I'm from Driffield originally and my dad first took me in November '67. If I remember it correctly we lost to Carlisle. He was not into football and it was 12 months till I got taken again. The opposition was Carlisle again and we lost again! But I was hooked. He had some mates who took me from then on till I was old enough to go on my own. I just loved the atmosphere that the old BP could create. Started in the north stand standing right at the front, loved to get there early to get my spot. When a bit older, early teens, I moved on to the Kempton and south stand. Loved the singing, the will we, won't we, with the opposition. Loved BP and was unsure if I would like the KC but the East stand on a good night was brilliant. As a treat once we had 3 season tickets in the posh area of the West stand but prefer the standing and singing at away games - and I am 60!! Took eldest daughter to BP and sat in the seats in the best stand for one of our famous 'last games' on a wet Friday night against Cardiff (lost again) but she loved it and has followed our fortunes ever since though now 30 and living away. Took son to BP and he still talks about it even though he must only have been 5 or so at the time. Fortunately he got hooked and 21 years on still is. Moved down south to Salisbury almost 19 years ago but that did not stop us following City. We all used to set off at 8.00am and get back in time for match of the day. Daughter thought I was mad and put me forward as a supporter of the season (didn't win). I have the programme framed and on the wall at home with my story about following City home and away. Good times. Some great games and times. Especially late 60's and early 70s with Waggy, Chilton, Butler etc. and later on Wembley visits that I thought would never happen. The promotions through the leagues were great because it was not just about 1 day, it was about the whole season. There were bad times too, too many really, relegations, certain managers and owners, but we got through it and up the leagues we went. Now living in Cambridge, as my username suggests, after a stint in Swindon. Some have commented that I slowly moving back up North. Unfortunately my enthusiasm for following City has dropped a little due to the way that the club is being run at the moment though they are still my team and everyone at work knows it. I think they pity me really! There are at least 3 other City supporters were I currently work which is odd. Strange how one could love it so much during some really ****ty times and some dire football but still have a great time, especially away from home. We did not even make one home game last season and I have no plans for the immediate future though my son would go at the drop of a hat (but he needs me to get him there.) All us supporters seemed to have started as kids and the current owners do not see that without this generation there will be no support as they will just see the big teams on Sky and follow them. When we were young it was easy to follow Leeds or one of the other big clubs but once you got taken to BP (or the KC) and you saw that pitch and felt that atmosphere you wanted more. Attendances will drop year on year as more drift away and there will be no one to take there place. I hope someone will come in and reverse that trend. It has been done in the past. Irrespective of what people's opinions are of Don Robinson and Adam Pearson they knew how to get people into the ground and generated a good feeling about OUR club. UTT
I was at all those games on bunkers, I have never felt so crammed in as at that Millwall game, it was insane.
None of my parents or grandparents had any interest in Hull City or football for that matter. Both families ended up in Hull because of work. My fathers family are from North Yorkshire and my mothers from Nottingham, so no affiliation with Hull at that time. My fathers, father came to Hull as the first head greenkeeper of Springhead when it opened, and after the war, my mother and father married and stayed with my Grandparents, and I was born in the lodge on Springhead at the corner of Wymsley Rd and Willerby road. I mentioned this because many of you started because of your family, but I was different. We moved to Anlaby common and hence I went to Anlaby CP school. For some reason, I started playing football in the playground with a tennis ball and then in games lessons and soon found myself in the football team. City in those days had given passes to schools, which got you a 50% discount on entry. These passes were, 3 in total, available to anyone who wanted to go, and my friend suggested we should take them and go and watch. That is what got me going! That was it, hooked, first game November 1958 against Chester we won 3-0, after that it was just a place that held a magical attraction for me, I remember the smell when you walked through the turnstiles, which I can still bring to mind today. TAKE NOTE MR ALLAM YOUR REFUSAL TO GIVE CONCESSIONS IS ONE OF THE WORST DECISIONS YOU WILL MAKE, AND YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF. IF YOU HAD BEEN CLEVER ENOUGH TO DO A SURVEY OF ALL CITY SUPPORTERS AND FIND OUT HOW THEY STARTED TO SUPPORT HULL CITY AFC, INSTEAD OF THESE BIAS SO CALLED VOTES YOU PUT OUT ON THE NAME CHANGE ETC, THEN YOU WOULD FIND OUT THAT A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF YOUR SO CALLED CUSTOMERS STARTED AT A YOUNG AGE, IN MAY CASES BY THEIR PARENTS, THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT IN THE BEGINNING SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO BECOME SUPPORTERS AND THEN REWARD THEM IN THEIR OLD AGE FOR THEIR LOYALTY.
