Cobham

If you ever find it and listen to it please let me know if my recollection of that goal is in any way accurate. Probably my memory playing tricks but I remember it as I described it above.

Best goal I ever saw Dixon score (and that's saying something) was in the replay at Goodison. He got the ball on the left wing, beat a player or two (while at full speed) cut inside and hit a right foot screamer from outside the corner edge of the area that curled around Nev Southall to just where the post and crossbar meet on the far right of the goal. All this while running full pelt. It was a stunning, stunning goal, one of those that takes the breath away. A real shame it was never filmed. We won 2-1. Darren Wood got sent off if I remember rightly. Wasn't a great turnout, not many on the terrace, most were in the seats but we sure made some noise. We were giving it the "ten men, we only had ten men" over and over again. They were a damn good side, Everton, in those days but we gave better than we got. There was the 4-3 at their place in the league and the 1-1 draw later in 86 when we were on course for the title and they equalised with 3 mins to go. Good times.

I've got a few from what was a really great trip but this is my favourite. I went out Mon-Fri and stayed at some campsite way out at the end of the metro line. There were both Stuttgart and Chelsea staying there. After the match I came back, still buzzing (we'd done it, equalled the 1970 team, never thought I'd see that) and I couldn't sleep. Laying there in my tent I could here some Germans talking a couple of sites away. They were obviously upset, humiliated and totally pissed off. Excuse my German but one of them said said something like this: "Die Nord Stand, alles Chelsea!... Die Ost Stand, alles Chelsea!... Der West Stand, alles Chelsea!... Die Sud Stand, alles Chelsea! Das stadion ................. ALLES f**kING CHELSEA! I had a little chuckle at that. So who's going to be the first to mention the attractive Swedish bird in the window with her tits out at the end of the match...

Well, since this seems to have become a Spammers thread... Had to look this up but I think it was the 1-1 draw in April 1985. We had a good turnout as far as I remember. South Bank was full? After the match a mate of mine pointed out SH who was 'organising the troops'. We fell in with them and went back all the way to Victoria. Well, almost. Someone, not sure who, wasn't SH, said we should get off at St James's because "first one up the escalators at Victoria will get battered". So we all piled off the tube, big mob, practically filled a whole tube train, what's that 300+? I remember plod that was on the train trying to radio out to say what was happening but it wasn't working that far underground. However, exit St James's and you're right outside... New Scotland Yard! Not the best move really. We started marching up Victoria Street, past a very tall group of black Americans (Basketball team?) who wanted to know what was up since by this time we had practically taken over the road. The OB were on to us now but in small numbers and basically following. I also thought this might be the best move since I didn't really have any particular wish to face off against the ICF so I hung back in the crowd. Having said that I hated that lot and had taken some right stick from some Spammers at a party the night of the home game earlier that season when they came in the Shed from both entrances. "Did you run at Stamford Bridge?" all bloody night long. I don't think I would have been there if it hadn't been them. Hated them and their superior attitude and wanted to see them get done. Anyway, we spotted them standing outside Shakes and then the boys just ran at them. I mean no hesitation, no waiting, no bouncing on toes, nothing, just went for them at a full sprint. No joke, it was like the start of the Olympic 100m, I was well impressed. They instantly took off to their left, our right. To be fair to them we well outnumbered them and it's possible that they weren't really running so much as getting tooled up (more on that in a mo). Now I used this sprint to lag back even further until I was pretty much at the back of the pack. Problem for me was that when they ran we turned around and cut up a side street to our right. I now found myself at the front of the pack with a crush of people behind holding me there. We turned left and the ICF turned right until we were facing each other again down a back alley. It was now I saw that the Pikeys had raided a cafe on their way around the block. They had all manner of stuff that they launched at us, umbrellas, chairs, etc. Tbh I wasn't that impressed with them. Compared with the way we'd gone at them this was a typical football 'throw things around to no effect' kind of standoff though it was enough to halt our charge. Before either side could really get to grips the Bill came charging through, in fact one of ours got knocked off his feet by the police car that came with them. And that was pretty much it. None of this was shown on that documentary that was following them around at the time so I don't know if that was judicous editing (not wanting to show them on the run) or whether this wasn't their main mob. But if that was the case who the hell would go all the way back to Victoria to take us on? Only other thing I remember is that we saw MS from Molesey/Hampton Court who was a friend of my mate and he was really pleased that him and his little mob had done some Hammers a few minutes earlier until we told him we'd just met their whole firm and they'd missed it.

