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Given my advanced years and assuming she's not got fussy lately I probably still would today.
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Great away days of the past
Started by
MKBlue
, Mar 27 2010 10:53 AM
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#42
Posted 06 May 2011 - 08:20 PM
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brimstone, on 15 April 2011 - 10:18 AM, said:
around mid 70s , is one that sticks in my mind. derby away . we took most of the popside . for most of the match blues fans , blues fans on blues fans shoulders and 3 high also sang a continuous CHELSEA CHELSEEEA CHELLLLSSSEEEAA . great day
Remember the game Mickey Greenaway started the chant after we went 1 - 0 down and it kept going till we scored late in the game not that many Chelsea from down south as british rail was on strike also standing next to me was some big blond girl with doctor martins on seems she was banned from wolves for live and she started supporting Chelsea the notw did a story on her seems she was a bit of a nutter
bit like the rest of us in those days 
KTBFFH
#43
Posted 06 May 2011 - 08:57 PM
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north stand, on 06 May 2011 - 08:20 PM, said:
Remember the game Mickey Greenaway started the chant after we went 1 - 0 down and it kept going till we scored late in the game not that many Chelsea from down south as british rail was on strike also standing next to me was some big blond girl with doctor martins on seems she was banned from wolves for live and she started supporting Chelsea the notw did a story on her seems she was a bit of a nutter bit like the rest of us in those days
KTBFFH
bit like the rest of us in those days KTBFFH
#44
Posted 06 May 2011 - 09:23 PM
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Anyone remember the game at Derby in the early/mid 70's, when the Pop Side got a bit gobby? We all went on the pitch and invited them on for a ruck by singing a Gary Giiitter song (well, the chorus - "Come on come on, Come on come on, Come on come on come on") Leader Of The Gang? We all considered Glitter a c*nt, but had no idea at the time just how much of a c*nt he was. Anyway, end result, the Pop Side bottled it.
#45
Posted 07 May 2011 - 09:22 AM
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That reminds me why I sometimes feel uncomfortable shouting "come on Chelsea". We used to shout "Come on XXXX" as in come on then if you are hard enough.
#46
Posted 02 April 2012 - 02:06 PM
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Especially for Peckham Blue, my match report of the 1972/73 Sheffield United v Chelsea game. I originally posted this on another Chelsea site some years ago, and didn't realise I'd kept a copy - saved me having to strain my memory muscles again!
16 September 1972 - Division One
Sheffield United 2 (Woodward (pen), Dearden)
Chelsea 1 (Garland)
Attendance: - 24,458
Sheffield Utd: - Tony McAlister, Stephen Goulding, Ted Hemsley, John Flynn, Eddie Colquhoun, Trevor Hockey, Alan Woodward, Len Badger, Billy Dearden, Tony Currie, David Ford.
Chelsea: - Peter Bonetti, Paddy Mulligan, Eddie McCreadie, Ron Harris, Micky Droy, Dave Webb (Johnny Boyle), Brian Bason, Steve Kember, Peter Feely, John Hollins, Chris Garland.
It was a pleasant September morning when I arrived at St.Pancras BR station. I was on my own, as none of my mates went to away matches much at the time. Mind you, I wasn’t alone for long, as there were hundreds of Chelsea fans milling around the station, inside and out, waiting for the football special. Virtually everyone was wearing their Chelsea colours – mainly woollen or silk scarves. I had my Cup Winners Cup Winners silk scarf tied firmly to my belt – I was 15 years old, and had just started my apprenticeship, having left school two months before. This was only my second away game outside London, the first being a trip to Derby the previous January.
Eventually the shout went up that the gates were open, and we all piled onto the platform where the Football Special was waiting. It was a typical ‘Special’ – out of date rolling stock, cold and dirty, with no facilities other than filthy toilets which only got used in extreme emergencies (such as hiding from the ticket collector) – but they were cheap, which is why they were so popular.
I got talking to people during the journey, some of whom had been to Sheffield before. They painted a bit of a black picture – Sheffield was thought of as a pretty hard town, but they only had experience of Sheffield Wednesday, not United, as they had only just got promoted. Actually, they were top of the league for the first couple of months of the season. The general consensus was that we’d take them, no bother, but we’d have to stick together and watch for ambushes.
As I mentioned before, I hadn’t any real experience of Chelsea away matches other than London derbies (at that time, Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham & Crystal Palace), and so was quite excited. This was all new territory to me – I’d never travelled as far north as Sheffield in my life! There was only one special that day, so far as I know, but it was packed with Chelsea, so there must have been around 500 of us in total. Not many people went by coach or van in those days.
