downthefront

well,I love frank and John, but don't tell me money isn't involved when they've both negotiated deals that make them millionaires every few weeks !tActually, was talking to a Leeds fan in a pub few weeks back, he pulled out some pics of John on his mobile. The Leeds lads came across him on hholiday, tried to take the piss out of him but he just laughed em off and joined in the banter, he reckoned him a top bloke as did the rest of the Leeds boys. Don't blame him for the money thing either, who wouldn't?...he's Chelsea through and through, same as frank..I hope west ham keep giving it to him, it just makes it all the sweeter

well, he stuck the stick till his old man left, then slagged off the club. I don't think we would have been any different. The drogba and wise example is of us giving our own players grief.

well, he left because his old man and uncle got the bullet...don't get me wrong, I'll stick up for Frank and slag off hammers,but I know we do the same, drogba and wise used to get stick from our own, point I'm making is that we ain't much different to them. He kissed their badge too you know.

was lamps driven out ?..I remember Osgood getting abuse when he came back with the Saints. Every club has ignorant fans,ours are no different

it's not like we would give dog's abuse to a Chelsea player who went elsewhere and kissed the badge is it ?

Terrific posts here. I was always baffled by the reports on the Leeds game, was on the pitch same as everyone else and recall it as being good natured.

canary wharf was a meet few years back but was full of OB

Not sure when middle tier became hospitality,but I remember sitting in it for a couple of games with,just an ordinary match ticket

well, we are never going to get standing in this country thanks to Hillsborough… When I first started going to football singing during a game was unheard of, it was vocal encouragement that got teams fired up, but I suppose its become part of the match day experience for supporters today, nothing wrong with that, times change.... You know lack of atmosphere was an issue back in early sixties, I think its a lot better today, with the stadium being enclosed and close to the pitch

dunno the year,they were upper tier near the north stand end. West ham were in there one time.

singing is great...but does it help the team?....not sure about that personally, what we need is NOISE...full throated support for the team...I enjoy a song, but its always seemed a bit self indulgent,anyone who thinks ''one man went to mow'' is a spur to the team is dreaming....I wonder what the players think, what would they like in terms of support ?

away fans were put up there when the ground was being redeveloped. But I like them near us, it sparks us into life.....sometimes

spot on mate, how quickly some people forget

terrific post mate

no problem mate, I only copied it from a website somewhere, couldn't remember personally....that was a vintage year !

had to look it up,but east stand opened in 73 mate

Thanks again for these pictures mate, bring back some fond memories,like stoner says it wasn't the smartest but I think we loved it all the more for that.

Stoner is right, if you're paying out all that dosh, have a sing and a shout and make the most of it, too many po_faced miserabilists at the Bridge these days

Hope it works,at least you are making an effort

In fact, between 1981 and 1993 we rarely averaged more than 20,000....I know they were poor years football wise and all teams had poor crowds, I now season ticket holders who have discovered Chelsea who don't believe me when I tell em I've seen crowds of 15,000 for some games..away with Chelsea was always a good day, our support in those days was awesome

no,I still think our core support is much lower. Jose's last game before he left was 26,000 for a euro game...we always had big crowds for the big games, but our past is littered with sub 20,000 crowds that's our core support.

Gotta be honest, there,s more atmosphere watching a game in a pub and it's a lot cheaper, not sure where future generations of young fans are going to come from...

I still reckon our core support (ie those who would still go if we were sh*t and relegated to be between 15000 and 20,000 tops. So you gotta accept over 20,000 per game are there for the experience of premiership football. West stand upper full of fans taking pictures etc, but we have to live with that to fill our stadium. But it doesn't help if the team are farting around on the pitch and players don't look like they are bothered.

Good article in today,s observer re atmosphere. But I never really bought into the idea that 'one man went to now' creates atmosphere or motivates players. It's noise...watch Celtic home to Leeds at Hampden in European cup...no singing, no chanting but a red hot atmosphere. I went to the den early sixties and was struck by the noise created by the fans, of course we had a huge bowl of a stadium so it was always harder. I still don't think its that bad at the bridge, we just need to roar the team on, forget about singing sections etc. But José blaming 'the profile' of our crowd for the lethargy of our performance v west brom sounds a bit desperate tbh. I thought we paid a manager to sort out their performance.