scariest ground

[MKBlue]

Thanks for that, Cockney Col, I never did get into WHL that day, was locked out along with thousands of other Chelsea for the entire game!

I did get in that day Steve, you was the lucky one believe me mate.

 

[Mike Carefree]

Thanks for that, Cockney Col, I never did get into WHL that day, was locked out along with thousands of other Chelsea for the entire game!

This was one i can remember acurately..We were locked out and stephen hickey hickmot lead everyone round the ground trying to kick our way through turnstiles..I remember a plain clothes cop pretending to be chelsea dropping his walky talky...The few Blues that did get in got a bit of a kick..What i am sure of is that if Hickey n co had got in earlier, the Park lane would deffo have been truly taken

 

[Snedger]

I reckon Stamford Bridge on Sunday will take the biscuit. Judging by the hissy fitting on here I expect that there'll be suicide bombers all around the ground!

 

[BlueBeard]

I did get in that day Steve, you was the lucky one believe me mate.

Yeah, I've been told by a few Chelsea boys what happened inside the ground that day. If all of us outside had managed to get into the ground it would have been a very different story.

 

[Nitro]

I was in the ground that day just under the shelf as I got in the gates were shut behind, it was a struggle just to get a standing space.

There was no trouble around me and stayed and watched the game, we had two goals ruled out, miserable day alround.

I had friends who were stuck on a series of trains along the track at WHL station, some of our more famous supporters were stuck on those trains, its a long while ago but think that main Chelsea all assembled at Liverpool street and were locked out.

 

[chi blue]

That was 87 Nico Clausen came on & scored their winner with about 8mins left, we had 1,000s there that day, I bought a seat ticket off a tout & sat above our section behind the goal, the chants went up "open up the f@cking gates" which thankfully the ob did & 100s swarmed in to the empty seregation pen between the shelf & away end, the same thing happened a week or so before up at Utd aug bank holiday monday game we lost 3.1, our end was rammed behind the goal right around to the corner flag, the pen next to us had Utd in & 100s of Chelsea turned up late & the ob pushed Utd back & let in the Chelsea late comers with Utd singing "what the f@ck is going on" with us lot giving it back "Chelsea here Chelsea there Chelsea every f'cking where" great days.

Met a bloke in corfu the following year after the spurs 87 game, he had gone as i did and said about 5k chelsea were locked out! whether this was true i"m not sure, but we must of had 10k in the ground. Remember a huge rendition of theres only one mickey Hazard being sung, as he was playing for us and not spurs anymore. Have to say the support that day was immense and you could tell spurs were totally jealous of it. Never have they or ever will have travelling support like that! but then again we won"t again either.

 

[Mike Carefree]

Oh so there was 2 times chelsea were locked out .I didnt know that...I was only aware of the 70s one..

 

[Lofty.]

I was in the ground that day just under the shelf as I got in the gates were shut behind, it was a struggle just to get a standing space.

There was no trouble around me and stayed and watched the game, we had two goals ruled out, miserable day alround.

I had friends who were stuck on a series of trains along the track at WHL station, some of our more famous supporters were stuck on those trains, its a long while ago but think that main Chelsea all assembled at Liverpool street and were locked out.

You're quite right. I was with a load that met up at Fulham Broadway but the main pre-arranged meeting place was Liverpool Street. There were thousands upon thousands of Chelsea there that day. When we finally got to the ground, there was a queue a mile long. A few of us sneaked up to the front of the queue hoping the rest of them would follow our example but sadly the vast majority never got into the ground.

The initial pitch invasion was as a result of over-crowding, had there been fences in place that day, I have little doubt that the consequences could have been of Hillsborough proportions. It wasn't too long before there were people all over the pitch, little skirmishes going on wherever you looked. Me and another couple of guys were sat on one of the trainers benches watching it all kick off. Till the old bill turfed us off, not caring who we supported. I eventually managed to find a relatively small mob of Chelsea in a corner of one of the ends (to this day I couldn't tell you which) having gone from one end to the other and back again.