Eventually we arrived at Sheffield, and steamed off the train and up the platform to the station entrance. The chants of ‘Chelsea – Chelsea’ echoed around the station, and the whole thing was just a big adrenaline rush. It must have sounded like there were thousands of us coming out of there! In future years, there would normally be a welcoming committee from the home fans at most games, but back then they would all be in the ground waiting for us.
We marched off down the street towards Brammall Lane – apparently some of the Chelsea knew the way, because we arrived there without getting lost! It must have been these same lads who were telling everyone that we were outside the Sheffield United end, the ‘Shoreham Road Kop’. The police were trying to get us to go to the other end of the ground, which proved the lads right. We ignored the police, and all managed to get into the Kop end, making our way up the steps to the terraces. When we appeared in their end all hell broke loose. The northerners went berserk, running at us and throwing all kinds of stuff. A line of police held them back, but we were more wary of the old bill than we were of the Sheffield lads. They looked like they were loving it! We just stayed where we were and looked at the Sheffield Utd – most of the Chelsea seemed pretty confident that we would take their end, but I wasn’t so sure. There were more and more Sheffield joining their main mob at the back of the terracing, but the police were getting reinforcements too. As I said before, there were about 500 of us, and there wouldn’t be any more coming!
Things quietened down after a while and the game started. I seem to remember that there were were only really three sides to the pitch. The other side was quite a way from the pitch and was dominated by a cricket pavilion - Yorkshire played at Brammall Lane now and then, when they felt like going a bit down market. The other things I remember was Chris Garland scoring, which almost started World War III in the Kop as we celebrated, and the fact we lost 2-1. Not surprising really, when you consider the weakened team Dave Sexton had picked – Brian Bason and Peter Feely for Christ’s sake! And Steve Kember wasn’t in the same class as Alan Hudson. But I digress!
Meanwhile, back in the Kop, for virtually the whole match the northern bar stewards were throwing missiles at us – rocks, ball bearings, pieces of concrete, darts, you name it. The bloke standing behind me caught a ball bearing in the eye, but he wasn’t too badly hurt. They kept charging at us, but the old bill managed to keep them back. A copper kept saying to us that we’d be safe inside the ground while the police were there to protect us, but we’d be on our own outside, and would probably get killed on the way back to the station. He had a big grin on his face as he informed us of this, the sadistic c*nt!
Still, try as they might, the Sheffield Utd lads couldn’t get their way, and we stayed in the Kop for the entire game, never running once, even under the salvos of missiles. I must admit though, that there were a lot of tense faces as the match neared it’s end.
When the final whistle blew, the shout went up for the Chelsea to stay together. This wasn’t one of Chelsea’s strong points in the early 70’s, there were always little mobs going there own way, and doing there own thing. However, a sense of self preservation ensued, and we made our way back to the station in a tight knit group, expecting to be attacked at any moment. We were ready for them, but were heavily outnumbered.
When at last the station came into sight, you could almost feel the relief in the air. We’d made it! Wrong! Across the street from the station was a large building site. The Blades fans had got on there and waited for us. They charged at us from the site, toting all kinds of weapons – bricks, scaffolding poles, tools, you name it! They expected us to run into the station, where we’d be trapped, but they’d forgotten one thing – we were Chelsea. We ran straight at them, and piled into them – they legged it back onto the building site, and quite a battle ensued until they decided they’d had enough and f*cked off.
It was a jubilant and happy Chelsea mob that boarded the special that evening, even though we’d lost the match. Even when the cowardly northern scum put some of the windows in as we rolled out of town, it didn’t dampen our spirits. The only thing to do that was the fact that we couldn’t get a drink until we got back to London, but what the f*ck!
16 September 1972 - Division One
Sheffield United 2 (Woodward (pen), Dearden)
Chelsea 1 (Garland)
Attendance: - 24,458
Sheffield Utd: - Tony McAlister, Stephen Goulding, Ted Hemsley, John Flynn, Eddie Colquhoun, Trevor Hockey, Alan Woodward, Len Badger, Billy Dearden, Tony Currie, David Ford.
Chelsea: - Peter Bonetti, Paddy Mulligan, Eddie McCreadie, Ron Harris, Micky Droy, Dave Webb (Johnny Boyle), Brian Bason, Steve Kember, Peter Feely, John Hollins, Chris Garland.
It was a pleasant September morning when I arrived at St.Pancras BR station. I was on my own, as none of my mates went to away matches much at the time. Mind you, I wasn’t alone for long, as there were hundreds of Chelsea fans milling around the station, inside and out, waiting for the football special. Virtually everyone was wearing their Chelsea colours – mainly woollen or silk scarves. I had my Cup Winners Cup Winners silk scarf tied firmly to my belt – I was 15 years old, and had just started my apprenticeship, having left school two months before. This was only my second away game outside London, the first being a trip to Derby the previous January.
