Upsetter

God that takes me back! The version I remember goes like this: I was born under the Chelsea Shed I was born under the Chelsea Shed Birds are made for shagging Guns are made to shoot If you come down to the Chelsea Shed We’ll put in the boot

You’re welcome. Incidentally, I know the Walham Green picture has been posted before, but I was listening to Ian Dury, and wondered what the “ticket man” line would have been if the station name hadn’t been changed. ”It’s a long way to Walham Gree-een” doesn’t work too well either”!

Fans turning out in force for Chelsea's first postwar home game vs Bolton in August 1946

Another “forgotten” Cup Final Chelsea v Millwall in the 1945 League South Cup Final at Wembley, which Chelsea won 2-0.

“I could be the ticket man at Walham Green station”... doesn’t have quite the same ring to it somehow Watney’s Brown Ale for Central Heating. They don’t write ‘em like that any more!

donnyblue is right, you can’t fully understand what it was like unless you were there. I should probably add that in my previous post, I wasn’t running from a fight - the Forest fan ran one way, and I ran another - I was running from a nicking. The bloke with the chain got nicked, as did a knife merchant or to. No way did I want to get dragged into that kind of crap.

Ok. I started going to away games in 1972. Much of the time we had a great craic, a lot of the “hooliganism” of the time consisted of various sized mobs chasing each other up and down the street. Of course there was also actual fighting, and there were exceptions, but generally speaking, it was very rare for anyone to suffer serious damage. Relegation may have been a disaster in footballing terms, but off the pitch, and the terraces, I know I speak for many of us when I say that the second division seasons were among the best days of my life. There was a sense of adventure about away games. Again I’m sure that many here will know exactly what I mean. I’m not going to go down the “where we went and what we want” route. I’m not ashamed but neither am I going on glorify the past. As others have said, it was how things were, another world, a different life. I wouldn’t say I was a Face, but I was quite well known, mostly as a result of years and years of going here there and everywhere with Chelsea, and getting up to the Usual Stuff. Like I said, it was mostly just having the craic. Now I’m getting to the point, which is that sometimes things went much too far for my liking, the best/worst example I can think of being one time at Forest away. Me and a mate had managed to slip away from the Special, and somehow ended up in the Forest Supporters club. Just the two of us, we had a couple of quiet drinks before heading to the ground. Down the road apiece, standing on a corner, was a small mob of Chelsea who recognised me. They called us over and said they were going to steam a slightly larger mob of Forest, “are you with us?”, I said yeah why not, expecting the usual minor skirmish. What I didn’t know was that this mob I knew were all tooled up, Stanley knives and chains and all sorts. I was actually toe to toe with this Forest bloke, when I noticed one of the Chelsea lashing into this other Forest fan with a chain. f**k this, I thought and got the f**k out of it. I never went tooled up, and really didn’t want to know. I didn’t realise it at the time, but as far as “hooliganism” goes, that was the beginning of the end for me, even though I carried on going away for a good few years. By the way, the Forest incident was “dealt with” by the Courts, otherwise I wouldn’t dream of mentioning it.

Almost a rumour, noises have been made that we should be in for the the thick as two short planks, diving, cheating, gets away with (the darkest of) blue murder, England’s darling, would cost a packet, chucking money at Daniel effing Levy. But he does know where the goal is. And so my question is, given the opportunity, would you like us to sign the ‘orrible Tottenham c**t? My answer, in case you haven’t guessed, would be a resounding.... not on your f**king life.

Ignore me - for some reason I could have sworn West Ham were playing Tottenham today. But anyway, to a slightly lesser extent, the same applies to the former denizens of the Boleyn Ground.

The vaguest inkling of an idea that I might want Tottenham not to lose (try as I might I can’t bring myself to say a particular word beginning with “w” in relation the the scum from N17) leaves the nastiest imaginable taste in my mouth and an indescribably ‘orrible sickness in my stomach. Off to order super-strength Listerine and a dose of extra-strong stomach settler.

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Sorry It was just supposed to be a take on the old joke about a bare hand being a naked glove puppet. But NES you say? How about: NakedSooty Entertains Sweep. (I’ll get me ‘Arrington) In all seriousness, going back many a year I remember a couple of Chelsea supporters, deaf and dumb twins. No idea where they were from, and I don’t remember seeing them at away games, but by all accounts they were a right pair of nutters.

Sooty & Sweep porn

Born on this day in 1915, happy birthday Lady Day

One more nail in the coffin of the game. One more factor driving me away from "elite" football.

Well there goes the unbeaten run. Me and my big mouth!

Thanks for that. I've watched a fair amount of Brentford and Benrahma but knew very little about his history. As for a potential transfer, I'm a little torn. If we do sign Benrahma, I'd obviously love him to be a success. But on the other hand, if - as seems increasingly likely, Brentford make it to the Premiership, they really are going to need to keep hold of the BMW if they're going to have any chance of staying in the Premier League.

My favourite version of Hey Jude: Also from Puzzle People (still my favourite Temptations album), their version of Little Green Apples: