The Swan
In the Ressies
- Messages
- 336
- Reaction score
- 463
I am based in the Solihull area of the West Midlands and have only just discovered there is a West Midlands Chelsea supporters club which I have thankfully joined. They appear a good bunch and dedicated to following the Blues. I used to watch Chelsea a lot in the 80s and quite a bit in the 19990s. If I am honest I stopped going for a while when the new ownership kicked in from 2003 onwards.
In the 80s I was part of a small group that travelled up from Oxford for games. Chelsea were not that good at the time.
We tried to get a supporter’s club up and running in Oxford at the time (I say we when I was just a kid) and I had the pleasure of meeting Micky Droy and Joey Jones at the Swan pub in Cowley, Oxford. They were both top blokes, having a few pints and Micky was an avid smoker. I never saw him quite in the same light again, but he remained one of the players I admired. No one could dispute the passion that Jones showed when playing for Chelsea.
In recent years I have started watching Chelsea again and started taking my youngest who is a big Chelsea fan.
I have a great memories of following Chelsea as a youngster. My most mental was West Ham away in 1981. What was I thinking going to that one? Pitch invasions, OB going nuts and West Ham angry that Chelsea had tried to take their end. I was also at Derby in 1983 when they scored late on and Chelsea smashed up the seats.
Football had to change and so did Chelsea and whilst I have been guilty of feeling nostalgic for the past, things have changed for the better. We played Crystal Palace recently and it made me think of the early 80s when I attended a game at the Bridge against them, 0-0 and 15,000 present. The trouble at games put so many people off and was killing the game.
That said, I hope that Chelsea as a club remain close to its fans because we might not always be as good as we are now and have been.
In the 80s I was part of a small group that travelled up from Oxford for games. Chelsea were not that good at the time.
We tried to get a supporter’s club up and running in Oxford at the time (I say we when I was just a kid) and I had the pleasure of meeting Micky Droy and Joey Jones at the Swan pub in Cowley, Oxford. They were both top blokes, having a few pints and Micky was an avid smoker. I never saw him quite in the same light again, but he remained one of the players I admired. No one could dispute the passion that Jones showed when playing for Chelsea.
In recent years I have started watching Chelsea again and started taking my youngest who is a big Chelsea fan.
I have a great memories of following Chelsea as a youngster. My most mental was West Ham away in 1981. What was I thinking going to that one? Pitch invasions, OB going nuts and West Ham angry that Chelsea had tried to take their end. I was also at Derby in 1983 when they scored late on and Chelsea smashed up the seats.
Football had to change and so did Chelsea and whilst I have been guilty of feeling nostalgic for the past, things have changed for the better. We played Crystal Palace recently and it made me think of the early 80s when I attended a game at the Bridge against them, 0-0 and 15,000 present. The trouble at games put so many people off and was killing the game.
That said, I hope that Chelsea as a club remain close to its fans because we might not always be as good as we are now and have been.