Eventually the shout went up that the gates were open, and we all piled onto the platform where the Football Special was waiting. It was a typical ‘Special’ – out of date rolling stock, cold and dirty, with no facilities other than filthy toilets which only got used in extreme emergencies (such as hiding from the ticket collector) – but they were cheap, which is why they were so popular.
I got talking to people during the journey, some of whom had been to Sheffield before. They painted a bit of a black picture – Sheffield was thought of as a pretty hard town, but they only had experience of Sheffield Wednesday, not United, as they had only just got promoted. Actually, they were top of the league for the first couple of months of the season. The general consensus was that we’d take them, no bother, but we’d have to stick together and watch for ambushes.
As I mentioned before, I hadn’t any real experience of Chelsea away matches other than London derbies (at that time, Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham & Crystal Palace), and so was quite excited. This was all new territory to me – I’d never travelled as far north as Sheffield in my life! There was only one special that day, so far as I know, but it was packed with Chelsea, so there must have been around 500 of us in total. Not many people went by coach or van in those days.
Eventually we arrived at Sheffield, and steamed off the train and up the platform to the station entrance. The chants of ‘Chelsea – Chelsea’ echoed around the station, and the whole thing was just a big adrenaline rush. It must have sounded like there were thousands of us coming out of there! In future years, there would normally be a welcoming committee from the home fans at most games, but back then they would all be in the ground waiting for us.
We marched off down the street towards Brammall Lane – apparently some of the Chelsea knew the way, because we arrived there without getting lost! It must have been these same lads who were telling everyone that we were outside the Sheffield United end, the ‘Shoreham Road Kop’. The police were trying to get us to go to the other end of the ground, which proved the lads right. We ignored the police, and all managed to get into the Kop end, making our way up the steps to the terraces. When we appeared in their end all hell broke loose. The northerners went berserk, running at us and throwing all kinds of stuff. A line of police held them back, but we were more wary of the old bill than we were of the Sheffield lads. They looked like they were loving it! We just stayed where we were and looked at the Sheffield Utd – most of the Chelsea seemed pretty confident that we would take their end, but I wasn’t so sure. There were more and more Sheffield joining their main mob at the back of the terracing, but the police were getting reinforcements too. As I said before, there were about 500 of us, and there wouldn’t be any more coming!
Things quietened down after a while and the game started. I seem to remember that there were were only really three sides to the pitch. The other side was quite a way from the pitch and was dominated by a cricket pavilion - Yorkshire played at Brammall Lane now and then, when they felt like going a bit down market. The other things I remember was Chris Garland scoring, which almost started World War III in the Kop as we celebrated, and the fact we lost 2-1. Not surprising really, when you consider the weakened team Dave Sexton had picked – Brian Bason and Peter Feely for Christ’s sake! And Steve Kember wasn’t in the same class as Alan Hudson. But I digress!
Meanwhile, back in the Kop, for virtually the whole match the northern bar stewards were throwing missiles at us – rocks, ball bearings, pieces of concrete, darts, you name it. The bloke standing behind me caught a ball bearing in the eye, but he wasn’t too badly hurt. They kept charging at us, but the old bill managed to keep them back. A copper kept saying to us that we’d be safe inside the ground while the police were there to protect us, but we’d be on our own outside, and would probably get killed on the way back to the station. He had a big grin on his face as he informed us of this, the sadistic c*nt!
Still, try as they might, the Sheffield Utd lads couldn’t get their way, and we stayed in the Kop for the entire game, never running once, even under the salvos of missiles. I must admit though, that there were a lot of tense faces as the match neared it’s end.
When the final whistle blew, the shout went up for the Chelsea to stay together. This wasn’t one of Chelsea’s strong points in the early 70’s, there were always little mobs going there own way, and doing there own thing. However, a sense of self preservation ensued, and we made our way back to the station in a tight knit group, expecting to be attacked at any moment. We were ready for them, but were heavily outnumbered.
When at last the station came into sight, you could almost feel the relief in the air. We’d made it! Wrong! Across the street from the station was a large building site. The Blades fans had got on there and waited for us. They charged at us from the site, toting all kinds of weapons – bricks, scaffolding poles, tools, you name it! They expected us to run into the station, where we’d be trapped, but they’d forgotten one thing – we were Chelsea. We ran straight at them, and piled into them – they legged it back onto the building site, and quite a battle ensued until they decided they’d had enough and f*cked off.
It was a jubilant and happy Chelsea mob that boarded the special that evening, even though we’d lost the match. Even when the cowardly northern scum put some of the windows in as we rolled out of town, it didn’t dampen our spirits. The only thing to do that was the fact that we couldn’t get a drink until we got back to London, but what the f*ck!
