Lofty

Yep, I was in the same mob but got turfed out by the Old Bill before too long. Tried to get round to the Ilderton Road end but didn't get in - from what I heard it was even worse in there. However, as far as complete and utter sh*tehouses go, you'd have to go a long way to go to beat the old Vetch in Swansea. Every time we went there we were herded into a dangerously packed area in the away end (I know we've gone over this one before) then when we were allowed into the large terrace at the side, seriously I couldn't tell where the pisshouse ended and the terraces began. Outside was funny. You had these Swansea fans complaining to the Old Bill about the lack of protection, and "you're only nicking our boys. Why don't you nick the f**king cockneys?" Answer: Because, being Chelsea supporters we were all fine, upstanding, law-abiding chaps. Every one of us to a man!

That's one game I do remember, but as usual with me, not exactly for the best of reasons. I was 16 at the time, went up on the special, and this was one of my first proper away games out of London. I think we won 2-1? Anyway, when we scored our first goal we all went mental naturally, a little way in front of me was this big curly ginger haired northern bar steward. This twat was about 30 and he was laying into kids - kids who looked young to me as a 16 year old. So I grabbed his hair and smacked the back of this scumbag's head. With the inevitable result, me being too tall for my own good in such circumstances, that the idiot Old Bill came steaming up through the terraces and dragged me off to the cells to be later charged with ABH. Went up to Sheffield Magistrates Court (or maybe it was juvenile court, I honestly forget after all this time) a few months later and pleaded Not Guilty. Told the magistrates exactly what happened and, me being of good character (oi oi shut it you!) they naturally believed me, and so I got off.

This is exactly why very rarely watch anything on TV except football and the news. I choose to watch old programmes. Tonight I've watched another episode of The Saint, and one of Dad's Army. Last night I watched episode two of Michael Palin's Pole to Pole and an episode from series one of The Mod Squad, a classy US detective series from the '60s, that starred Peggy Lipton who went on to play Norma Jennings in Twin Peaks. Not that all modern TV is rubbish. Series such as The Sopranos, The Wire and so on are excellent, of course, but these I'll tend to catch up on following a recommendation. What I won't do is waste my time on any kind of celebrity novelty or reality TV or bargain basement no-talent TV dross. It's all about the choices you make.

LINK

Funny you should say that. Years ago, a doctor my mother used to work for told me I should write a book about my life. And it's true, I could probably dig up plenty of material for a book, let alone a film. But it just ain't gonna happen. For one thing there's my memory - now I think of it, was it Carlisle I didn't get to that time, not Middlesboro? I'm honestly not sure. Naaa there are plenty of people our there better able to put together a supporters type memoir than me.

On my life, the things I'd completely forgotten about. I often used to hitchhike to away games when I was skint. Apart from Man City away, the only other time I failed to get to a game was Boro away. Way back when, can't remember the year but I do I remember I was wearing a red, white & green scarf So anyway, there I was on my own, on my way up North again. Freezing cold, pissing down cursing every miserable ignorant f**ker who wouldn't stop for me. But then, by one of those incredible but true coincidences, this mate of mine, bloke I knew very well, pulls up at the side of the road - calm down, no it's not going to be one of those kind of stories "Where the f**k are you off to?" he asks. - Middlesboro I reply. "Chelsea are playing?" - of course. What about you, where are you off to? "Oh I'm going to see this nurse I know. In Nottingham. f**k it, she's just some slag, I haven't been to football for years. Get in" So we're on our way to Boro and it's all good. Til we get to Ponteftact, then my mate announces he's tired, and asks me to drive. Which is a shame because I've never held a full car licence. I used to ride bikes. "Sod it" he says and pulls up on the hard shoulder. "I'm knackered. Give me a shout in half an hour" So I said ok, sat back, had a smoke and a can. Then the Old Bill pull up. Ask me what we're doing, so I told them the truth. "My mate here couldn't keep his eyes open, so it was dangerous for him to drive. I can't drive so he's having a break". "That's right" says my mate waking up. "Fair enough" says the copper. So it seemed like we're ok. Except that the other copper checked the licence places. And what my mate didn't told me was that not only was it a stolen vehicle, it was also the very same motor him and this other bloke had used to do a robbery over Park Royal. And so they haul us into Ponteftact nick - the whole town reeks of liquorice - taking not a blind bit of notice of me when I asked them what was going on and told them I was only going to football. Next morning two CID from Acton fetched us back in handcuffs on the train to Kings Cross. Back in Acton nick, they sent some grass type bloke to try to get round me. Even if I wanted to co-operate I couldn't because at that time I was still blissfully ignorant. They kept me there til sometime on Monday, but not before (as I learned later) going round my place and tearing it apart looking for evidence, and finally letting me go with a "you do know why we had to keep you here don't you?" - No I don't as it happens, I haven't got a f**king clue. And it was then they told me about this thing in Park Royal. I was well pissed off at missing the game. Best memory of the weekend was getting off at Kings Cross and eyeballing all these Arsenal fans - the looks on their faces. Seeing me in handcuffs wearing a Chelsea scarf, you can imagine what they thought.