 

[LOFTYBILL]

My experience of that day Tommy

My first trip to WHL was in 1975, the year we got relegated from the 1st div and my second season of regular attendance. The game was I think the third to last of the season and we needed to win to stand a reasonable chance of staying up. I remember the long walk from Seven Sisters tube station amongst crowds of other fans wondering if I were the only Chels there, it seemed as if the ground would never appear ( is there another trek in England this long?, save for perhaps along Scotland Road in scouseland). Eventually I arrived outside the Paxton Road end probably an hour and a half before kick off. There was an unbelievable queue of people at the turnstiles all pushing and shoving to get in as it seemed fairly obvious that the match would be a shutout. Half an hour later of shoving elbowing etc. I made it onto the terraces. They were already jammed packed with fans, I couldn't believe that many more could get in and sure enough (I found out later) the turnstiles were closed at about 2 o'clock. Being so tall ( 6 ft 5â€) I preferred to stand at the back the terrace as a courtesy to the not so vertically endowed. I endeavoured to do just that but found myself carried down the Paxton Road by the sheer weight of people piling in behind me. At nineteen years old I was wiry and strong and managed to prevent myself being crushed against the barriers or the wall at the front. Fans began to spill onto the pitch and fighting broke out as Chelsea fans were spotted. Eventually calm was restored and the match kicked off. Of the match itself I remember little excepting that my hero Charlie Cooke gave his all for the cause and we ended up losing 2-0. Fighting broke out at intermittent intervals around the ground and I remember the old bill in the Paxton getting a bit of a pasting from the Y*ds, helmets flying etc. I didn't see many Chelsea inside the ground and later found out that thousands had been locked out, not sure that is true but it could be, such an important game would normally have attracted a good few thousand. Needless to say I kept 'mum' throughout the match, no point in getting a kicking needlessly. Afterwards the long despondent walk back to Seven Sisters, don't recall much about that though.

 

[BlueBeard]

Regarding long walks from station to ground, Coventry and Derby seemed to be f*ckin' miles away.

 

[Lofty.]

My experience of that day Tommy

My first trip to WHL was in 1975, the year we got relegated from the 1st div and my second season of regular attendance. The game was I think the third to last of the season and we needed to win to stand a reasonable chance of staying up. I remember the long walk from Seven Sisters tube station amongst crowds of other fans wondering if I were the only Chels there, it seemed as if the ground would never appear ( is there another trek in England this long?, save for perhaps along Scotland Road in scouseland). Eventually I arrived outside the Paxton Road end probably an hour and a half before kick off. There was an unbelievable queue of people at the turnstiles all pushing and shoving to get in as it seemed fairly obvious that the match would be a shutout. Half an hour later of shoving elbowing etc. I made it onto the terraces. They were already jammed packed with fans, I couldn't believe that many more could get in and sure enough (I found out later) the turnstiles were closed at about 2 o'clock. Being so tall ( 6 ft 5â€) I preferred to stand at the back the terrace as a courtesy to the not so vertically endowed. I endeavoured to do just that but found myself carried down the Paxton Road by the sheer weight of people piling in behind me. At nineteen years old I was wiry and strong and managed to prevent myself being crushed against the barriers or the wall at the front. Fans began to spill onto the pitch and fighting broke out as Chelsea fans were spotted. Eventually calm was restored and the match kicked off. Of the match itself I remember little excepting that my hero Charlie Cooke gave his all for the cause and we ended up losing 2-0. Fighting broke out at intermittent intervals around the ground and I remember the old bill in the Paxton getting a bit of a pasting from the Y*ds, helmets flying etc. I didn't see many Chelsea inside the ground and later found out that thousands had been locked out, not sure that is true but it could be, such an important game would normally have attracted a good few thousand. Needless to say I kept 'mum' throughout the match, no point in getting a kicking needlessly. Afterwards the long despondent walk back to Seven Sisters, don't recall much about that though.

Always hated that walk. Worst was if you were caught on your own. Tottenham had an all too well deserved rep for picking on isolated fans. That time though we got off at the British Rail station, the name of which escapes me.

I wrote earlier that I found a small mob of Chelsea but some guy actually spotted me: I forget his name, just some guy I knew from the specials. "Oi we're over this way", he yelled so I followed the guy and stayed with the same small mob for the rest of the day, which was unsurprisingly, a bit of a blur.

 

[Carshalton Blue]

Always hated that walk. Worst was if you were caught on your own. Tottenham had an all too well deserved rep for picking on isolated fans. That time though we got off at the British Rail station, the name of which escapes me.

I wrote earlier that I found a small mob of Chelsea but some guy actually spotted me: I forget his name, just some guy I knew from the specials. "Oi we're over this way", he yelled so I followed the guy and stayed with the same small mob for the rest of the day, which was unsurprisingly, a bit of a blur.

That fella from the specials could have been a pal of mine, JS, still goes now.

 

[Carshalton Blue]

Report from that Spurs game

http://pbs.twimg.com...A_Emr.jpg:large

 

[Lofty.]

That fella from the specials could have been a pal of mine, JS, still goes now.