#47
Posted 02 April 2012 - 04:15 PM
Nice one....Another short...In the 70s (i think) we played Aston Villa away..It coulda been a night match...Anyway drove there and parked some way away..Chelsea faces i linked up to decided the HOLTE END was the end to be in this day..I knew how big the Holte was and must admit sh*tting myself severely before getting near the ground....sh*t myself further going in the ground...I dont remember anything about the footy but remember this...15 mins to kick off.If you are looking at the Holte from the pitch i suppose a coupla hundred of us Blues are in the top right hand area of Holte...Whoever it was shouted CHHEEEEEELLLSSEEAA and this started mayhem...our lot steamed villa..Psychology was with us initially ...Villa legged it in all directions down n across their terrace...Fear and excitement and awe combined and we felt invincible for a period that seemed like ages but was probably minutes....Having us follow onas villa escaped we didnt expect how quickly they would regroup and suddenly we were beingpushed back by villa n cops to the corner.I then found that i and other blues were in the midst of villa while they frenziedly tried to get past the cop lines to chelsea..For a few moments of self preservation i had to make out i was a villa boy fighting to get to the frontline for action..Once this was achieved i spoke to a cop who kindly let me into the chelsea contingiant.....Ahhh such wonderous days
#48
Posted 02 April 2012 - 04:46 PM
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Nice one BB ... Reminds me of one of my most memorable away days of the past .. and thanks to the magic of Youtube.. I found the full match highlights brilliant it has made my year !!! , well worth a watch particularly if you were there, so I can spare the write up of the match, just enjoy this !
Milk Cup 84/85 ... I can't remember the exact date but the occassion was memorable to me not only for the come back and a great game but for the wrong reasons.
It was an evening game I would have been 16 years old at the time, and I needed to get back to work, however we missed the last train back from sheffield there was me a 3 mates..., we tried to stay awake.. walked round sheffield, slept a bit on the platform that sort of thing.
The next day we got the cheapest ticket back we could all being pretty much skint that happened to be leaving mid day, we found a local pub, and foolishly went in, still with our Chelsea scarfs for a drink and a sandwhich and play a bit of pool until the train arrived....
However some bloke at the bar was watching us and I am pretty sure to this day he went across the other end of the bar and got on the pay phone (yes them days) , within half an hour the pub was rushed, I dont know until this day if it they were football fans or not, but there was at least 20 against us 4.
anyway I managed, cowardly to get to the bogs and climb out the window.. but thinking, I can't leave my mates even more foolishly went back in fists flying windmill style like a girl.
Anyway, I took the kickin of my life... one of the very few times in my years of following Chelsea.
So not really a chelsea story more a personal one. But deeply etched in my memories. As was the game, when I finally got out of Sheffield General and home I actually felt like a million dollars , and my team didn't do bad either :-)
Milk Cup 84/85 ... I can't remember the exact date but the occassion was memorable to me not only for the come back and a great game but for the wrong reasons.
It was an evening game I would have been 16 years old at the time, and I needed to get back to work, however we missed the last train back from sheffield there was me a 3 mates..., we tried to stay awake.. walked round sheffield, slept a bit on the platform that sort of thing.
The next day we got the cheapest ticket back we could all being pretty much skint that happened to be leaving mid day, we found a local pub, and foolishly went in, still with our Chelsea scarfs for a drink and a sandwhich and play a bit of pool until the train arrived....
However some bloke at the bar was watching us and I am pretty sure to this day he went across the other end of the bar and got on the pay phone (yes them days) , within half an hour the pub was rushed, I dont know until this day if it they were football fans or not, but there was at least 20 against us 4.
anyway I managed, cowardly to get to the bogs and climb out the window.. but thinking, I can't leave my mates even more foolishly went back in fists flying windmill style like a girl.
Anyway, I took the kickin of my life... one of the very few times in my years of following Chelsea.
So not really a chelsea story more a personal one. But deeply etched in my memories. As was the game, when I finally got out of Sheffield General and home I actually felt like a million dollars , and my team didn't do bad either :-)
#49
Posted 02 April 2012 - 08:47 PM
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Respect to you mate,you stood by you're mates when it would have been easier to run.That still takes guts,so well done to you.
I was lucky to be at that match & apart from the usual sh*t from the local constabulary,didn't really get any aggro at all.
The second half was Paul Canovilles finest hour (or 45mins!) & if it were'nt for big Doug's screw up,it would have been the best away trip ever.
I remember that twat dressed as Bertie Basset,(shove your Liqourish Allsorts up your arse!) jumping up & down at every goal they scored,yet,when the score became 3-4, he, like the local fuzz standing near me,suddenly,became pretty dam quiet.