Would LOVE to go back to standing. That's the way football was meant to be watched.

Remember it well, I was in the next carriage up. Think the train stopped at Clapbam Junction to take him off??? My mate was in the same carriage as you, gave me a pretty graphic description on the platform. Didn't somone pull the emergency cord at first? We were stuck outside the station for ages I think before it pulled in. Bit sketchy on some of the details but remember as clear as day standing on the platform and seeing my mate and him telling me what the hold up was. Those trains back from Brighton that day were packed.

Philip, soccer is an abbreviation of 'association football' or 'assoc.' As with so many things in English life class may play a part as to who says what and why it's not a popular term. To be simplistic about it 'soccer' is what the posh people call it to distinguish it from rugby football (that's rugby to you or me 'rugger' to them)which is the game they play. This is one of the reasons (IMO) that 'soccer' grates on some of us. The only people in England I ever heard calling football 'soccer' were the type of people who didn't play it or even follow the game and generally looked down their noses at those of us who did (football is the working class game in England and has often had negative connotations attached to it). Add to that the fact that the only foreign countries that called it soccer rather than football were the ones where it wasn't the national sport or at least the most popular sport (e.g. US, Canada, Australia, etc.) and it seemed like it was the term that 'outsiders' used for 'our' game. That, for me, is where the resentment of the term comes from. All my opinion of course. Here's a couple of good wiki links. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_"-er" Sorry everyone if I derailed the thread a bit there.

Yeh, he got pulled out to sea by a freak wave while fishing from some rocks in Cornwall. He couldn't swim. We'd lost touch by then, I found out when I bumped into my Spurs mate before an England game in 97, hadn't seen him in a few years by then. A couple of weeks later we met up for a beer to catch up and he told me what had happened to Gavin. We had our differences as I said but I think as we got older we probably would have got on better. He was a smart bloke and very funny and witty. Weirdest thing about it all though to me was that he'd become the editor of the official Utd magazine (United We Stand or something like that) and, get this, had switched his allegiances to Utd!!!!! I still find it hard to wrap my head around that now. I mean I've known two or three blokes who've switched teams since school but we all know that type and Gavin wasn't that type. Apparently his brother was livid about it. All those times we butted heads over Chelsea v Spurs and in the end he just dumped them. Weird. Though I suppose it does show some taste and awareness giving up on Spurs.

Hi Keynsham, I think you might have your years a little mixed up. I knew Gavin in 1983 and I'm pretty sure he was still at school and didn't start writing until a few years later. Think that article was late 80s or even early 90s. He was a 'mate of a mate' (also Spurs). It would be a lie to say we were friendly since we basically spent all our time arguing over Chelsea v Spurs (on and off the pitch). I think we antagonised the hell out of other. He usually got the better of me on the off field activities since he was far better connected (his brother was supposed to be high up in the Spurs mob and he had a lot of insider info compared to me). Gavin was no fighter himself though, the type who might be able to give you a kick when you were down but would be lucky to put you there. He used to enjoy the buzz of it all that's for sure. Used to go wherever it was likely to kick off, pretty sure he was at Luton with Millwall that infamous night. Only saw him at a Chelsea game once though, the final game of the 83/84 season away to Grimsby. He was on the platform at the station and I was in the goods van of one of the trains heading back to London looking out. He was too far off to say hello though we talked about it after and I think he actually gave us some credit that time for our numbers and stuff (usually we were sh*t in all his versions of events). We argued about every time we met. One time I do remember getting the better of him was when he came down to Molesey from London (we used to hang out there, Hampton Court, Walton and Kingston) in this fully buttoned paisley shirt with a diamante 'brooch' at the top button. We took the piss out of him all night, basically saying how ridiculous he looked. I think he must have been a bit unsure of the get up hiimself 'cos he didn't argue back like he usually did. Anyway he had the last laugh because about 2 months later it seemed like everyone at football was wearing the same get up.He was definitely at the cutting edge when it came to fashion and football which is why I think his articles went down so well. People could tell he wasn't a faker and had been there and done it (though he was actually from Headley near Leatherhead in Surrey and only lived in Hackney to 'keep it real', lol). I think he stopped going to football for the violence after an incident at Highbury (Arse v 'Wall) where he saw an Arsenal fan stabbed right in front of him on the Clock End. Said it was completely random and could just as easily have been him as he watched the bloke approach, just stab the bloke for no reason (other than being Arsenal) and then walk off. Really shook him up. That was late 80s I think and he was getting into the house scene by then too. That was what was in the article you mentioned wasn't it? How acid house was partly responsible for the end of the 80s hoolie period?

