got is sending the wife mad!

Fairplay to you(and your wife for putting up with it <laugh> ) I was always more a casual buyer, if I'm spending £3.50 these days I want a pint or a burger with it :D
 
Thought this might be of interest to some:

[video=youtube;7AiPVhhpQGQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AiPVhhpQGQ[/video]
 
YV,

Normally the wife picks up the programme on her way in, whilst I stay in the pub before the mad dash up to the ground to make kick off. I've got the times down to a tee and nearly always make kick off!!

Alfie,
The 63 cup final varies in price depending on which edition you have. The stadium edition is rarer and is upwards of £35 where as the UEFA one is anywhere between £10-£25 depending on the condition.
To be honest, I have no idea of the value of the penant but it should be worth a tidy sum.
 
Found this in the Guardian, rattles were banned in the early seventies along with parrots! <laugh> and any number of other 'offensive weapons'
Spurf
That reminds me of a call to Danny Baker on the old 606 programme about a game at Millwall in the early 60's when a ww2 handgranade was thrown on the pitch, the ref stopped the game, the groundsman came on with a bucket of sand put the granade in to it and walked off with it at arms length, ref blew the whistle and the game carried on<laugh>
 
Spurf
That reminds me of a call to Danny Baker on the old 606 programme about a game at Millwall in the early 60's when a ww2 handgranade was thrown on the pitch, the ref stopped the game, the groundsman came on with a bucket of sand put the granade in to it and walked off with it at arms length, ref blew the whistle and the game carried on<laugh>

When men were men Alfie. <laugh> Today they would have evacuated the Old Kent Road.
 
The other thing thats missing from the game today is a dog on the pitch it used to be a regular on the the Big Match. Brentford had a keeper called Chick Brodie ? who was stretchered off from a game after trying to catch a dog, the dog ran headlong into his knee and laid him out.
 
[video=youtube;DvwA7BK4-6A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=DvwA7BK4-6A[/video]
 
That replay at 1:20 is an absolute classic <laugh>
 
Re programmes and yearbooks etc.
My **** bag parents threw out all my treasured 1980's programmes and scrapbooks that I had as a kid when I was forced to leave home as a 16/17 yr old.
In the last 3 years I started looking for them on ebay...you can pick up amazing stuff on there. I've manage to find all my 1981-84 programmes (from matches I went to) plus other notable match programmes that I used to buy from outside the ground. You can pick up programmes really cheaply...just be patient and don't bid on the first one you see!
I rarely pay more than 99p for a programme and my most expensive (1961, 1962 and 1963 FA Cup and ECWC finals only cost around £3 each)
The bad side of ebay is that I got into collecting original Spurs press photo's...with press stamps on the back ... got around 120 of them. The earliest is from 1935 ... got a few from 1961 matches and have even got one of Ricky Villa scoring THAT 81 cup final goal...cost £1.80 and I was lucky enough to meet him and he signed it! Took me back to being a kid again! Last week I got a Daily Mirror press photo of Gazza's freekick goal v arsenal in the 91 semi final...plus 2 others from the same match for around £2.50. (not that I'm addicted or anything)
Bizarrely enough some Chelsea Press Photo's go for a fortune... over a £100 per photo...I got a load cheap from an american website...they pretty much paid for my obsessive photo collection when I sold them on Ebay!
 
I used to use an old lady in those terraced houses.I think she charged a shilling,but it's been a long time now so I may be wrong!
My first game a can remember was 1953 v Villa.Danny was playing for Villa and I don't remember him on the field that day.I know we won by an own goal.
I still have my collection.I won't let anyone near them.
My oldest item is an old Evening News Football Annual for season 1901-2.
My prewar handbooks are for seasons 1920-1,1924-5,1926-7 and 1939-40(the season that never was!)
I have a pre-prewar handbook for season 1911-12.....and various prewar programmes.Several from 1939-40 season.They say they are impossible to find now.....
I remember,when I was 15,travelling to Doncaster for a cupgame in 1956 by train and pulled by the Mallard (60022).
Two goals by Johnny Brooks and Bobby Smith won it.They had a future "Yorkshire" comedian playing at center half did Rovers.Charlie Williams by name........

My first Spurs hero,and we had a lot of them,was gentleman George Robb on the left wing.On his day the best winger in the country!!!!
Ted Ditchburn was coming to the end of a long career but would chop and change with Ron Reynolds before he left for Romford.
A favourite was Tommy Harmer,"The Charmer".Our inside forward,he hadn't had much of a chance until manager Anderson took over and he came into his own.No one I have seen since could match his ball control and artistry.Not very fast but could pass a ball onto a "sixpence"!
I once saw Harmer v Sunderland in a game in 1956-7.Len Shackleton of Sunderland was also a brilliant inside forward.Anyway,in this game Shack caught the ball on his toe and flicked it up many times until he got bored and chipped it to "The Charmer",who caught it on HIS toe and straight away flicked over the defenders heads for Bobby Smith to run on to.....brilliant!
.....and who can forget the fans on the pitch during the European Cup games in 1961-2 conducting the fans to their "Glory,Glory...." battle hymn which literally shook the building....and shook the opposing players too!
....and Jimmy Greaves,the greatest goalscorer of them all,Alan Gilzean,"The King of White Hart Lane,Cliff Jones,the Flying Welshman....and he was too.Like Bale,bringing him down was the only way they could stop him.
The list goes on....and the memories......
...and my old mum telling dad "It's not my bloody fault Spurs lost!!"
 
Charlie Williams,me old flower,Jimmy Greaves,my FavoriteAll time Player,and along side Gilly,known as the g-men.Some great memories.
 
J8s
Last time I looked at them they were in good condition, also got a mint copy of the John White memorial progamme and a 63 cup winners cup pennent signed by Bill Brown, terry dyson ,Ron henry and I think its Jimmy Greaves but that ones a bit smudged How much are they worth ?

i've got the John White Memorial Programme as well,and the Jimmy Greaves and Pat Jennings testermonial(spelling?) Programmes.