Also, Howard Wilkinson calling all the players over to him at the final whistle & to a man,they ran to the centre circle like poxy lapdogs, was one of the most embarrassing things I've ever witnessed on a football pitch.
Still gutted that we didn't go on to win the bloody thing!.
I was lucky to be at that match & apart from the usual sh*t from the local constabulary,didn't really get any aggro at all.
The second half was Paul Canovilles finest hour (or 45mins!) & if it were'nt for big Doug's screw up,it would have been the best away trip ever.
I remember that twat dressed as Bertie Basset,(shove your Liqourish Allsorts up your arse!) jumping up & down at every goal they scored,yet,when the score became 3-4, he, like the local fuzz standing near me,suddenly,became pretty dam quiet.
Also, Howard Wilkinson calling all the players over to him at the final whistle & to a man,they ran to the centre circle like poxy lapdogs, was one of the most embarrassing things I've ever witnessed on a football pitch.
Still gutted that we didn't go on to win the bloody thing!.
#50
Posted 02 April 2012 - 09:02 PM
BlueBeard, on 02 April 2012 - 02:06 PM, said:
Especially for Peckham Blue, my match report of the 1972/73 Sheffield United v Chelsea game. I originally posted this on another Chelsea site some years ago, and didn't realise I'd kept a copy - saved me having to strain my memory muscles again!
16 September 1972 - Division One
Sheffield United 2 (Woodward (pen), Dearden)
Chelsea 1 (Garland)
Attendance: - 24,458
Sheffield Utd: - Tony McAlister, Stephen Goulding, Ted Hemsley, John Flynn, Eddie Colquhoun, Trevor Hockey, Alan Woodward, Len Badger, Billy Dearden, Tony Currie, David Ford.
Chelsea: - Peter Bonetti, Paddy Mulligan, Eddie McCreadie, Ron Harris, Micky Droy, Dave Webb (Johnny Boyle), Brian Bason, Steve Kember, Peter Feely, John Hollins, Chris Garland.
It was a pleasant September morning when I arrived at St.Pancras BR station. I was on my own, as none of my mates went to away matches much at the time. Mind you, I wasn’t alone for long, as there were hundreds of Chelsea fans milling around the station, inside and out, waiting for the football special. Virtually everyone was wearing their Chelsea colours – mainly woollen or silk scarves. I had my Cup Winners Cup Winners silk scarf tied firmly to my belt – I was 15 years old, and had just started my apprenticeship, having left school two months before. This was only my second away game outside London, the first being a trip to Derby the previous January.
Eventually the shout went up that the gates were open, and we all piled onto the platform where the Football Special was waiting. It was a typical ‘Special’ – out of date rolling stock, cold and dirty, with no facilities other than filthy toilets which only got used in extreme emergencies (such as hiding from the ticket collector) – but they were cheap, which is why they were so popular.
I got talking to people during the journey, some of whom had been to Sheffield before. They painted a bit of a black picture – Sheffield was thought of as a pretty hard town, but they only had experience of Sheffield Wednesday, not United, as they had only just got promoted. Actually, they were top of the league for the first couple of months of the season. The general consensus was that we’d take them, no bother, but we’d have to stick together and watch for ambushes.
As I mentioned before, I hadn’t any real experience of Chelsea away matches other than London derbies (at that time, Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham & Crystal Palace), and so was quite excited. This was all new territory to me – I’d never travelled as far north as Sheffield in my life! There was only one special that day, so far as I know, but it was packed with Chelsea, so there must have been around 500 of us in total. Not many people went by coach or van in those days.
Eventually we arrived at Sheffield, and steamed off the train and up the platform to the station entrance. The chants of ‘Chelsea – Chelsea’ echoed around the station, and the whole thing was just a big adrenaline rush. It must have sounded like there were thousands of us coming out of there! In future years, there would normally be a welcoming committee from the home fans at most games, but back then they would all be in the ground waiting for us.
We marched off down the street towards Brammall Lane – apparently some of the Chelsea knew the way, because we arrived there without getting lost! It must have been these same lads who were telling everyone that we were outside the Sheffield United end, the ‘Shoreham Road Kop’. The police were trying to get us to go to the other end of the ground, which proved the lads right. We ignored the police, and all managed to get into the Kop end, making our way up the steps to the terraces. When we appeared in their end all hell broke loose. The northerners went berserk, running at us and throwing all kinds of stuff. A line of police held them back, but we were more wary of the old bill than we were of the Sheffield lads. They looked like they were loving it! We just stayed where we were and looked at the Sheffield Utd – most of the Chelsea seemed pretty confident that we would take their end, but I wasn’t so sure. There were more and more Sheffield joining their main mob at the back of the terracing, but the police were getting reinforcements too. As I said before, there were about 500 of us, and there wouldn’t be any more coming!