Chelseaboy, you're absolutely right it was Saturday, just looked it up. I stand corrected and surprised. I would have sworn it was midweek. Probably thought it was a night game because I can clearly remember it being dark when I was on the grassy bank in the corner after the match looking out over the wall and watching Leeds run around outside. But then I suppose it would be dark by that time at that time of year. Good point about the turnouts too but I didn't see the first one as I only started going away towards the end of that season.

Fantastic posts from CFCBlue and Melbourne Blue. Thanks lads. It was great to hear from two people who were sitting opposite us. I've always wondered why this game gets less coverage than, say, Cardiff or Newcastle or Brighton from that season. It was a huge turnout so there must have been as many there as attended those other matches, yet I seldom hear discussion of it. Also good to be corrected. I was fairly close to the halfway line just to the right on the terracing (probably why I could see Greenaway) and from where I was I thought we filled both tiers. Still, 3/4 full was very impressive for a night game in Div 2 even if we were doing fairly well (think we were 4th when we went up there). As an aside I think that was the first time I'd seen Greenaway at a match though I knew of him by reputation. Interestingly it was also at Leeds away (in 1996) that I last saw him.

Yes. We're talking the evening match in Nov? 1-1 draw? Massive, and I mean massive, turnout that day. We had the side stand, two tiers, the one that's now the main stand there. Filled it completely both top tier (seats) and bottom tier (terracing) if I remember correctly (distinctly possible I don't though). Amazing really for a Tuesday or Wednesday night Div 2 game. Mickey Greenaway was right over the half way line in the seats, front row, visible by everyone, giving it the zigger zagger and orchestrating the whole stand. Brilliant. Leeds were well up for it too. They had a huge mob running up and down the road outside being chased by the police. We could see them from the grass banking at the corner of the ground. It was very long walk to and from the station and I remember one part where we were going uphill for a bit and I looked around and all I could see was this long, long train of Chelsea fans completely filling the road for what seemed like forever. As an impressionable 17 year old on one of his first away tips 'up north' it was quite the experience and I'm surprised it doesn't get talked about more often.

If I remember correctly that was because, if they won, someone else we disliked more (Everton?) would have gone down instead. I think there were even a couple of chants of "let 'em score".

Pretty sure Zola got an ovation from the Derby fans at the Bridge when he was subbed after scoring a hat trick against them. Very few oppo fans disliked him but I still thought it was classy. Classier than me anyway as I can't imagine doing it.

Heard about quite a few Chelsea going to the Rangers/Celtic game but I went down to Soton the day before. We were banned after the trouble the previous year. Didn't get in, not many did as far as I know. One problem was they'd given away loads of tickets to local schoolkids. They were pretty much the only ones willing to sell their tickets and most of us were too old to masquerade as that age so got spotted easily. One of my group got did get in with a Soton scarf, hat and a ticket he'd bought. The rest of us got rounded up by the Old Bill and told to report to our local nick in the next three hours or we'd be done for something or the other. Bollocks obviously but, as we weren't getting in, we left anyway. The day of the final, on the tube early on in the day, the driver came over the intercom singing "when Pates goes up to life the Members' Cup". Great moment, got the whole train singing along with him. Had a few drinks in Charing Cross and got on a tube that stopped at every stop along the way. Bounced up and down singing "we're all pissed up and we're going to Wem-ber-ley" all the way there, mostly because my best mate was desperate for a piss. He hated every moment of that journey. It was my first visit to Wembley and my only time seeing Chelsea there standing on a terrace. Took various mates who supported other London clubs. All agreed it was a great day out. Got there just before kick off, didn't think we'd get in before it started when lo and behold the gates went in and we all rushed in. Brilliant match of course. Gate was 68,000 which made sense to me. I'd read somewhere that City had sold 18,000 tickets. We seemed to have exactly half the ground which would be as close to 50,000 as could be so 68,000 works as an attendance. Don't remember any trouble inside at all strangely. Best thing was I worked in a hotel in Cobham at the time and some of the Chefs were Citeh fans (all good lads I have to say). They went to the game too and one of them left when they were 5-1 down and didn't find out the right result until he got back home. Great day out all in all, really enjoyed my first Chelsea trophy win.

