Ewell CFC

Interesting question! 1- Bobby Charlton's farewell. Last game of the season 73 I think. 2- The official record attendance game of 82,905 against Arsenal in the 30's. Sitting in the Archibald Leith East Stand rather than packed in like a sardine on the terraces. 3- Southampton at the Dell FA Cup 3rd Round Jan 81. As a result of misbehaviour I was grounded by me old man. He dropped me brother and his mates off at Wimbledon Station- I was in the car with them pleading the old fella to let me join them. No dice 4- Millwall home 77 watching the action in the Shed, birds eye view from the West Stand seats right next to the terrace join up 5- Athens replay 71

I spent a season playing for Casuals. Many years later I got awarded a spot of community service, which freakily enough entailed me painting the barriers and helping out the groundsman pre- season.

I never understood ground wrecking. Apart from the obvious one Sunderland at home, the other instances of flying seats I witnessed were Sunderland away a couple of weeks previous ( thanks Dale Jasper), Derby in the Cup 82/83 ( the previously year we tore the plumbing out the karzi according to their chairman), and the above mentioned Pompey game.I was in the side enclosure below where the seats were being chucked. Got home well late, lost me mates I went up with. That was the first time I met Gerry Kelly who was stood next to us. He reckoned he travelled there by ship.

Brilliant pics. People watching the game whist kneeling on the dog track cinders, scaling ladders to get on the Shed and East Stand Roofs; none on top of the North Stand mind. You'd need a triple extention ladder to get up there. I went to the Withdean Stadium a few times to watch a mate who played for Brighton. Behind one of the sides was woodland. During big games people would watch the action for free from the tops of trees. ' The tree people' they were known as. Used to worry me something awful. One strong gust and your looking at another Hillsborough.

Thanks for that. It was a great big baggy home knitted jumper from memory. I think eventually every square inch of it got covered in pin badges and the like...

Does anyone know the name of the fan on the right hand side picture, wearing the blue and white hooped jumper with the pendants/ badges sewn on? 83-84 was probably my favourite season too. Everything seemed to click. The players loved us and we loved them. I don't recall a ropey patch- after beating Sheff Wed at home, we lost at Cambridge, then drew against Carlisle at home; a hiccup more than a slump. From March onwards we went from strength to strength. A lot of it's probably age related. Being 18/19 that year, casual was at its peak. I think fan culture was just about at its pinnacle Chelsea wise- the inflatable craze, daft songs, taking over entire stands when we went away. I loved the following season as well, plus the Hoddle/ Vialli era ,when we all enjoyed picking up bits of silverware, and the Bridge hadn't yet become swamped with day tripping tourists

Regarding Grandad from Kent, sitting in his bath chair in a care home with his crate of brown ale, shouting at the nurses ( demanding respect off everyone just cause he's old/- paranoid- thinks the world is having a go at him) This silly little spat ends now. love and peace to all Chelsea fans

I'm not sure how often we used that blanket, but remember when we played Arsenal 84-85, it had been a bitterly cold week in London- Bates had been on the media about this frost blanket, straw over the pitch, heaters etc. The game got played but it weren't much of a spectacle- the pitch was hard as iron. An Arsenal mate came with us that day, and in the car going home after we all agreed that by far the most comfortable player was Charlie Nicholas. Talking of which, West Ham away got froze off the same year ( Luton was another one from a couple of years previous- found out on route on the M1) Following the announcement of the game being cancelled- it came over on the tannoy at Towet Hill, Like a lot of Chelsea we went to Highbury against the vermin. Graham Roberts, who went on to have a cameo with us, completely wiped out Charlie Nicholas early doors, sending into an advertising hoarding head first. Makes me wince just thinking about it

Someone got out of bed the wrong side this morning. Regarding your earlier post- the one with all the exclamation marks !!! ' The benches got torn up when we played clubs we didn't like'. That happened once, 32 years ago against Sunderland. Are Sunderland a club we didn't like? No is the answer. We didn't like the result that's all. If you think that would happen again now that's up to you. Who gives a monkeys if you've been going since 62- I started in 74 meself. Bully for you, hand yourself a gold star, take the rest of the day off. What a clown

That was a popular song in 89. When we played Boro at Wembley that year everyone mobbed up under the stand at halftime and walked towards their section. the ' Boro run from Chelsea' tune had the desired effect. I remember after a geyser who was standing next to me got out of breath during the melee and had a puff on his ventolin inhaler- being asthmatic meself I too had a tug. 29 years after whenever I bump into him we always have a chuckle about this

When was the last time you went to the Bridge? Your typical matchgoing fan is too timid to get off his arse and sing never mind tear up seating.

I remember that goal. We scored countless goals with a long flat kick from Eddie, a Speedie glancing header, onto Kerry who outpaced the defence and slotted past the keeper. He was very good at one on ones

Did any other clubs have an equivalent of the benches? Do the regulations require that all seater means tip up seats, or is it possible to have modern padded benches? As a safe standing compromise, it might be handy to allocate a deluxe benches area in the new stadium for singers?