Things quietened down after a while and the game started. I seem to remember that there were were only really three sides to the pitch. The other side was quite a way from the pitch and was dominated by a cricket pavilion - Yorkshire played at Brammall Lane now and then, when they felt like going a bit down market. The other things I remember was Chris Garland scoring, which almost started World War III in the Kop as we celebrated, and the fact we lost 2-1. Not surprising really, when you consider the weakened team Dave Sexton had picked – Brian Bason and Peter Feely for Christ’s sake! And Steve Kember wasn’t in the same class as Alan Hudson. But I digress!
Meanwhile, back in the Kop, for virtually the whole match the northern bar stewards were throwing missiles at us – rocks, ball bearings, pieces of concrete, darts, you name it. The bloke standing behind me caught a ball bearing in the eye, but he wasn’t too badly hurt. They kept charging at us, but the old bill managed to keep them back. A copper kept saying to us that we’d be safe inside the ground while the police were there to protect us, but we’d be on our own outside, and would probably get killed on the way back to the station. He had a big grin on his face as he informed us of this, the sadistic c*nt!
Still, try as they might, the Sheffield Utd lads couldn’t get their way, and we stayed in the Kop for the entire game, never running once, even under the salvos of missiles. I must admit though, that there were a lot of tense faces as the match neared it’s end.
When the final whistle blew, the shout went up for the Chelsea to stay together. This wasn’t one of Chelsea’s strong points in the early 70’s, there were always little mobs going there own way, and doing there own thing. However, a sense of self preservation ensued, and we made our way back to the station in a tight knit group, expecting to be attacked at any moment. We were ready for them, but were heavily outnumbered.
When at last the station came into sight, you could almost feel the relief in the air. We’d made it! Wrong! Across the street from the station was a large building site. The Blades fans had got on there and waited for us. They charged at us from the site, toting all kinds of weapons – bricks, scaffolding poles, tools, you name it! They expected us to run into the station, where we’d be trapped, but they’d forgotten one thing – we were Chelsea. We ran straight at them, and piled into them – they legged it back onto the building site, and quite a battle ensued until they decided they’d had enough and f*cked off.
It was a jubilant and happy Chelsea mob that boarded the special that evening, even though we’d lost the match. Even when the cowardly northern scum put some of the windows in as we rolled out of town, it didn’t dampen our spirits. The only thing to do that was the fact that we couldn’t get a drink until we got back to London, but what the f*ck!
16 September 1972 - Division One
Sheffield United 2 (Woodward (pen), Dearden)
Chelsea 1 (Garland)
Attendance: - 24,458
Sheffield Utd: - Tony McAlister, Stephen Goulding, Ted Hemsley, John Flynn, Eddie Colquhoun, Trevor Hockey, Alan Woodward, Len Badger, Billy Dearden, Tony Currie, David Ford.
Chelsea: - Peter Bonetti, Paddy Mulligan, Eddie McCreadie, Ron Harris, Micky Droy, Dave Webb (Johnny Boyle), Brian Bason, Steve Kember, Peter Feely, John Hollins, Chris Garland.
It was a pleasant September morning when I arrived at St.Pancras BR station. I was on my own, as none of my mates went to away matches much at the time. Mind you, I wasn’t alone for long, as there were hundreds of Chelsea fans milling around the station, inside and out, waiting for the football special. Virtually everyone was wearing their Chelsea colours – mainly woollen or silk scarves. I had my Cup Winners Cup Winners silk scarf tied firmly to my belt – I was 15 years old, and had just started my apprenticeship, having left school two months before. This was only my second away game outside London, the first being a trip to Derby the previous January.
Eventually the shout went up that the gates were open, and we all piled onto the platform where the Football Special was waiting. It was a typical ‘Special’ – out of date rolling stock, cold and dirty, with no facilities other than filthy toilets which only got used in extreme emergencies (such as hiding from the ticket collector) – but they were cheap, which is why they were so popular.
I got talking to people during the journey, some of whom had been to Sheffield before. They painted a bit of a black picture – Sheffield was thought of as a pretty hard town, but they only had experience of Sheffield Wednesday, not United, as they had only just got promoted. Actually, they were top of the league for the first couple of months of the season. The general consensus was that we’d take them, no bother, but we’d have to stick together and watch for ambushes.
As I mentioned before, I hadn’t any real experience of Chelsea away matches other than London derbies (at that time, Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham & Crystal Palace), and so was quite excited. This was all new territory to me – I’d never travelled as far north as Sheffield in my life! There was only one special that day, so far as I know, but it was packed with Chelsea, so there must have been around 500 of us in total. Not many people went by coach or van in those days.