As I mentioned to midlandblue the other day, I remember he'd ask if I was going to West Ham, Tottenham, Man U or wherever. And if the answer was anything less than definite, he'd order (and yes I do mean order) "BE THERE". One time he asked if I was going to Man City. When I told him I was skint I got a right mouthful. Strange one that. I really was skint so was going to hitchhike up there with one of my mates. We started out on the Friday night but never got there. This wasn't entirely my fault - my so-called mate bottled out bigtime and I allowed him to talk me out of it.

I've never seen either. Which makes me ... lucky!

Nope. Wasn't Pompey. Or Southampton.

My father regularly told me he'd seen me at The Bridge on Grandstand when the cameras used to go round the grounds at half time. Also there was an Open University programme about hooliganism featuring Oxford v Chelsea. I was on that apparently. I've seen clips that didn't include me but did feature a couple of my mates. One that was me but not on camera. Just the other week I was searching for something to do with Chelsea supporters, and came across a fans forum (South coast team), with a thread looking back to a friendly against us at their place, back in the '70s. This thread mentioned an "altercation at the railway station". What happened was that when we got off the train, some twat came steaming towards me, so I hit him. He raised his arms and I hit him again, knocked him spark out. Which led to a little scuffle with a few of this blokes mates. There wasn't much to it, they all ran off. But yep, that was me.

Good enough for you, you prick. Idiocy may not be a banning offence but acting the troll, repeatedly digging away with deliberately inane comments until someone snaps, should be. And that's exactly what you've been doing ever since you joined this forum. From the attacks on Michael Ballack to the crap taste in music and now to this garbage. You've got a history of what I believe is deliberately provocative inanity. And now of course, in typical troll fashion, having achieved your objective, you'll sit back and act the innocent. The thing with me is I don't go along with sh*tty little games like this, I don't have any time for them. And I don't have any time for you, you prize f**king prick.

I've misinterpreted nothing. I'm not going to bother going back over this thread that you have wrecked with your idiocy in order to quote the connection you made between Ovrebo screwing us over/Ovrebo got away with it/therefore you agree with Ferguson, because I can't be bothered. If you can't even follow your own pathetic attempt at logic, why should anyone else bother to try to explain it to you? I don't deal well with people screwing with my head, and you, you c**t are screwing with my head. Now do me a favour and f**k off. And if I get banned for calling you a c**t, then fine. Because believe me you prize f**kng c**t, everyone on this forum knows exactly what a prize f**king c**t you are.

That's not the point is it? Any more than Ovrebo screwing us over has anything to do with Ferguson's constant bullying tactics. Either you're an idiot or you're deliberately screwing with people's minds. Or maybe a little of both. I really don't know. Or care.

Sexelk. You are an idiot And your idiocy is wrecking this thread. It's not the first time and I dare say it won't be the last. Unfortunately, on this forum idiocy is not a banning offence.

Oh dear Christ. This topic is all about Ferguson. Every single post in this thread is about Ferguson. f**k it, I give up. There's no debating/arguing with that kind of stupidity.