First thing I thought was, that would have been some kind of coincidence. I can't have been the only one that day stranded and later "rescued". Oh wait... I was just talking about some bloke I knew from away games, from the football specials. Don't tell me you thought I meant a special constable? Reminds me though, one day I was walking along at the back of the Shed one day, when this old bill on duty asked me: "Don't I know you from Hendon [the police academy]?" Not me pal, I told him. I've never been near the place in my life!

 

[Cobham]

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.

 

[Carshalton Blue]

First thing I thought was, that would have been some kind of coincidence. I can't have been the only one that day stranded and later "rescued". Oh wait... I was just talking about some bloke I knew from away games, from the football specials. Don't tell me you thought I meant a special constable? Reminds me though, one day I was walking along at the back of the Shed one day, when this old bill on duty asked me: "Don't I know you from Hendon [the police academy]?" Not me pal, I told him. I've never been near the place in my life!

Nah mate i meant the special trains, my mate told me he'd helped a fellow Chelsea fan out that day as well, to add to the confusion he was also involved in the band The Specials lol!

 

[Lofty.]

Nah mate i meant the special trains, my mate told me he'd helped a fellow Chelsea fan out that day as well, to add to the confusion he was also involved in the band The Specials lol!

Ah... right. It could have been your  mate after all then. Tell you what, have a word, tell him thanks from me .. and even if it wasn't me he pointed towards the corner where that small mob of Chelsea were gathered, thank him on behalf of whoever it was he did help out that day.

 

[Carshalton Blue]

Ah... right. It could have been your  mate after all then. Tell you what, have a word, tell him thanks from me .. and even if it wasn't me he pointed towards the corner where that small mob of Chelsea were gathered, thank him on behalf of whoever it was he did help out that day.

 

[Jezz]

I always got the impression that these grounds were the most notorious to visit. 

*The Den (Millwall)

*Upton Park (West Ham)

*Elland Road (Leeds)

*Ninian Park (Cardiff City)

*Anfield (Liverpool)

*St.Andrews (Birmingham)

*Stamford Bridge (Chelsea)

 

[Lofty.]

The Den and Upton Park have already been covered in some detail. Anfield was only really scary if you were caught on your own or vastly outnumbered.

Cardiff were always up for it, but so were we. I remember a certain Mr H berating another (younger) Mr H for taking such a small mob into the Cardiff end one time. Suffice it to say that they didn't fare too well and were escorted out of the Cardiff end and taken back to where the main Chelsea mob were gathered.

I went to St Andrews a few times but don't remember it ever getting too hairy up there. I do remember being at New Street Station after a match and being told about "a mob of a thousand black Birmingham fans". If there were such a mob, I never saw them.

Which brings us to Elland Road.The on and off field rivalry between ourselves and Leeds has been well documented. It's one of those unique rivalries that goes back decades, and transcends time and geography. The players hated each other even before the 1970 Cup Final, which itself served to exacerbate the already simmering hostility between the fans. There was a famous incident when a coach load of Chelsea met a coach load of Leeds at a motorway service station. Such encounters were not uncommon in those days. If memory serves me well, the Leeds fans that day came off much the worst.

Most trips to Elland Road were the usual thing. Police escort to the ground, segregated fans, but with isolated (and sometimes not so isolated) incidents, small scale skirmishes taking place in and outside the ground. One occasion, I think it might have been during the ban, getting off the train we were met - almost escorted, by a small mob of Leeds fans, who were acting fake-friendly in plain sight of the old bill. They were soon chased off, and so we got to the ground with no further incidents. I was one of a small mob of Chelsea who managed to get separated (by hook or by crook) from the main Chelsea mob, watching the match from the long terrace at the side of the ground. At half time, I decided to go to the bar. On my own, I ran smack into this same little mob of Leeds that had been so "friendly" as we left the station. This curly haired little twat stood at that front of their mob, acting the hard man and getting lippy. Telling me I was dead. I told him I'd take him with me - I was never any kind of hard man, but there was a time when I had all kinds of front.The little f**ker kicked my shin and I kicked him back. So there was me and this northern runt trading kicks, his backup mob salivating, ready to launch themselves into the attack, and I'd just about resigned myself to getting an almighty kicking, when Mr H |(the younger one referred to above) and a few of his mates appeared behind me. "f**king Northern w**kers" one of them hissed with disdain - you've never seen a mood change so quickly. Those Leeds fans, moments ago baying for blood, were now backing away, quaking like the Yorkshire sheep they were. They ran a mile.Thanking my rescuers, I was told, no problem. We were watching you and saw that lot coming from the other way.