Eventually we arrived at Sheffield, and steamed off the train and up the platform to the station entrance. The chants of ‘Chelsea – Chelsea’ echoed around the station, and the whole thing was just a big adrenaline rush. It must have sounded like there were thousands of us coming out of there! In future years, there would normally be a welcoming committee from the home fans at most games, but back then they would all be in the ground waiting for us.
We marched off down the street towards Brammall Lane – apparently some of the Chelsea knew the way, because we arrived there without getting lost! It must have been these same lads who were telling everyone that we were outside the Sheffield United end, the ‘Shoreham Road Kop’. The police were trying to get us to go to the other end of the ground, which proved the lads right. We ignored the police, and all managed to get into the Kop end, making our way up the steps to the terraces. When we appeared in their end all hell broke loose. The northerners went berserk, running at us and throwing all kinds of stuff. A line of police held them back, but we were more wary of the old bill than we were of the Sheffield lads. They looked like they were loving it! We just stayed where we were and looked at the Sheffield Utd – most of the Chelsea seemed pretty confident that we would take their end, but I wasn’t so sure. There were more and more Sheffield joining their main mob at the back of the terracing, but the police were getting reinforcements too. As I said before, there were about 500 of us, and there wouldn’t be any more coming!
Things quietened down after a while and the game started. I seem to remember that there were were only really three sides to the pitch. The other side was quite a way from the pitch and was dominated by a cricket pavilion - Yorkshire played at Brammall Lane now and then, when they felt like going a bit down market. The other things I remember was Chris Garland scoring, which almost started World War III in the Kop as we celebrated, and the fact we lost 2-1. Not surprising really, when you consider the weakened team Dave Sexton had picked – Brian Bason and Peter Feely for Christ’s sake! And Steve Kember wasn’t in the same class as Alan Hudson. But I digress!
Meanwhile, back in the Kop, for virtually the whole match the northern bar stewards were throwing missiles at us – rocks, ball bearings, pieces of concrete, darts, you name it. The bloke standing behind me caught a ball bearing in the eye, but he wasn’t too badly hurt. They kept charging at us, but the old bill managed to keep them back. A copper kept saying to us that we’d be safe inside the ground while the police were there to protect us, but we’d be on our own outside, and would probably get killed on the way back to the station. He had a big grin on his face as he informed us of this, the sadistic c*nt!
Still, try as they might, the Sheffield Utd lads couldn’t get their way, and we stayed in the Kop for the entire game, never running once, even under the salvos of missiles. I must admit though, that there were a lot of tense faces as the match neared it’s end.
When the final whistle blew, the shout went up for the Chelsea to stay together. This wasn’t one of Chelsea’s strong points in the early 70’s, there were always little mobs going there own way, and doing there own thing. However, a sense of self preservation ensued, and we made our way back to the station in a tight knit group, expecting to be attacked at any moment. We were ready for them, but were heavily outnumbered.
When at last the station came into sight, you could almost feel the relief in the air. We’d made it! Wrong! Across the street from the station was a large building site. The Blades fans had got on there and waited for us. They charged at us from the site, toting all kinds of weapons – bricks, scaffolding poles, tools, you name it! They expected us to run into the station, where we’d be trapped, but they’d forgotten one thing – we were Chelsea. We ran straight at them, and piled into them – they legged it back onto the building site, and quite a battle ensued until they decided they’d had enough and f*cked off.
It was a jubilant and happy Chelsea mob that boarded the special that evening, even though we’d lost the match. Even when the cowardly northern scum put some of the windows in as we rolled out of town, it didn’t dampen our spirits. The only thing to do that was the fact that we couldn’t get a drink until we got back to London, but what the f*ck!
Thanks for posting that one as requested!
#54
Posted 12 May 2012 - 12:27 PM
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after the 67 cup final defeat by u know who, the following season at white heart lane when we took there end, papers were full of it next day, anyone remember the white butchers coats and the walking sticks, the cry would go up 'walking sticks where r u' and hundreds would be raised, i remember one of the boys called 'the proff' decided to cave all the shop windows in at the bull ring after birmingham beat us 1-0 in the quarter finals of the cup, another time up at old trafford, we beat em 3-1 i think, we had to get back to the station(manchester had 2 railway stations then) in a hurry , gates were locked to the platform, and we wer surrounded a geezer called Eccles picked up a tomato sauce bottle ,smashed it and shouted come on then you northern c...s, no one took up the offer and we managed to get on the train. one year west ham decided to try and take the shed, they came through the shed end turnstiles, one of em had a f...ing air gun,my mate alex got a meat cleaver stuck in his hand by one of em, (in the photo alex is in the middle, sadly passed away now) , we had some laughs. (the photo was taken in palma nova , majorca, 1971)
Edited by chels53, 12 May 2012 - 12:31 PM.