We were in the Anfield Road End, very close to their mob who all turned up after the game had kicked off- from memory they gave us I think two thirds of the end, and there was no fence seperating home and away { just OB and stewards} They struck us as being very young for football boys; [all zits and sh*tty Peter Storm/ Patrick Cagoules.], snarling away. I think we laughed at them more than anything

Is that Mr Greenaway on the right hand side of the flag? Re European trips, the first season we qualified for the continent after a 22 year hiatus would have been 94, courtesy of being loosing Cup Finalists to Manure who were already eligible for the European Cup. I remember during the Makita Tournament at the library, the big song being ' We didn't win the football league we didn't win the cup, but were all going to Europe' I used to like the Cup Winners Cup cause the games were played on Thursday- being closer to the weekend than your Champions League Tuesday and Wednesdays made it easier to hang around for the weekend. We took thousands to Bruge, Real Zaragosa, Memphis Vienna etc etc

My all time favourite CFC club badge is the one from the Spurs QF programme, with the turquoise outer rim. I remember reading in the papers that they had a go at the Maltsers that day; put the windows through and climbed in, which begs the question why didn't they just use the door? Re old boots, my first pair of screw in were the dreaded Winfields, followed by Adidas Beckenbauer Supers, then Puma King when I started my paper round. The old lightweight plastic footballs were often made by Frido I think, and used to swerve the opposite way to proper balls. First leather football I had was from Sondico- used to dubbin it to make it waterproof { use that term loosely} It was a prize possession- I had a fight with my brother once when I caught him bouncing it on the pavement on the way back from the Rec- that used to scuff balls something terrible.

Wasn't there some tie in with Esso Blue and Chelsea? My cousin Jackie was a secretary in the old ivy clad club office- she went on to marry Ray Wilkins. I'm pretty sure she gave a signed CFC team photo to me older brother in the early 70's which had the Esso Blue logo somewhere in the corner.

Haha. Spot on. He used to nonchalantly jog away from the crime scene, get whistled back by the man in black, and stand there hand on hips as the ref gave him a talking to- sometimes he had a half smile playing around his chops like a naughty schoolboy. Has anyone seen that very early MOTD at Anfield, where RH does a real flying mallet job and comes away with the ball, leading Kenneth Wolstenholme to comment ' and that's why they call Ron Harris a hardman'. One thing about that era was that Ronnie knew the score, the ref and opposition knew the score, it was kick and get kicked without the maddening kidology, players surrounding refs, he should have been sent off malarkey which serve as ' talking points' in this age. I wonder how his disciplinary record panned out over the years? Given his longevity and style of play he must be our most booked player ever.......

That's quite a walk. As the crow flies South Lambeth/ Stockwell to be the Bridge isn't that far, but I reckon that's a three mile plus march.

They were pretty useless those gloves I remember; when wet they were like washing up cloths. Borota was one of the first keepers I remember wearing ' big' gloves. I was there for his debut, in the benches with me old man v Liverpool. Nil Nil. Re Chelsea kits in the mid 70s there would be quite a few kids playing football in the park donning our colours, before Umbro got on the scene in 76, and to this day I'm not sure how it worked. There would be royal blue crew necks with iron on club badges- the colour of the patch that was ironed on was more grey than blue and never matched- and I definately recall blue shorts with our trademark white stripe down the side. Could you buy shorts like this or did people get their Mums to fashion and stitch on the stripes? Am I right in thinking you couldn't get a replica kit before Umbro? I had a plain blue strip from Bukta that came in a box which was my make do Chelsea kit....

Haha- You never know Babbsy might have made a decent keeper. Gordon Banks after his accident managed to carry on with one eye....

I must say I do approve of the image of Spackman givin some back to some back to old monkey features Keown- strange looking fella with a tiny little creased up forehead- he always reminds me of something you get on your windscreen at Longleat Safari Park. On a serious note, anyone else noticed that pretty much all Arsenal fans you encounter on the tube going to games are almost always loner/ intellectual/ misfit types, who nine times out of ten are on their own and wearing glasses. Boring load of ..... in old money

The Liverpool game in 82- I was in my last year at school, but courtesy of me older brother and his Austin Marina I'd just started getting used to getting driven up there, and parking somewhere round about the gasworks round Imperial Square, which beat the crap out of the rigors of public transport. Cut a long story, even though we left well early, we got nowhere near our usual berth- soon as we crossed Wandsworth Bridge it was a struggle to find anywhere- this was when you could park anywhere anywhere up to the KR.- Reckon we got in the Shed bout half one; bundles of school mates never made it in. Fast forward to when they won the double in 85- dippers galore on the Arab end of Edgware Road after the game, targeting Jewelry stores ( there's a shock) Our lot caught up with them, and a good time was had by all I'm led to believe

Re the photos of West Ham in the Shed during the skinhead era- cant really suss out whats going on but interesting pics- A few months ago I got chatting to an esteemed poster from here at Cheam Social- and asked him whether Arsenal or West Ham were top in London during the late 60s, early 70s ( they both used to make appearances in the shed] .... West Ham was his reply

Mick Hartford, Tony Cascarino, and either Bill Garner or Droba. More like a panzer division than a front three