sparkplug

Got me Trainspotters head on, this photo must have been taken pre 1952 as the tube station is still called Walham Green

Another good day got revenge for the game at the Den there was a bit of a standoff outside the Shed on the railway bridge one of their faces Merrick clapped his hands shouting "come on then boys it's Christmas" the old Bill got in between us For once we got organised and got in the Shed early and awaited the expected assault from Millwall they were spotted by the tea bar making their way through the crowd we split in two got behind them then steamed in sheer weight of numbers forced them onto the greyhound track I remember one of them turned to face us and pulled a knife in his panic he dropped it a Chelsea fan handed it back to him but missed his hand and stuck it in his leg that was enough for them and under police escort went up the North Stand this picture was taken about that exact moment as I was just behind to the right (left in picture) of B near the old Bill. After the game went to the Red House a pub just off the Kings Road we were in one bar when a fan came running into the other bar dived head first accords the counter into breathless saying Milwall are chasing them down the road we all piled out the pub and without thinking just steamed in to our surprise they ran all the way back to the Kings Road and towards Sloane Square we gave up and went back to the Red House and carried on Drinking as usual the booze was more important

September 1977 we had two specials to Warwick Road station took up all the scoreboard enclosure but the Mancs had the paddock to the left remember a few Chels climbed a fence to our right took it to them but got nicked including old Wiff throughout the game the mob in the paddock kept chanting"Babsy Babsy show us your arm" at the end of the game the old Bill kept us behind giving us a lecture about keeping calm when the gates open and there is enough of them to protect us from the waiting mob outside soon as the gate opened up we just charged through broke the police line and laid into them we had offs all the way back to the station past the cricket ground running them everywhere good days

For numbers I would say the 80s but pound for pound late 70s after we had been down in the second division a couple of seasons the Millwall experience made us better organised we came back to the first prepared to go to places we had nether been before mobbed up Manchester, Liverpool etc even going into and taking other London clubs ends North Bank Arsenal Boxing Day 1977 peaking with the firm we took to Spurs in August 1978 Good days

My mate Tony drove us to Liverpool in a mark 3 Cortina we parked up near Evertons Ground a couple of little scousers approached us "look after ya car for a pound" Tony told them to F@@k off we warned him that he shouldn't have done that this was the start of our woes got tonked 6 0 we got in the car on the way back on the outskirts of Liverpool the car overheated filled the Rad up with water and carried on not far down M6 car overheated again luckily we had filled the can up with water so we topped up the rad again and headed to the nearest service station bought some radweld and put that in but it still didn't stop the water from pissing out had a look at it it had great big holes in looked like it had been punched with a screwdriver took us well into Sunday to get home stop starting with cans of water filling up the boot me and Ernie relieved the boredom by playing 'Russian Roulette' with the traffic on the Motorway having to run run without stopping leaping the barrier in the middle from one side of the Motorway to the other and back

I live in Ashford now there are few Chels around my age who used to go most of them are local a lot of the ex Bermondsey families are Millwall but as usual with Kent towns the majority of fans in pubs are plastic Scouse , Mancs or Gooners

Lewisham and Catford areas mainly Millwall but had a fair few Chelsea lads in the 70s and 80s

Public Transport was actually good in them days good bus, tube, tram and trolley buses because hardly anybody had any cars

I remember one Saturday morning at Kings Cross Station in the early 80s there was a bit of a piss take of the casuals with a number of lads wearing plain v neck jumpers with a scrap of paper pinned to it with a hand drawm lion with pringle written underneath. Used to laugh at the northerners in the mid to late 70s with their baggy trousrs and star jumpers see one lad at Burnley with trousers so wide it looked liked he was wearing a ball gown we fell on the floor laughing his reaction was to gob at us and shout cockney w**kers usual northern reponse

Remember old Gary Roberts and his brother Roly (West Ham) he was also in the Panorama program with Billy Plummer

Yeah it was Arsenal away morning kick off one of the few occasions a cunning plan worked and we managed to take the North Bank getting in the ground early only coz the pubs were not open. We was definitely in the CBL in September 1976 held our own for most of the game

The D shaped mob you describe must have been us we went up the stairs chucked a right where the bar was and decided to hold that but with most of us being local and of course 'B' standing out it wasn't long before they realized what was happening and started gathering below us we charged forward and they backed off a few old bill made a line between us and not a lot happened for most of the game but the shear weight of numbers in their favour mean't we left in small amounts meeting back up in Lewisham later and waited in the Swan for retaliation which never happened

I have often wondered what would have happened if DH's original plan to meet up with us and B's lot in the Swan at Lewisham When we turned up just before kick off we got into there end without them knowing it most of them were still up the Ilderton Road End mopping up the first wave we managed to hold our own for most of the match if DH and is lot hadn't gone in early and we would have gone in together late it may have been a different story still a scarey day though

I'm from Catford can't remember anyone called Donald as said there was a Donald I knew from North London bit of a floater amongst the London mobs there was quite a few people like him about in the 70s normally up west on a Saturday night or cup final day. There used to be few of us from Catford/Lewisham area who went back them

76/77 we had a good team on and off the pitch

I remember Ernie Skitzys cousin lived in Bletchley and we used to go and stay up there on the piss remember a nightclub in Leighton Buzzard. He organised a coach for the Millwall game in 1976 which turned up at our pub the Swan in Lee High road a story I mentioned in an earlier thread

There was Terry and Larry Keeley from Kilburn

Matt BWFC brings back memeories don't know if it was the same friday night but we planned to ambush him him 76/77 season after he had really pissed old SB off as he was the aficionado of the spray can

What's this todays Quiz? Guess who's had there heads chopped off seriously though a Great day, a good turnout and a blinding result for old nutty pity about the official photographer though what agency did they get him from

That looks like old Greenaway second left pre Baldness/Hair Transplant

As DH ever put his hands in his pocket better not say too much he might be there saturday as well hopefully will be a good day in memory of nutty

I can understand the comments about Hudson but Old Chopper No!!! if he speaks we should listen he's got a few bob anyway doesn't need to ponce money

started something here ain't I I've been sad and looked up about both power stations both had 4 chimneys Fulham had 4 in a row Lots Road 4 in each corner it's hard to tell in the photo which is which one thing though Fulham closed in 1978 and was partly demolished a couple of years later causing a big asbestos scare Lots Road went on into the 90s so depends when the picture was taken. Think I'll stick to spotting trains much less controversial than Power Station spotting

That's actually Lots Road Power Station sorry for being pedantic

Used to have two windows open at Catford Bridge or Lewisham Station ticket office one had CAT tickets only up on the window if anyone turned up at that window he used to serve them straight away leaving a queue of angry commuters at the other window