#55
Posted 12 May 2012 - 01:52 PM
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chels53, on 12 May 2012 - 12:27 PM, said:
after the 67 cup final defeat by u know who, the following season at white heart lane when we took there end, papers were full of it next day, anyone remember the white butchers coats and the walking sticks, the cry would go up 'walking sticks where r u' and hundreds would be raised, i remember one of the boys called 'the proff' decided to cave all the shop windows in at the bull ring after birmingham beat us 1-0 in the quarter finals of the cup, another time up at old trafford, we beat em 3-1 i think, we had to get back to the station(manchester had 2 railway stations then) in a hurry , gates were locked to the platform, and we wer surrounded a geezer called Eccles picked up a tomato sauce bottle ,smashed it and shouted come on then you northern c...s, no one took up the offer and we managed to get on the train. one year west ham decided to try and take the shed, they came through the shed end turnstiles, one of em had a f...ing air gun,my mate alex got a meat cleaver stuck in his hand by one of em, (in the photo alex is in the middle, sadly passed away now) , we had some laughs. (the photo was taken in palma nova , majorca, 1971)
I was too young to participate in the games you mention, I would have been about 10 - I made up for it later though!
The Tottenham game you mention was notorious for the trouble in the Park Lane end, I loved reading about it and seeing the pictures. This pic is taken from the following week's home game against Man.Utd: -
#56
Posted 12 May 2012 - 02:47 PM
I was there and remember it thus , from looking into the park lane from the opposite end...Chelsea ran into the park lane from the left..I suppose it was approx up to the first goalpost...Fighting went on but all i can REMEMBER seeing were arms flaying in the front line of the two groups which seemed a straight line top to bottom..What i remember with surprise was as regularly the line would split away from each mob TO LET NON AGGRESSORS through , down and out of the melay..Chelsea were chased out of the park lane temporarily before running back in to cause mayhem..The initial chants from spurs fans singing ..youll never take the park lane ceased....After that i dont remember...I do remember before the match literally thousands of Blues marching what seemed like thewhole of the seven sisters rd all the way to the ground singing WE HATE TOTTENHAM and smashing the supporters club up
#57
Posted 14 May 2012 - 05:26 AM
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three of us booked up to go to the champions league final in athens, but then the scousers beat us in the semi's, well it would of been silly not to go after flights and hotel was booked, we had mon to fri on a little island off greece, (aguina), hotel was full of scousers but we had a brilliant time just getting pissed , it was made even better when my mate met a client he knew from work who was a scouser fan and had treated 4 of his clients to hotel flights and match tickets bought on the internet, when we met em back on the island next day they had faces as long as the m1, they had been ripped off, the tickets hadn't existed, this geezer reckons the whole lot flights,hotel, and tickets had set him back nearly £20,000 , thats life!!!!
#58
Posted 14 May 2012 - 08:44 AM
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This weekend we travelled through Ipswich on the way to Norwich, must say it brought back memories from an evening away match at Portman road circa 1973 It was like being transported back in time and I can remember the rogues gallery on that special back to Liverpool Street.
An old rickerty train with a corridor and compartments, when we got into LS we were expecting West Ham to be waiting but no show and we all melted away into the underground.
It also reminded me of years later when we were banned, and the Chelsea with the " Chelsea Murder Squad" tee shirts selling hand fulls of tickets to our fans outside the Ipswich end.
An old rickerty train with a corridor and compartments, when we got into LS we were expecting West Ham to be waiting but no show and we all melted away into the underground.
It also reminded me of years later when we were banned, and the Chelsea with the " Chelsea Murder Squad" tee shirts selling hand fulls of tickets to our fans outside the Ipswich end.
#59
Posted 14 May 2012 - 11:09 AM
talking of ipswich brought back a memory of once when we were taking their end..The memory was the fear i saw on a few cops faces
#60
Posted 20 May 2012 - 10:13 AM
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Nitro, on 14 May 2012 - 08:44 AM, said:
This weekend we travelled through Ipswich on the way to Norwich, must say it brought back memories from an evening away match at Portman road circa 1973 It was like being transported back in time and I can remember the rogues gallery on that special back to Liverpool Street.
An old rickerty train with a corridor and compartments,
An old rickerty train with a corridor and compartments,
The old rickerty train pulled out of the station, the journey has proved to be a long one todays stop was the European Cup.
Some of those old rogues are no longer with us and were unable to finish the rocky journey.
No tears last night but it has really hit me this morning.
I once hoped we may win the Anglo Scottish cup, now we are Champions of Europe,
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