We moved from Leicestershire in 1974 and in '75 my Dad took me to my first game - the Wendys I think - and that was it for me. Went with my Dad for a number of years then with mates and have had a pass continually since 1983; went to as many away games as I could too and have been to over a hundred grounds following City. I was proud to take my lad with me and so glad he also caught the bug - standing with him at our first Wembley experience is something I will never forget and cherish forever. Have not stopped going and never will, I won't let these jumped-up Egyptians stop me attending , I'll have to be in a wooden box when that happens.
I’ve hesitated to post on this thread because I can’t remember my first game, or even what decade it was in, late sixties or early seventies! I was born in Routh, the youngest of five siblings, the eldest was my only brother who is eleven years my senior. The earliest memory I have of City is an old wartime bugle that my brother had painted in black and amber with a proud tiger adjourning it. My parents divorced when I was five and my mother brought us all back to her native Hull, Initially off Beverley Road then later we settled in ‘big’ Kimberley Street. My brother would soon leave home to join the army, and I can’t remember if it was before or after that that he took me to my first game at Boothferry Park, I can remember that he told me to take some boots in case they were a player short. That was it, I was addicted. During the Horton era I was sales director of a local company, at this point I ensured that there was plenty of sponsorship of games and players, along with sportsman dinners arranged that players would attend, to the benefit of both our business and that of the club. Sadly I haven’t seen my brother for nigh on thirty years, families and all that. However, to follow the common theme, I started young and have never, and will never, lose my love for City. **** you Allam’s.
CambsTiger. I must know you, surely. First game, 1969. Carlisle United at BP. I was 10, and had only ever watched games on (B&W) tele, and on local pitches in Driff. (Driff Panthers anyone?). Went with a friends Dad. They were season ticket holders in North Stand seats. My favourite team at the time was Man City (no, really). Lee, Summerbee, Bell, .... I didn't really know anything about City at the time, other than knowing that a few friends went to watch them. We had to go to the Carlisle game to be able to get a ticket for the Man City cup game, which is the game I was excited about seeing. I don't remember much about the Carlisle game, but do remember bits from the Man City game. We lost 0-1. Sat in North Stand. Remember a big middle aged Man City fan sat near me, with a rosette on his jacket. I came back from that game as a hooked City fan. Lucky enough to have 2 friends who's Dad's would take me from time to time, until I was old enough to go myself on the train from Driff (and then train or walk from Paragon to BP). Good following from Driff in those days (and since). As others have said, just loved the whole buzz. 70's & 80's were mad times on the terraces and before & after games. We were mostly ****, but it was my team. I couldn't and still can't understand why anyone from round here wouldn't support their local team. There were many highlights though, even during the dark days., and a few false dawns. Lowest point for me was the walk out season, forget the year, we were getting beat at home to Scunny and I was sat in the South Stand holding back tears at the sorry state we were in. During late teens and early twenties I played local football and went to City whenever I could. Then I got a bad injury so it was watching City all the time, except for a handful of years early 30's when I was ok to play again. I got family into it, both local and from away; some have stuck with it, some have understandably lost the passion somewhat, and sadly none of us go other than odd away games. Anyway, back to the story, then came AP, the move to the KC and finally something really special was being built. The rest is history. All those dark days made 2008 all the more sweet. Plastic glory hunting fans have absolutely no idea of the feelings many of us on here had that day, and in the few months that followed. For me, one of the greatest pleasures during the AP era was seeing kids, whether in my home town, in Hull, around EY and even beyond, proudly wearing City shirts. It almost breaks my heart (I know, it's only football, but still) to have now witnessed the utter destruction that the Allams have achieved. Hopefully it can be rebuilt. #CityTillIDie #UTT
I'm a boycotter myself Cambs, but when you say "My Son would go at the drop of a hat". Well I have to refer you to Sir Cheshire Ben's post on page two of this thread. You can't get these days back mate.
Hi Driff. We must know each other, your story is so similar to mine and our ages are about the same. I was at that Man City game as well. Played rugby and local football for a while. Not Panthers but for EI. Travelled on the train for a while during teen years. There was a good following from Driffield. Think it was the 1.30 ish that went to Paragon and then onto Boothferry and then getting the right train back meant that often didn't need a ticket (sorry about that, I confess now!!)