Where do you get that idea from? Referees can and do get demoted. Referees can and do get suspended. But this is still NOT the point. The point which you continually ignore is that Ferguson has been getting away with this sh*t for years. Or do you really believe that Ferguson's behaviour has no influence - puts no pressure on referees? To use your poor attempt at logic. Ovrebo screwed us over in the Champions League, therefore Ferguson has a point - and that's bollox. I think you've got a lot in common with Ferguson. Your constant attacks on Ballack were because you saw him as an easy target, and now it's the same with referees.

Now you're using Ovrebo to justify Ferguson. There is pressure in every walk of life. There is reasonable pressure and there is unreasonable pressure. Pressure to get the decisions right is reasonable pressure. The way Ferguson bullies referees is unreasonable pressure and unacceptable behaviour. There. I've made it simple for you.

Moos. You and sexelk both miss the point of all this. Which is that Ferguson has been getting away with this crap for years. Ferguson DOES influence referees. He does it deliberately. He is a loud-mouthed bully. If any other manager pulled the sh*t he's been pulling for decades now, they'd have been quite rightly punished. But Ferguson continues to get away with it. This is reflected in the lenient attitude towards the likes of Scholes and Rooney. In the case of Scholes the sycophantic chuckle of "he's a hell of a player but he can't time a tackle" excuse every time he launches into another potential leg breaker. And Rooney? His petulance, his treatment of referees mirrors that of his manager. And why? Because the fat scouse git knows he can get away with it. Ferguson gets away with it, Scholes and Rooney continually get away with it - and Man U not only continually get away with it but repeatedly walk away with yet another undeserved three points. Why did Ferguson blow up at the weekend? Because they didn't win. Simple as that. Never mind that they were lucky to escape with a point, if they'd somehow managed to steal another three points from the game, Ferguson would have been all smiles. No I'm not changing tack here. It's true, referees are out of step. And what they're out of step with is the win at all cost attitude prevalent in the modern game. The constant pressure and over analysis only serves to heap more pressure on referees. Ferguson's constant bullying adds yet another layer to that pressure. But go on sexelk, blame the refs. Truth is they're easy targets, always have been. And Ferguson knows this better than anyone else.

And here's another one: Toffees boss sniffing out Fanni deal I think we have a winner!

I've been listening to a lot of jazz lately, including: Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners Miles Davis: Bitches Brew John Coltrane: Complete Impulse Recordings Art Pepper: Hollywood Sessions

Then you're a prick.

Also: Canaries Going Cheep.

No that's not all you're saying. And you know it. You're slagging off referees and making excuses for the red nosed git. Historically - and this means before the days of multi angle, constant analysis and re-analysis of every other possibly contentious decision, the referee's decision was final. You'd go to a match, you'd sing "the referee's a w**ker" and "who's the bar steward in the black". You'd question the referee's eyesight but you'd go home and that would more or less be the end of it. I don't believe that the average standard of referee is any worse then it's ever been. Possibly it's better, it's impossible to say. What's different is the constant, relentless pressure they're under, from players, managers, fans and the media. The fact that Ferguson has got away with it for so long does nothing but pile more pressure on referees. Fact: most fans feel hard done by after the average game. By their very nature, football fans see things with blue or red or whatever tinted glasses. So do managers. With all this in mind, I can see exactly where the FA's Respect campaign is coming from. Whether the time is right to introduce goal line and/or other video technology is another not entirely related argument. However, to take the attitude that referees must also be held accountable feeds right into Ferguson's behaviour, both excusing it and to at least some extent, condoning it. Managers, especially Ferguson, have chipped away at the doctrine of the finality of the referee's decision for years, aided and abetted by a sh*t-scared. sycophantic media, and it's high time the old bar steward had the book thrown at him.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I'll say it now: Never, ever EVER trust a T*tt*nh*m fan.

There was one thread I've seen where Drogba was called a Ni**er, but to be slightly fair to the dippers, the poster in question was banned, However, the hate and fury aimed at Drogba has to be seen to be believed. I'm glad to say I've never seen anything like it from Chelsea fans, not even towards the likes of Hunt the c**t.