Millwall by a country mile for me. Mostly based on the 1984 League Cup visit. Totally and utterly mental night. I'll write about it somewhere, maybe on the great away days thread. Then West Ham, which was pretty much the same scary place every time I went there in the 80s. Not so much anymore of course. My final pick would be Newcastle. This was a one-off, the promotion 'four pointer' in '84, and was very much due to specific circumstances and only for a short period of time. I went on the special and we were marched right through the centre of the Bigg Market with what was basically a bunch of scarfers (I pretty much include myself in that description). Most of the way we were having bottles and glasses chucked at us and every pub and bar was crammed with pissed up Geordies desperate to get at us. They all seemed to be a lot older and a lot bigger than the blokes I was being escorted with. I particularly remember one place that had a single huge plate glass window that was crazily bowing in and out as they pounded on the glass when we walked past. I honestly thought it was going to give any second. The Old Bill had dogs on the door to this place (and most of the others) and I for one was very pleased to see them. I really didn't fancy our chances if any of these places emptied into us. We were very vulnerable and looking at the blokes around me I didn't think we wouldn't stand a chance. This fear didn't last too long, just the length of the walk, but I remember it clearly. Coming out was a totally different matter though. We had, what, 6-7000 up there that day and when we spilled out at the end there was no fear whatsoever. That's mostly my memory of going away, we usually had such huge numbers that very few places felt that threatening.

ps. I was also at the Hull FAC game some have mentioned which was also very wet and cold if I remember correctly. As has been said there were maybe 5 or 6 hundred there that day. Those that did go were treated to one of Chris Sutton's rare goals (the mate I went with is very proud of having seen all of his goals live, can't be more than 600 who can claim that) and a bloke who looked like Moses wandering around the away end. Not sure if he was Chelsea or Hull. He took some stick anyway.

Well, I might just win this one. Not the total attendance but the Chelsea attendance. In 2000 or maybe 2001 (though could be '99 or '02, who knows?) we played Vicenza away in a pre-season friendly. There were a total of 8 of us in the Chelsea section; Myself, my wife, a family of four and a bloke and his girlfriend. Now I'm pretty sure that the girfriend wasn't a Chelsea fan and nor was the wife in the family. My wife's a little iffy on this too. Although she follows them 'cos I do I'm not sure I could call her a real supporter given that she's from Huddersfield and supported United as a kid (hope she never reads this 'cos she hates me saying that). In some ways then there were 5 of us 'proper Chelsea', the father and his kids (both under ten), me and the other bloke. Anyway, it was an evening kick off and after a superb meal in the town's piazza we found ourselves on this open terrace where, within a minute of kick off, a massive thunderstorm began and I experienced the heaviest rain I've ever seen at a football match. I decided to ignore it and show the locals (good turnout from them btw) that us Chelsea fans don't mind a bit of rain so I stood out there on my own (everyone else had retreated inside the tunnel that led to the terrace) while belting out a few 'carefrees' and some chosuses of 'Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea'. Eventually my wife, the dad and his kids joined me, the kids finding the whole thing hilarious, as did the locals as a matter of fact. Got some very bemused looks from them, most of whom seemed to have known the weather report and brought umbrellas. The rain was ridiculous, so heavy I can't really describe it. I wasn't at the Bristol City match that some talk about but I was at Oxford (1-1 mid-late Eighties) when others say it was the wettest they'd ever been at a match (it was mine too until this game) but believe me this was rain of biblical proportions and WAY worse than Oxford. Not claiming any special kudos for this, just so happened we were on holiday there at the time, I don't make a habit of doing pre-season friendlies abroad. We were staying in Venice and took a train back after the match. The air-con was stuck full on (it being summer) and we nearly got hypothermia, both of us shivering away for the entire journey which took ages as this late night train kept stopping in the middle of nowhere. It was more uncomfortable than coming back from some God-forsaken place up north on a special when the windows had been put in. Didn't warm up until we got back to the heat and humidity of the Venetian night. It was a very funny match and experience, one I'll always remember though I can't remember the score (but pretty sure we lost). I think the rain washed away that part of my memory. There was a write-up in the next 'Chelsea' magazine from a journo in the main stand which mentioned the family and I was a bit miffed that I was missed since I was the first one out there and 'stood my ground' the whole match. Not sure if we should count the journo as a fan or not but that still only makes 9 in total. I looked for others but couldn't see any, can't swear there weren't though. Either way a very small Chelsea attendance.