Fairly new on here so be kind Anyone out there old enough to remember the away games on coaches organised by John Tennick form his newsagents shop near to Roker Park. I used to travel quite a lot in the sixties and on the whole it was a good service I used to get picked up and dropped off at Whitemare Pool, Wardley and had some memorable trips. Ones that stick in the mind were a midweek trip to Notts Forest we left his shop early afternoon and two young lads got on sat at the back of the bus with a carrier bag full of supplies of the liquid kind and off we went. We hadnt got to Houghton le Spring when these two spew up all over the floor and the smell was horrendous, needless to say we didnt stop and all the way there and back this vomit slid up and down the bus and to top the lot we got slaughtered 5 - 1. happy days. Another memorable trip was to Anfield where we got our usual good hiding this time 4-1 Colin Suggett got our goal and on returning to the coaches at Stanley Park those ever so kind Liverpool fans had got there first and smashed the windows of nearly every coach, thankfully weve moved on from there havent we ? Anyone else got similar memories.
Aye, them were the days eh? I remember going to Blackpool, the one when the peanut seller was ****ing about behind the goal for our penalty. Got pissed up on the coach going down there but got refused entry into any pubs, well i was only 15 at the time and probably looked 12 at best. Anyway me and my mate decided to have a wander round town so we tied our scalves around our waste, out of sight sort of thing. Walking through town we soon realised that we were being followed by about 20 of the local mob so we hot footed it into the nearest shop for safety which happened to be Woolies. The manager of the shop didn't want any bother so he threw us out into the by now screaming hoards, talk about being fed to the lions? i've still got a scar on my lip now where some thug decided to practice his penalty kicks with his Doc Martins and using my head as a ball. Happy days.
We always travelled on Tennicks - despite the fact that he was the most miserable old cantankerous sod (well at least to us) - and we had some glorious days. The beer tale reminded me of a time we were travelling down to Stoke for a 5th round tie (I think). The mags were playing away that day as well and our respective coaches were travelling down the A1 together, with the usual exchange of greetings mouthed through the windows and friendly waves to each other. This was also the days of coaches organised by pubs/clubs with beer piled on the racks above the seats. As one mag coach pulled slowly alongside we could see that it wasn't full, but that didn't matter as we were all plastered against the windows trying to get at each other. One thing caught my eye - in the front sat the biggest ugliest skinhead I have ever seen. His companion on the other seat was a half empty crate of broon (this was about 9 in the morning!!) and he was looking straight ahead with the bottle tipped up drinking. Ever so slowly he lowered the bottle, turned his head in our direction and our eyes met. Keeping his slo-mo act going, he just shook his head, smiled (frightening) and turned back ahead and raised his broon back to his lips. That skinhead might not have been the brightest coin in the bag, but he taught me one lesson - get on with the important things in your life and don't waste energy on things you can do nothing about.
The Tennicks coaches used to set off from Dundass Street in Roker, where I believe Mr John Tennick also ran a fishing tackle shop...I have many fond memories travelling with Tennicks including my trip to the FA Cup final in 1973. I used to also like the fact that when we played in London, the coaches set off at midnight the night before and arrived in London at about six in the morning, which give fans plenty of time to find decent bars etc.
mrRAWhite Iremember going to London on Easter Monday to see Fulham in the era of Jim Baxter, we were there early enough to take in Arsenal v Liverpool and saw the best og if ever seen, John Toshack defending an Arsenal corner met it on the penalty spot and thundered a header into his own net awesome. We then went over to Craven Cottage only to loose 2 > 3. Our away form has always been iffy.
Wasn't with Tennicks, but the Glebe in Chester Road organised regularly away trips, leaving just after the pub closed -11 o'clock in those days !!! I recall a cup match at Norwich in the early 60's and Charlie Hurley went on one of his regular runs from a corner kick and the ball rocketed over the bar - at least that's what everyone thought. After what seemed like an eternity, we realised the ball was stuck in the top corner at the back of the net and the crowd went delirious and that goal proved the winner. I don't know why, but despite travelling to most away grounds over the years, that is my outstanding away trip memory. Maybe it was the amazing hospitality of the Norwich folk who had never seen so many visiting fans doing a conga through Woolies at 9 in the morning or perhaps it was because it's the only occasion both Charlie and I scored away from home!! Ambiguity removed!!
Comment from Argus....." perhaps it was because it's the only occasion both Charlie and I both scored away from home together"!!....In all these years I never new King Charlie was that way inclined... Just joking mate...
I can vouch for the fact that 'King Charlie' certainly wasn't that way inclined !!? - I used buy Lug worms from Tennicks before a fishing trip, All nighter on the North Pier, Happy days, and nights
I'm sure a few will recall seeing Charlie with his missus alongside some other players who were fairly regulars at Wetherells on a Saturday night. From the Clock Stand he looked a big lad but on that dance floor he was awesome and towered over everyone. It would take a braver man than I (or MrRAW) to suggest he was anything other than a 'real' man!
Argus I have met King Charlie a number of times and he was always a gentleman, a great ambassador for the club and all round top guy, and I couldn't say a wrong word against the man...