Hi Kempton, and SCB, you're probably right. It's making me think - I do miss the away days and the feeling you get when driving back up north and seeing the ground. We'll see.
Encouraged by the free tickets that were distributed to our junior school team a few of my pals used to watch City. I particularly remember their enthusiasm after a high scoring cup match against Crook Town. Some time afterwards I decided to give it a go and went to the opening game of the season (against Peterborough, a dull 0-0 with an 18,000 crowd in the Third Division). I was absolutely bowled over by the sight of the pitch under floodlights and the overall Boothferry Park atmosphere. The next game was an equally unimpressive 0-0 against Colchester but I persevered and saw my first City goal in a 2-2 draw against Barnsley - a 25 yard rocket into the bottom left hand corner of the net by Chris Chilton. After that I was a regular on Bunkers Hill/South Stand until I moved to the West Stand at the KC.
Was talking to someone I haven't seen for ages recently who played for Panthers. Back in the late 1960s/early 1970s a lot of the better players in Brid ended up playing for Panthers as it was the only way to go up a level as they were in a higher league.
Its 70 years since I went to my first City game in the late 1940s. I was born In Hull (Fairfax Ave) in 1939 but we were hit by the Luftwaffe in 41 and moved out to Beverley. My Uncle Charlie Forrest was a typesetter at the HDM and got me the Hull City football annual which they published every year and I was hooked. He took me to my first games...most memorably the Man U cup semifinal where as a 10 year year old I sat on the touchline grass because the Well was packed, and the record crowd was around 55,000. My heroes in those days were the Incredible Billy Bly, Jock Davidson, Viggo Jensen, Eddie Burbanks, Harold Means, and the best player I ever saw (other than Georgie Best) the legendary "Silver Fox", Horatio Stratton Carter. Until 1963 when I emigrated to Canada I was at every home game I could get to from boarding school and uni, taking the bus from Beverley and train from Paragon. After that I waited for the weekly Green Mails (which arrived much battered weeks after the game) to read the details of the latest match. I had seen Chris Chilton many times before I left England, but he and Wagstaff, Ian Butler, and Houghton etc transformed us as an attacking force. I have never had any interest in supporting another team despite many lean years in the lower divisions, and at 80 years of age I'm sure I never will. I never thought I would see Hull City in the Premier or in a Cup Final in person, but have now seen both as well as the incredible Windass goal against Bristol City which took us to the Premier. So I've seen the highs and lows, and our greatest players at dear old Boothferry Park and the KC. My six children are all Hull City supporters, and some have been to their games, including Wembley, with me. Hull City have been an important part of my life almost as long as I remember. Thanks so much for all the memories.
Went with my Dad, who asked my 6 year old self, "Do you want me to take you to watch Hull FC or Hull City. Went against Aston Villa when we were both in the Championship in 1967-68 season. April 1968.
The largest crowd at BP were I was an attendee was 32 K in the FA cup v West Ham about '73 , so cannot imagine 55K inside our famous old ground . Of course , back then most people stood with the west stand having the only seats . Must have been a great sight for a 10 year old .
There were seats in the South and North Stand. At the time we applied to be a World Cup Ground in 1966 the only league grounds with more seats than Boothferry Park were Goodison and Hillsborough, though by the time the competition started Old Trafford had. They had to put temporary seats in at Roker Park and Ayresome Park because they didn't have enough seats to meet FIFA regulations. Though you, like myself were at the game which was the last time City are likely to have a 30,000+ crowd in the forseeable future if ever. I was at Stoke game whose 40,000+ crowd I can't ever imagine being exceeded.
You are a few days away from 80 CT ! Also I am reliably informed that the Man U. match was a 6th round match. Evidently the first home game that my husband didn't attend since he went to his first game aged 8 which was the first match played at the opening of Boothferry Park in 1946.
It was indeed a 6th round, Mrs BMB. Semi-finals were, and still played on neutral grounds, though they are all at the same one nowadays.
I don't remember my first game except I got a ticket from school and Don Robinson was the chairman and he rode a horse around the pitch
That was the first leg of the Arrow Air Anglo-American Cup against the Tampa Bay Rowdies who were managed by Rodney Marsh.. We won 3-0. Lost second leg 1-0 but the silverware was ours. Know a couple of lads from Brid who went, one of them was the biggest City fanatic I have known. They played another game in America but can't remember who it was against.
